Stats: 5 numbers to know from the Mavericks’ 106-98 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder

They say basketball is a game of runs, and the Dallas Mavericks (23-19) proved them right on Friday with a 106-98 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder (34-7) at the American Airlines Center.

The game featured eight runs between both teams that were 8-0 or greater. It may have been mentally draining to try to follow this close, but in the end, the Mavericks could breathe a sigh of relief after entering the game having lost nine of their last 12.

Kyrie Irving led all scorers with 25 points, five rebounds and five assists in the win, and Spencer Dinwiddie added 16 points and four dimes for the Mavs. PJ Washington had 16 to go along with seven boards in the win. The pair combined for seven 3-pointers, but it wasn’t always pretty for Dallas. Jalen Williams led Oklahoma City with 19 points and six assists in the loss.

Here are five stats that tell the story of the rollercoaster of a win that carries us into the three-day weekend.

10-9: Deadlock of runs to start the first quarter

The Mavericks opened the game with a 10-0 run as the Thunder went scoreless for the first 3:48 of the game. Washington and Irving each hit their first 3-point attempts to give Dallas hope early. Irving’s driving finger roll with 9:08 left in the first put the Mavs up 10-0, but then Oklahoma City woke up. Jaylin Williams (sophomore) converted a tough reverse layup through the defense from Daniel Gafford to make it 10-4 with 7:39 left in the opener. Then Cason Wallace made the Thunder’s first 3-pointer of the game to erase all of the Mavs’ good early work and cap a small 9-0 OKC run that pulled the Thunder to within one, down just 10-9 midway through the first.

After scoring their first 10 points in less than three minutes, the Mavs’ offense sputtered through the rest of the first quarter. It took seven more minutes for Dallas to put its next 10 points on the board. Dinwiddie took a steal from Jalen Williams with just over two minutes left and dished up to Olivier-Maxence Prosper in the last second of the break for a thunderous layup that gave Dallas a 20-17 advantage.

But the Thunder scored nine of the first quarter’s final 11 points to take a 26-22 lead after one. They made three of their last four 3-point attempts in the quarter to take control of things after the slow start.

1-of-11: Mavs’ poor 3-point shooting stretch over first and second

After Washington and Irving made the Mavs’ first two 3-point attempts in the game’s first two minutes, Dallas was in the freezer from long range for the rest of the first quarter and the first few minutes of the second. The Mavs converted on just one of their next 11 3-point attempts as Oklahoma City pulled ahead.

Dallas finally started hitting again after Ousmane Dieng hit his first 3-pointer of the game to put the Thunder up 29-22 just a minute into the second quarter. At that point, OKC had made four of its last five 3-point attempts, and the Mavs responded with quick back-to-back-to-back corner 3-pointers from Prosper, Irving and Quentin Grimes to tie the game, 31-31. with 9:09 left before halftime.

The Mavs’ offense was downright perimenopausal on Friday, with all the wild swings from hot to cold. They ended up shooting a respectable 16-of-41 (39%) from 3-point range in the win.

26-6: Dallas’ run to end the first half

Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images

Finally, the Thunder remembered they were on the second night of a back-to-back set without their MVP candidate in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Dinwiddie, Washington and Naji Marshall connected on 3-pointers on three straight possessions late in the second quarter as part of a 26-6 Dallas run that started with 6:52 left in the first half. After Lugentz Dort hit his second 3-pointer to tie the game at 37-37, the Mavs had to kick the rugs off because they got hot again.

Irving kicked things off with five straight points on a jumper and a 3-point play the old-fashioned way after getting fouled on a made pull-up jumper midway through the second. Washington and Dinwiddie made big buckets during the run, as did Naji Marshall. The Thunder went scoreless for more than 4:30 during that run. The Dallas defense held Oklahoma City to 3-for-14 shooting from the field and forced six Thunder turnovers, including two sneak steals by Marshall, during the 26-6 run to end the half. The Mavs used the run to take their biggest lead of the game, up 63-43, going into halftime.

4:42: Mavericks’ scoreless stretch to start the third quarter

The Mavericks let the Thunder go back to it to start the second half. Dallas shot 0-of-8 to start the third quarter, while the Thunder made 3-pointer after 3-pointer to try to get back into the game as quickly as possible. They hit four before Dallas scored its first point of the quarter and hit its fifth 3-ball of the third before Dallas made its first field goal of the third quarter. Aaron Wiggins’ second 3-pointer of the game pulled OKC within 63-55 with 8:09 left in the third, then Wallace hit his second 3-pointer to make it a 65-58 affair after a pair of Maxi Kleber freebies . throws.

The Mavs didn’t connect on their first field goal of the second half until the 5:08 mark of the third quarter, when Irving scrambled inside for a layup to preserve Dallas’ 67-60 lead. Oklahoma City extended their run to 24-6 on Dort’s third 3-pointer of the game with 4:13 left in the third, then matched the Mavs’ 26-6 run in the second quarter with one of their own on the next down by Isaiah Joe’s driving score that tied the game at 69-69.

Name a more annoying team to watch than your lovable little Dallas Mavericks. I’m waiting. The Thunder moved ahead of the Mavs on Jalen Williams’ step-back 3-pointer and challenged fadeaway jumper on consecutive possessions late in the frame, making it 74-72 the wrong way. It was the fifth double-digit lead the Mavericks have coughed up since Christmas. Dallas crept back in front, 77-76 heading into the fourth quarter, however, after Dinwiddie’s 3-point play on a mid-range floater with 24 seconds left in the third.

9/4: Naji Marshall scoring and rebounding in the fourth quarter

Marshall quietly had a big fourth quarter as the Mavericks finally put together a steady stretch of basketball, unlike the frenetic, manic stretches of alternately awful and inspired play that characterized the first three quarters.

Marshall’s corner 3-pointer early in the fourth gave Dallas some breathing room and an 83-76 advantage to match, but it only lasted a few minutes before Oklahoma City clawed it back for a one-possession lead. The Mavs had a slim 89-88 lead with less than five minutes left in the game when Maxi Kleber found Marshall open on the left wing for a 3-pointer that extended the lead to four, up 92-88. On the next down, Marshall scooped a driving bucket over Joe and converted the ensuing free throw into a 3-point play that kept the Thunder in check and the Mavs ahead, 95-91. He was the unsung hero late in the game with four boards in the final frame to go along with nine points.

Marshall finished the game with 14 points, 10 boards and three steals.

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