The experience may be accompanied by some pain.
Dallas Mavericks players like Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving have that experience of painful past losses and it fuels them in big moments. The young Oklahoma City Thunder just got their first big dose.
PJ Washington made two free throws with 2.5 seconds left in the game after Shai Gilgeous-Alexander fouled him on a 3-pointer – Oklahoma City challenged the call, but referee Tony Brothers said SGA made contact with the ball , but did not dislodge her, then made illegal contact with Washington’s arm before the shot was fired.
Washington’s two free throws put Dallas ahead 117-116, he intentionally missed the third and the Thunder – with no timeout after the challenge – failed to score.
The result was a dramatic 17-point victory for the Mavericks, which gave them a 4-2 series victory and sent Dallas into the Western Conference finals, starting Wednesday, against the winner of Sunday’s Game 7 between Minnesota and Denver. .
Kyrie Irving’s streak remains intact – he is 14-0 in finals games.
“Being down by 17 points in a closeout game is not a position you want to be in,” Irving said, via AP. “But that’s where we found ourselves. We had to respond the same way we have been responding all season.”
Luka Doncic posted his third straight triple-double — while playing through a sore knee — standing up when his team needed him to lead them to the Western Conference Finals for the second time in three years.
Doncic got help, not just from Irving, who scored 22, but also from Derrick Jones Jr., who also had 22 points. For a few games late in the series, Jones was the guy Oklahoma City left open to double Doncic and Irving, and he made them pay. Then there was Washington, who struggled much of the night but made the game-deciding free throws.
“It wasn’t Luka or Kai that won the game,” Jason Kidd said via the Associated Press. “It was Luka’s trust and when the ball touches the paint, they collapse, he trusted PJ. .”
Gilgeous-Alexander played like an MVP candidate for the Thunder and finished with 36 points, while Jalen Williams had 22 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
It looked like Oklahoma City would force a Game 7 when it scored 24 points in the final five minutes of the second half to take a 64-48 halftime lead. When things got tough in the first half for the Thund, Gilgeous-Alexanderho took charge, was aggressive and scored 21 points in the first half alone. However, in that final five-minute drive, with the defense focused on him, SGA and the Thunder moved the ball and seven other OKC players scored in that stretch.
At the same time, Dallas turned the ball over 12 times in the first half, which led to the Thunder making 14 more shot attempts in the first 24 minutes (and 11 more 3s). That was the difference. Meanwhile, the Mavericks became increasingly frustrated with the officiating, becoming a bit confused.
In the second half, Dallas showed more balance, was encouraged by the home fans and made great plays when it mattered most – the type of plays that an experienced team makes.
Oklahoma City will have those chances in the future – this is a young team taking steps forward – and now they have a little more experience to draw on.
