Undermanned Dallas Mavs End Regular Season with Blowout Loss Against OKC Thunder

With eight rotation players sitting out, the Mavs trailed by as many as 55 points in their loss against the Thunder.

OKLAHOMA CITY — With eight rotational players missing, including stars Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, the Dallas Mavericks were defeated 135-86 by the Oklahoma City Thunder in a blowout fashion to end the regular season.

The Mavs deployed a starting lineup featuring young prospects Olivier-Maxence Prosper and Jaden Hardy, while the Thunder competed at full strength with a clean injury report. Oklahoma City clinched the first seed in the Western Conference after this victory. Dallas was already locked into a first-round matchup against the Los Angeles Clippers as the fifth seed.

"Oklahoma is a number one seed. They had a heck of a year. We couldn't shoot the ball straight, but there's a lot, some positives in this," Mavs coach Jason Kidd said. "The biggest thing is we came out healthy, and now, uh, we closed the door on our season."

Apr 14, 2024; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2)

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Brandon Williams led the Mavs with 22 points, five rebounds, and three assists. He was tasked with initiating the offense more and getting the team organized this game without Doncic or Irving being available. Williams is signed to an Exhibit 10 contract with Dallas.

"Yeah, I like the way he ran the group, not just scoring, but being able to get us organized," Kidd said of Williams. "I thought he did a really good job with that tonight. He took advantage of his speed, being able to get to the rim. We ran a couple plays just to see how he handled being able to read the receivers and then being able to score for himself. So I thought he did a really good job this afternoon."

Prosper finished with 15 points and eight rebounds but had his shooting taper off after a hot start, finishing 5-14 overall and 2-6 from the perimeter. Dallas emphasized putting more responsibilities upon him offensively by having him handle the ball in screening actions and encouraging him to be aggressive from the perimeter.

"Maybe fatigue caught up to him, but overall, there was a lot of positive to get us to score," Kidd said of Prosper. "But I think just showing his abilities to shoot the three, to put the ball on the floor. We wanted him to run some pick-and-rolls to see how he handled that. And decision-making. I thought he did an incredible job here in the last two games.

It was a struggling performance. The Mavs were held to a highly inefficient performance without regular options available, shooting 33.0% from the floor and 20.5% from deep. Hardy was held to nine points, four rebounds, and three assists, shooting 4-14 from the floor and 1-4 from deep. Tim Hardaway Jr. scored three points in 20 minutes, while Josh Green was limited to four, with both players shooting a combined 2-17 from the floor and 1-10 from beyond the arc. It remains to be seen how much any of them will factor into the playoff rotation.

"We'll let you guys speculate. That's what you guys will do," Kidd said. "We'll play everyone who's healthy and see if we put us in a position to win. Everybody will be on deck. So it's good for Hardy and Josh to get minutes and Timmy. We'll see as we get closer to what that rotation looks like."

With only one of the Thunder's starters reaching 20 minutes played, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander still totaled 15 points and six assists. Chet Holmgren added 13 points and nine rebounds. Oklahoma City had five double-figure scorers overall and shot 55.1% from the floor and 41.2% from the perimeter.

After trailing 11-0 to start, Dallas went on a 14-8 run, with Prosper and Williams playing essential roles in the Mavs' offensive attack to make it 19-14. Prosper scored nine of the Mavs' initial 11 points, using two made corner 3-pointers and a highlight-reel-worthy dunk against contact with Holmgren protecting the rim.

The lack of a clear-cut top offensive threat limited the offense, often with guards snaking into the gap to encounter Holmgren in drop coverage, then deciding not to finish at the rim or pull up in short range. That changed to an extent after Williams checked into the game, with him aggressively attacking the rim and getting to short-range spots, but Oklahoma City tightened up defensively overall.

"J Kidd and Jared Dudley told me to play my game and my game is to get in the paint and make a decision," Williams said. "They have to trust in me and vice versa, to go in there and make the right play and make the right decision. I think that's the main thing right there. So just get in the paint and make the right play."

Gileous-Alexander led the Thunder's plug-and-play lineup to close the opening quarter, helping the team's lead to as much as 17 points. Oklahoma City was already up 39-22 at the end of the first quarter after closing the period on a 20-8 run, with Dallas often struggling to create in the half-court while having an undersized defense that was unable to slow down either Gilgeous-Alexander or Holmgren.

After a dominant 31-9 start to the second quarter, the Thunder took a commanding 70-31 lead. Oklahoma City continued to pour it on the Mavs, with Gilgeous-Alexander using short-range touch and passing ability after drawing interior help defense.

After Gordon Hayward made a pair of free throws with 2:39 left before halftime, the Thunder achieved a 40-point advantage while the Mavs still had scored only 34. Oklahoma City held an 82-41 edge over Dallas at the break. Given the Thunder's substantial lead, they sat their starters after halftime and led by as many as 55 points.

Dallas continued to use the game as a chance for young players to gain reps but never made a rallying effort. Prosper finished with a team-high 37 minutes amidst the expectation of playing heavy minutes this game. Alex Fudge played his first game with the Mavs, totaling 18 minutes.

The date has yet to be revealed for when the Mavs will face the Clippers in Game 1 of their first-round series. It will be either on Apr. 20 at the earliest, or Apr. 21 at the latest.