Depleted Mavericks Upset Thunder in OKC, 121-115, Win Season Series

Despite the Mavericks missing seven players, they were able to beat the NBA's best team for the third time.

Jan 23, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Spencer Dinwiddie (26) drives to the basket beside Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) during the first quarter at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images / Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

The Dallas Mavericks closed their season series against the Oklahoma City Thunder in a hostile road environment on Thursday night. These two teams have developed one of the best rivalries in the NBA over the last year, which nearly reached a boiling point in their last meeting on Friday in Dallas. That game was still fresh on everyone's mind despite 12 players being out between both teams, including Luka Doncic, Klay Thompson, Dereck Lively II, Chet Holmgren, and Isaiah Hartenstein.

With all of their injuries, Dallas started Kyrie Irving, Spencer Dinwiddie, Kessler Edwards, P.J. Washington, and Daniel Gafford for their 22nd different starting lineup of the season, while OKC had Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Cason Wallace, Lu Dort, Jalen Williams, and Jaylin Williams as their first five.

READ MORE: Mavs' Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving Snubbed From All-Star Starting Lineup

Kessler Edwards getting the start was a little surprising; it was even more surprising to see him as the primary defender on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who is coming off a career-high 54 points on Wednesday night. For the first few minutes, it didn't look great, as the Thunder got off to a quick 8-2 start, but all eight of those were from Jalen Williams. But Dallas fought back to have it tied at 10 and 13 before the first timeout.

Dallas then went to a zone, trying to slow OKC's offense down, which helped them take the lead, thanks to Spencer Dinwiddie converting an and-one to give him 10 early points. But an SGA drive-and-kick to Alex Caruso in the corner gave them a 34-33 lead heading into the second quarter.

OKC continued that late run into the second quarter, outscoring the Mavs 9-2 to go up by eight and closely reaching dangerous territory for the Mavs. Luckily, Brandon Williams was providing quality minutes for the short-handed Mavs and helped them chip the lead back down to three.

But Daniel Gafford was kicked in the face soon after. It wasn't anything malicious, as he was pushed while fighting for position, and an OKC player backpedaling couldn't get out of the way as the back of his foot collided with Gafford's face. OKC used that to open up a 9-point advantage, their largest lead of the game. That forced Markieff Morris minutes as a small-ball five, as Maxi Kleber is on a tight minute restriction. And yet, Olivier-Maxence Prosper was giving the Mavs great minutes off the bench, and he was able to get the lead down to two before the end of the half.

OKC briefly went up by eight following back-to-back threes with about a minute and a half remaining in the half, but Dallas hit back-to-back threes of their own, and the Thunder went into half with a 62-60 lead.

READ MORE: Kyrie Irving's Honest Take On What He Expects From Mavericks-Thunder

Daniel Gafford returned in the second half as the Mavericks started on a 21-6 run, but how the Mavs got those 21 was interesting. The game had been mostly calm in the first half, but after the Mavericks went ahead 74-68, Lu Dort tried to get through a screen by open-hand slapping Gafford in the groin area, leading to Dort being ejected from the game and a technical foul on Jalen Williams. That play alone ended up being a five-point play, a massive swing at that point in the game.

Dallas would mainly hold a ten-point advantage for most of the quarter as the Mavs continued to get to the free-throw line and get positive minutes from O-Max Prosper. A buzzer-beater by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander at the end of the quarter, though, brought them back under double digits, 91-83.

OKC got it to six a few times in the opening minutes, but the fourth quarter is Kyrie Irving's quarter, and he answered the Thunder's baskets with some of his own, then a transition take-foul on Jalen Williams allowed the Mavs to go back up by 10.

After briefly going up by 11, Kessler Edwards smoked a layup, and the Thunder got two straight baskets, quickly cutting the lead to five with about eight minutes remaining. SGA hit two free throws, after not getting to the line much to this point, to cut the lead to three with seven minutes to go, and just like that, we had a ballgame.

OKC started to double-team Kyrie Irving before he even crossed half-court, allowing the Mavs to play 4-on-3, and that would let the Mavs get open shots from behind the arc. Spencer Dinwiddie hit a three, as did Quentin Grimes, as they kept a two-possession lead with 4:10 to play.

Maxi Kleber's first points of the game came at a critical point, as he tapped out an offensive rebound to Spencer Dinwiddie, then relocated to the corner where Dinwiddie found him for the wide-open shot three. The next Mavs possession ended in a tomahawk from Dinwiddie, putting them up eight in the final three minutes. Kleber then found Quentin Grimes on an excellent swing pass to put them up by nine as the clock hit the two-minute mark.

OKC got it down to six in the final minute, then Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was fouled with 32.2 seconds to go, which got the Mavs' lead to four. Quentin Grimes was fouled with 28 seconds to go as the Thunder looked to extend the game, he went 1/2 to put the Mavs up by five. Dallas really made the Thunder work on the next possessions, forcing with a late contested turn-around mid-range from Jalen Williams, which hit off the iron, and PJ Washington would essentially ice the game with two free throws. The Mavericks would beat the Thunder 121-115, giving them the season series win.

Dallas did get a little lucky in the final seconds, as Jalen Williams hit a three to cut the lead to four, then Spencer Dinwiddie was called for an offensive foul. OKC had a brilliant play-call to free up Alex Caruso under the basket, but he fumbled it out of bounds. The Mavericks won despite their 20 turnovers and OKC's 15/37 shooting from three because they went to the line and converted, with Dallas going 29/36 from the charity stripe. The Mavs also shot the ball well behind the arc, shooting 14/31.

Spencer Dinwiddie led the Mavericks with a massive 28 points, shooting 11/14 from the floor. Kyrie Irving wasn't too far behind with 24 points, and then there was P.J. Washington, the OKC Killer himself, putting up 22 points and a career-high 19 rebounds (could be stat-corrected to 20 after the game). Olivier-Maxence Prosper (14 points) and Daniel Gafford (12) were also in double figures.

Jalen Williams led all scorers with 33 points, adding in seven assists, four rebounds, and four steals. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 31 points. Jaylin Williams (12 points) was the only other Thunder in double figures.

Dallas has an NBA Finals rematch at home against the Boston Celtics on Saturday.

READ MORE: 3 Takeaways From Mavs' Short-Handed Loss to Timberwolves

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