The Dallas Mavericks lost a 15-point lead against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the final stages and lost the game in overtime. A no-name became the match winner for OKC.
Dallas Mavericks (2-3) – Oklahoma City Thunder (4-2) 111:117 OT (BOXSCORE)
The Mavericks were leading by 15 points with 3:30 left in regulation time, but that wasn’t enough. Isaiah Joe, who has barely made it into the Thunder’s rotation so far this season, sent the game into overtime from long range, where he added two three-pointers. In nine minutes he scored 13 points (4/4 FG, 3/3 FG). He hit more three-pointers than his teammates combined (2/22). The Mavericks hit eight times from distance, but they also needed 40 throws (20 percent), so the advantage for the Texans was limited.
In addition to match winner Joe, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander played well for OKC (38, 15/27 FG, 9 assists), and Lu Dort (16), Darius Bazley (15) and Jalen Williams (13) also achieved double digits. The Thunder hit almost 50 percent from the field, the Mavs only 40. This was particularly evident in the points in the zone (70:54).
Luka Doncic came up with a 31-point triple-double for Dallas (16 REB, 10 AST), but acted inefficiently (8/23 FG, 15/19 FT), from a distance the Slovenian even went completely in 6 attempts blank. He had this problem in common with Maxi Kleber (2, 0/6 3FG), only Spencer Dinwiddie (20, 8/13 FG) did it better, who played well in the supposedly decisive run at the beginning of the final quarter. Dorian Finney-Smith and Dwight Powell got 13 points, Christian Wood 11 points.
Jason Kidd gave JaVale McGee a break and Powell started in his place, allowing Wood to come off the bench in his usual role. The Mavs got off to a good start thanks to a Finney-Smith three-pointer and several strong passes from Doncic, but OKC’s Gilgeous-Alexander was wide awake (9 points in Q1). The first section went narrowly to the guests because the Mavs couldn’t keep them out of the zone at all. 22 of the 27 counters in the first quarter were generated there.
Dallas gambles away a 15-point lead – Joe becomes a hero
Only 54 seconds were played in the second quarter before Hardaway Jr. picked up his third foul and had to go to the bench. With a three-point play and a jumper from Dinwiddie, the Mavs took the lead with a lineup without Doncic, but the Thunder immediately hit back with 7 points in a row. The Mavericks even got 7 in a row, the three-pointer went a little better in this phase and Doncic showed good chemistry with Powell. 51:46 Dallas at the break.
The third quarter was not for gourmets, the Mavs held the lead at around 6 points until the 5-minute mark, but thanks to a 12:4 run, OKC managed to regain the lead by the end of the period. Both teams hit combined 2/22 three-pointers in the quarter, with Gilgeous-Alexander and Doncic each scoring (more than) half their team’s points. Doncic, Dinwiddie and Kleber hadn’t hit a single long-range shot yet, but the Slovenian successfully went to the line (10/11).
Josh Green woke up the crowd with a ball win and three-point game in the fast break, Dinwiddie followed up with a wild threesome with Brett. The latter was aggressive in the minutes without Doncic, Williams committed a flagrant foul against Hardaway Jr. in a three-pointer, points from Wood gave the Mavs 5 points in this attack and suddenly led 11. It was a 21:5 run in six minutes without Doncic, strong defense led to easy points in transition. But OKC was actually able to shorten it again to -4 with a 13:1 run, which turned into an 18:2 run, which Isaiah Joe – who had only played seven minutes of the season earlier – completed with a three pointer to make it 99-99 with 14.6 seconds to go. A last attempt by Doncic, well defended by Lu Dort, from the middle distance landed on the ring, Overtime.
Overtime began with a successful challenge from the Mavericks, but SGA scored the first points. Finney-Smith responded, Joe hit his next three with the buzzer. The Mavs’ offense didn’t run smoothly anymore, Gilgeous-Alexander raised to +5, then to +7. Doncic was still doing cosmetic results before he fouled. The Mavs are back against Orlando in less than 24 hours.
