Dallas Mavericks Tie OKC Thunder Behind Hot Shooting In Game 2: 3 Game-Changing Plays

PJ Washington scored a playoff career-high 29 points as the series turns to Dallas tied at 1 apiece

Mar 25, 2024; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Dallas Mavericks forward P.J. Washington (25) addresses the media / Rob Gray-USA TODAY Sports

The Dallas Mavericks picked up a huge Game 2 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder, winning 119-110, tying the series at 1 apiece. In a game where Luka Doncic, Derrick Jones Jr., and Daniel Gafford were all playing through injuries, they got enough help from the people around them to lift them over the Thunder.

Dallas roared out to a 13-2 lead to start the game with Doncic scoring 8 of those. OKC wouldn't be held down for long, getting it right back to a one-possession game just a few minutes later. This is where we start the plays.

READ MORE: Luka Doncic's Dallas Mavericks Respond with Hard-Fought Game 2 Victory Over OKC Thunder, Tie Series 1-1

Luka to PJ for 333333 pic.twitter.com/IivJGwLO1U

— MavsHighlights (@MavsHighlights) May 10, 2024

PJ Washington came to play in Game 2. He only attempted 7 shots in Game 1 and Dallas needed their role players to step up if they wanted to come away with a road playoff victory.

This 3-pointer was the first of a career-high tying SEVEN made threes for Washington in this game, as he set a playoff career-high with 29 points. He was playing with more confidence and less hesitancy. Initially, OKC was willing to let him shoot those threes as it was someone other than Doncic or Kyrie Irving shooting the basketball and he made them pay.

As Washington stated in a postgame interview with ESPN, Doncic and Irving have so much attention on them that it leads to wide-open shots for everyone else. And good players make those open shots. Games like this are why Dallas made the trade for Washington at the trade deadline.

Tim Hardaway Jr. 4-point play 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/yUgoIPA9Jp

— NBA TV (@NBATV) May 10, 2024

Oklahoma City responded early in the second half, taking a 75-72 lead, their first lead of the game, just over 3 minutes into the half. Dallas quickly got the lead back, holding on to an 80-79 lead with about 5 minutes left in the period.

Enter Tim Hardaway Jr. The sound you heard on his first shot attempt was the collective groan across the Dallas Mavericks' fanbase. Hardaway had 8 total points in these NBA playoffs and shot 34.1% in the final 10 games of the season. To say he had been struggling entering this game would be an understatement.

That shot above closed off a PERSONAL 10-0 run for Hardaway Jr as he pushed the lead back to double digits for the Mavs. Dallas needs a good version of Tim Hardaway Jr. and this was as good as it gets. Irving was struggling to score, Doncic was on the bench here, and they needed someone to make shots.

But that's not the last we'll see of Hardaway Jr.

Tim Hardaway Jr. buries the CLUTCH three as the shot clock expires 🚨

Mavs up 11 with under 3 minutes remaining in Game 2.pic.twitter.com/9dolY9IqCB

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) May 10, 2024

OKC was still threatening to make it a game late. We didn't know at the time that the Thunder wouldn't make any field goals over the final two minutes of the game.

Tim Hardaway Jr. makes a great hustle play to come away with the loose ball, fakes the pass up to Doncic to get Lu Dort running away, and knocks down the WIDE open shot from the corner to push the lead back to 11 with over two minutes remaining to give him 17 points.

This shot was essentially the dagger, even if the score might say that shot happened earlier. It's the one that you could feel the momentum be sucked out of the building, even on TV.

If this version of Tim Hardaway Jr. can be present for the Mavs for the rest of the Playoffs, they'll be hard to beat. They've been desperate for someone to come off the bench and give them some instant offense. He shot 39% from 3 in his first 20 games this season and that's the version Dallas hopes they see moving forward.

Kyrie Irving will be better, it's hard to imagine him having another 9-point outing (even if he did have 11 assists), but it's also hard to imagine PJ Washington continuing to shoot like he did in this game. As scoring and shooting revert to the norm, the superstars are the ones that shine brightest usually.

I had a feeling Luka Doncic would be better in Game 2 after a poor Game 1 and a few days of seeing bad media coverage surrounding him. He's been dealing with a sprained knee and was hobbling all game, but has refused to let that excuse any bad performances. So he shot 5/8 from three in this game after shooting 22.7% from deep to start the 2024 playoffs.

According to SportsCenter following the game, Doncic and Washington are the first duo in NBA Playoffs history to finish with 25 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 or more made threes in the same game.

Some other players important to this game: Josh Green with his 11 points (3/5 from 3) and Daniel Gafford adding 13 points and 7 rebounds. Gafford and Dereck Lively need to be better at finishing around the basket, but Gafford at least has the physicality to push through Chet Holmgren more often than not.

It's a fast turnaround; as close to a back-to-back as you'll see in the playoffs. Game 3 will be at 2:30 p.m. CST on Saturday after this game didn't end until around 11 p.m.

READ MORE: Dallas Mavericks Forward Calls Out Anonymous Report on Superstar Luka Doncic

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