Mussatto: OKC Thunder now in big trouble in NBA playoffs thanks to Mavericks' 16-0 run
DALLAS — Five months ago, in this very city, the Thunder was on the wrong side of an historic Mavericks run. The Thunder avenged that onslaught by still getting the win.
The Thunder was on the wrong side of another Mavericks run Saturday, and while the run wasn’t as bad, the result was far worse. Dallas beat Oklahoma City 105-101 to take a 2-1 lead in the Western Conference semifinal series.
Amid a four-minute stretch in the meat of the third quarter, a 65-55 Thunder lead devolved into a 71-65 Thunder deficit. The 16-0 Mavericks run was nothing compared to their 30-to-zilch stretch against the Thunder in December, but the first resulted in a regular-season loss for Dallas while the second led to a playoff win.
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“That was probably the missed opportunity of the game for us,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “We were up by 10 and had a pretty good grip on it and just didn’t stack quality enough possessions in that part of the game to either extend the lead or hold the lead.”
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Oklahoma City went up 65-55 on a Josh Giddey to Jalen Williams alley-oop with eight and a half minutes left. It was the Thunder’s first double-digit lead of the game.
Four minutes later, the Mavericks led by six points.
The Thunder never led again.
“We got a little sloppy offensively with our execution,” Daigneault said. “We turned it over a couple times, they got hot. They made shots and converted, so credit them.”
American Airlines Center quaked.
“In these road environments you’re gonna have to be able to play through some of those things,” Daigneault said. “You don’t have an endless amount of timeouts. I only had one down the stretch because I burned through them pretty quickly there.
"We have to be a team that’s able to endure on the road, but we’ve done that all year. We’ve made a habit of that. I have a lot of confidence in the guys to play through some of that but you also try to break it up a little bit if you feel like it’s not gonna get turned on its own.”
Gilgeous-Alexander, who scored a game-high 31 points, was in the game for the entirety of the run.
“Sixteen to nothing you’re gonna feel, especially on the road,” SGA said. “You’re gonna feel a shift in energy. But we’ve been there before.”
Gilgeous-Alexander referenced the 30-0 run.
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“It’s just about focusing on the next possession,” he said.
For as quickly as OKC lost the lead, the Thunder took an arduous route in trying to get it back.
Thunder goes for hack-a-Lively strategy
The Thunder tried to claw its way to a win by employing the hack-a-Lively strategy, which wasn’t a bad idea. Thrice the Thunder intentionally fouled Mavs rookie center Dereck Lively II — a 50% free throw shooter — who went 3-of-6 from the foul line in those two trips.
Lively came up clutch, though, making his last four foul shots. He went 5-of-8 (63%) from the line on trips when he was hacked.
Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, both of whom scored 22 points, did a good job of milking the clock but the game ball went to P.J. Washington, who scored a team-high 27 points on 11-of-23 shooting — six more attempts than Doncic and Irving had.
The last six minutes of the game were played within a six-point margin, but the Mavericks clung to their lead.
A lead borne from a 16-0 run. A run that has Dallas ahead 2-1 in the series.
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Joe Mussatto is a sports columnist for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Joe? Email him at jmussatto@oklahoman.com. Support Joe's work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC Thunder down 2-1 in NBA playoffs vs Mavericks thanks to a 16-0 run
