Mavericks Avoid Late Comeback from OKC and Win 121-119

The Oklahoma City Thunder picked up its third loss of the season to the Dallas Mavericks, losing 121-119.

In a game where the Thunder struggled all night, they gave themselves the opportunity to win with under a minute to play. The ball rolled the right way for them and multiple players hit clutch shots, but it was not enough in the end.

OKC’s inability to rebound the basketball put them behind 66-58 at halftime and in a hole in general the entirety of the matchup. Maverick center Daniel Gafford grabbed six first-half rebounds and finished with 12 total. A combination of him and forward PJ Washington allowed the Mavericks to out-rebound the Thunder 53 to 29 the entire night.

The Thunder trailed 39-34 at the first quarter’s end. Gilgeous-Alexander closed the half out with a plethora of free throws and rookie guard Ajay Mitchell found his mid-range spots to add on. A combination of Kyrie Irving, Naji Marshall and Jaden Hardy helped keep the score close for the Mavericks by the first quarter’s end.

OKC and Dallas went back and forth the entire first quarter until the Mavericks pulled away late. They maintained that lead for the rest of the second quarter too, with Irving, Marshall and guard Quentin Grimes all contributing. Irving finished with 10 first-half points and Marshall with 11 off the bench.

In need of a second-half spark, OKC star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander looked to improve off of his 20-point first-half performance. Sharpshooter Isaiah Joe started the OKC scoring off with a triple and Lu Dort added to the total by getting to the free-throw line as did Gilgeous-Alexander in the mid-range area.

The X-factor off the bench for the Mavericks was Marshall. As soon as he entered the game at any point, he impacted scoring and the intensity on the defensive side of the ball. He only scored once in the third quarter but impacted the game in other ways,

A surprising impact player for OKC was first-round rookie Dillon Jones. He finished the night with 12 points on 5-for-6 shooting, the best performance of his young career. He scored five points and threw two assists in the third quarter resulting in a 97-92 lead in favor of Dallas.

With Luka Doncic out for the Mavericks, Dallas needed others to step up in his absence. Alongside Marshall, Jaden Hardy stood out as a scorer. He finished with 13 points on 6-for-9 shooting and did an excellent job getting to the rim and creating space on mid-range attempts. Both Marshall and Hardy would prove valuable assets down the stretch for Dallas.

In a stretch of play where Gilgeous-Alexander was on the bench, Dallas managed to take advantage at the beginning of the fourth quarter stretching its lead to 11 points. Fortunately for the Mavericks, the scoring gap was too much to overcome, even with Gilgeous-Alexander in the game.

The story of the night for the Mavericks was its bench production. They got another assist from the depths of the bench, this time from Spencer Dinwiddie. He scored all of his points in the fourth quarter and extended the Maverick lead, finishing with 120 points in total.

Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 36 points on the night, coupled with two rebounds and eight assists. His third 30-point performance of the season was not enough to overcome Dallas. The same reason OKC has seen an uptick in narrow wins or losses in the last four games has been the lack of rebounding. As long as Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein are unavailable, rebounding will be a challenge.

The Thunder trailed by eight points with around a minute remaining and in need of stops, forced multiple. Gilgeous-Alexander nailed a triple with 25 seconds remaining to narrow the deficit to three and forced and recovered possession after a late jump ball, but could not tie the score as the clock hit zero. The late comeback attempt was heroic, but simply not enough.

OKC plays next against the San Antonio Spurs at 8:30 p.m. CT on Tuesday, Nov. 19 on the road in San Antonio.

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