OKLAHOMA CITY, AP.—Luka Doncic stopped worrying about calls and just played.
It worked. He scored 31 points in a triple-double and the Dallas Mavericks beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 104-92 on Wednesday to take a 3-2 lead in the Western Conference semifinal series.
Doncic didn’t express his displeasure with the referees as much as usual, although he did have a few words with the fans.
“I’m just trying to play basketball, just focus on basketball,” he said. “Sometimes I forget that this is what I love, what I do. My mental approach was to just go out and play basketball with a smile on my face and just leave.”
Doncic, the league’s leading scorer in the regular season, had struggled some in the series against Oklahoma City. Playing with a sprained right knee and a sore left ankle, he had averaged just 22 points on 39% shooting through the first four games. He was 12 of 22 from the field in Game 5 and had 11 assists and 10 rebounds for his sixth career playoff triple-double.
“He was aggressive,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said. “He was shooting, shooting. The deep three-pointer, being able to get to the basket, creating plays for his big guys and also for the sides.”
Dallas regained the series lead after blowing a 14-point lead and losing 100-96 at home in Game 4.
“We know that the last game we played against them at home we let it go,” Doncic said. “They were our mistakes and they were right.”
Derrick Jones Jr. scored 19 points, the most of his playoff career, and PJ Washington Jr. added 10 points and 10 rebounds for Dallas, which shot 52.6% from the floor.
Today’s games
8:30 PM Denver at Minnesota
(DEN leads 3-2)
Yesterday’s results
Cavaliers 98
Celtics 113
Mavericks 104
Thunders 97
2024-05-17 00:28:27
#play #basketball
