Luka Dončić and the Dallas Mavericks are right back in it.
The Mavericks, after a blowout loss to kick off the series, powered past the Oklahoma City Thunder 119-110 on Thursday night at the Paycom Center. The win tied up the series 1-1 as it heads back to Dallas for Game 3 on Saturday night, and marked Oklahoma City’s first defeat so far in the playoffs.
Dončić nearly had a triple-double while P.J. Washington erupted with a playoff-career high 29 points with seven 3-pointers to push the Mavericks to the win. Their 119 points was by far the most the Thunder have allowed so far this postseason after the top seed in the Western Conference flew past the New Orleans Pelicans in the opening round.
Mavericks hang on late to beat Thunder
Dončić and the Mavericks came out hot in the first quarter, and he went on triple-double watch almost immediately. Dončić put up 16 points and hit four of the Mavericks’ eight 3-pointers in the opening period to put them ahead instantly. He accounted for 24 of Dallas’ 36 points in the first quarter, too.
The Mavericks’ lead was cut to just four points at the end of the first quarter, however, after Thunder center Chet Holmgren pulled off a ridiculous buzzer-beater off a full-court inbounds pass.
While the Mavericks nearly pulled away before halftime and mounted a 15-point lead, Oklahoma City went on a huge 15-4 run to cut the score back to a single possession. Despite allowing 68 first-half points from the Mavericks, the Thunder still entered the locker room down just five points at the break.
Aaron Wiggins once again provided a huge spark for the Thunder to kick off the second half. After starting the third quarter in place of Josh Giddey, Wiggins led the Thunder on a 13-4 burst to kick off the period and he gave them their first lead of the game on a clutch floater in the lane.
That, though, was as big of a lead as the Thunder pulled off. The Mavericks, with Dončić on the bench, used a long 18-4 run that included 10 straight points from Tim Hardaway Jr. to suddenly take a double digit lead again.
Though the Thunder kept it close throughout the fourth quarter, Dallas kept them at arm’s length the rest of the way. Dončić seemed to have an answer for everything, and the Thunder had a rough run where they made just 1 of 11 field goal attempts down the stretch — which allowed the Mavericks pull away.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led Oklahoma City with 33 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists in the loss. He shot 13-of-24 from the field, too. Jalen Williams had 20 points, and Holmgren finished with 11 points and six rebounds. The Thunder, who swept the Pelicans in the first round, hadn’t allowed more than 95 points in a game in the postseason until Thursday night.
Dončić led Dallas with 29 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. Washington had 11 rebounds and four assists to go with his 29 points while shooting 7-of-11 from behind the arc. Hardaway added 17 points off the bench after shooting 6-of-9 from the field. Kyrie Irving had 11 assists and nine points, but he shot just 2-of-8 from the field.
Even though the Mavericks have their health issues — Dončić has been dealing with a leg injury and tweaked an ankle briefly on Thursday, while Daniel Gafford played through a wrist injury — they pulled off a much-needed road win early in the series. If they’re going to reach a second Western Conference finals in three years, that was key before returning to Dallas.
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