LUCA Doncic and PJ Washington scored 29 points each as the Dallas Mavericks evened their Western Conference first-round playoff series once morest the Oklahoma City Thunder at 1-1 with a 119-110 defensive win on Thursday night at the Paycom Center.
The series now shifts to the American Airlines Center in Dallas for Games 3 and 4 starting Saturday at 2:30 p.m. and ending Monday at 8:30 p.m. before returning to OKC on Wednesday for Game 5.
In addition to his points, Doncic also recorded 10 rebounds, seven assists and three steals. Meanwhile Washington added 11 rebounds and a pair of steals, before draining five fouls with a little more than two minutes left in the game.
Also for the Mavs, Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 17 points in 19 minutes, Daniel Gafford had 13 points and seven rebounds, Josh Green had 11 points in 16 minutes, and Kyrie Irving had nine points, 11 assists, two steals and two blocks.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 33 points and 12 rebounds, Jalen Williams had 20 points, and Chet Holmgren finished with 11 points and six rebounds.
The Mavs led for most of the game. In fact, OKC, in fact, didn’t take its first lead of the game (72-71) until 9:13 remained in the third quarter. However, the Mavs quickly regained control and took a 112-101 lead when Doncic scored four points and Washington followed with a dunk with 4:14 remaining.
Also read: Doncic Leads Mavericks to Silence Thunder
Hardaway then scored the game-winning shot when, with 24 seconds left on the shot clock, he shot a three-pointer from the corner that increased the Mavs’ lead to 117-106 with 2:25 remaining in the game.
In the first half, which ended with the Mavs holding a narrow 68-62 lead, both teams were each 25-of-47 from the field for 53.2 percent. The big difference was that the Mavs were 12-of-24 from three points while the Thunder were just 6-of-16 from beyond the three-point arc.
The Mavs also racked up a whopping 20 assists in the first half following having just 19 in their 117-95 loss to the Thunder in Game 1 of the series.
Also read: Doncic Brings Dallas to Victory over Oklahoma 121-114
Don?i?, who learned Wednesday that he was ranked third in voting for the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award, was on fire and scored 16 points in the first quarter. He was 6-of-8 from the field, including 4-of-5 on three points in the opening quarter.
Washington accounted for 19 of its points in the first half on 7-of-11 shooting, including 5-of-8 from long range. After scoring just 19 points on 5-of-16 shooting in Game 1, Doncic finished the first half with 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting.
The Thunder had not allowed more than 95 points during their previous five playoff games. But the Mavs looked like parrots as they moved quickly down the court and made the Thunder chase them – a much quicker pace for the Mavs than they showed in Game 1.
Also read: Knee Injury, Kawhi Leonard Must Be Absent from Defending the Los Angeles Clippers in the NBA Playoffs
“We tried to push the limits tonight,” coach Jason Kidd said. “We were already below the speed limit.
“We are more in the school speed zone. We’re running and we have to keep running if we want to have a chance to win this series.
The Mavs got a surprise when Doncic came back with less than three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. However, the game continued, and Doncic threw a three-pointer to put the Mavs up 104-95, with nine minutes left in the game.
In the end, the Mavs shot 46.7% from the field and converted 18-of-37 three-pointers, while OKC shot 47.2% from the field, but just 10-of-30 from beyond the three-point line. (Mavs.com/Z-3)
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