Mavericks vs Thunder recap: Dallas defeats Oklahoma City, 106-98

The shorthanded Dallas Mavericks (23-19) beat the shorthanded Oklahoma City Thunder (34-7) 106-98 in an intense matchup Friday night in Dallas. Kyrie Irving led all Mavericks with 25 points, five assists and five rebounds, while Jalen Williams added 19 points for the Thunder in a losing effort. Dallas got a much-needed win to end a three-game losing streak, while Oklahoma City suffered just their second loss in their last 21 games.

Dallas continued to be without starters Luka Doncic and Dereck Lively, but the big injury news was in Oklahoma. MVP front-runner Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was a late scratch with a sore wrist, missing his first game of the season and joining Isiah Hartenstein and Chet Holmgren in street clothes. The stars may have been missing, but it was still an intense matchup between two Western Conference contenders.

This was a run that started with Dallas taking a 10-0 lead off hot shooting from Kyrie Irving and PJ Washington. That was followed by the Thunder going on a 26-12 run to take a 26-22 lead into the second quarter. The Mavs countered with a big 19-0 run at the end of the first half to go up by 20 points. If the second quarter was one of the best of the Mavericks season, the third quarter was one of the worst. Oklahoma City outscored Dallas 33-14 in the third, setting up a trailing fourth quarter.

It was neck and neck in the fourth quarter until Spencer Dinwiddie hit two clutch threes, extending the lead to 101-93. Notable Thunder killer PJ Washington had a huge dunk to cap a big Mavericks win.

Here are our key thoughts from the game:

Roleplayers advanced

With Doncic’s return still weeks away, Dallas has a huge offensive role to fill. When playing tough teams like the Thunder, the Mavericks need Kyrie Irving to play like an All-Star and get production from multiple role players. Tonight they got both. Irving had 25 points and was joined in double figures by Washington, Dinwiddie and Naji Marshall. Even more impressive, they combined to shoot 12/26 from three for an efficient 46%. They need every one of those points in a game that was a slugfest.

It’s impossible to replace what Doncic brings to this team, but the Mavericks must find a way to win games without him in a competitive Western Conference. If they can get points from three or four role players, Dallas can beat anyone, as evidenced tonight.

Increasing problems continue

Despite the Mavericks holding the Thunder to just 38% shooting from the field, this game came down to the wire. That’s mainly because Dallas has given up 20 second-chance points off offensive rebounds. With Oklahoma City scoring just 98 points, second chance points account for a staggering 20% ​​of their total offense. Without Hartenstein and Holmgren, Oklahoma City isn’t even a good rebounding team, yet that’s how they were able to stay in the game on a cold shooting night.

This is a familiar problem for Dallas, who are the fourth-worst team in the league in giving up offensive rebounds. The Mavericks are simply not a good rebounding team, and they are significantly worse without Luka. This is one of the biggest weaknesses with this team and should be a focal point for the rest of the season.

Two more Mavericks injuries

It wouldn’t be a Dallas Mavericks game this season if there wasn’t a worrisome injury to a key player, but tonight we had two. Jaden Hardy went down with a right ankle sprain after a collision with Isiah Joe in the second quarter and did not return to the game. Then in the third quarter, Dwight Powell slipped and closed on Jaylin Williams and couldn’t get off the floor. Powell was escorted to the locker room and also did not return to the game.

These injuries couldn’t come at a worse time for Dallas. Hardy had one of the best stretches of his career, scoring over 20 points vs Lakers and the Pelicans in recent games. Powell was becoming a bigger part of the rotation with Lively out. The Mavs will have to get creative with their center rotation – look for Maxi Kleber and even Washington to play more minutes at center.

It is unclear at the time of writing whether Hardy or Powell will miss time, but they would join Doncic, Lively, Kessler Edwards, Dante Exum and Jazian Gortman on an already lengthy injury report. The basketball gods are certainly testing the theory that this is the deepest Mavericks team in the Luka era. Exum appears to be close to returning, but Dallas has a real shortage of playable bodies in the short term.

These teams not like each other

Even without the star players, this game was intense, highly competitive and often chippy. PJ Washington was somewhat predictably at the center of the charged moments. Washington and Lu Dort fought for possession until Dort fell to the ground. Washington stood over Dort for a moment, which led to Aaron Wiggins shoving Washington. It was a whole lot of nothing, but led to duplicate technologies. Later in the game, Washington fouled Jaylen Williams in a hard, mid-air foul that was ruled a flagrant. If Oklahoma City fans hated Washington during last season’s playoff series, they will really hate him after tonight.

Overall, it was a hard-fought defensive game. The players dived for loose balls, played aggressive defense and lived and died on every shot. The Dallas crowd was loud and engaged – it felt like a playoff atmosphere.

If tonight is any indication, a full-strength Mavericks and Thunder matchup in the playoffs would be one of the more exciting series possible. Let’s hope we get to see it in May.

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