Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's Thunder Take Care of Luka Doncic-Less Mavs
Without Luka Doncic in the lineup due to rest, the Dallas Mavericks struggled to get the job done against the Oklahoma City Thunder, losing Sunday's matchup by a 120-109 final score. The Mavs drop to 23-18 on the season, while the Thunder improve to 18-22.
The Mavs jumped out to a 12-3 lead, with hot perimeter shooting being key to setting the tone. However, they relied on Christian Wood to shoot free throws after getting into the bonus early for much of the remainder of the period. Wood finished with 13 points within the frame.
There were plenty of discombobulated possessions for the Mavs in the second quarter after struggling to work the ball inside to Wood against a smaller defender. The Thunder threw off Dallas by fronting the post and tilting. With Oklahoma City being undersized, the natural focus was to contain Wood.
"They're aggressive," said Mavs coach Jason Kidd of the Thunder defense. "They try to front the post. For us to get better with C Wood out there on that post entry, we just have to be able to deliver. Or if that's the case, drive it, or go away from it to find someone over because they were tilting. They were giving C Wood a lot of attention, so it's just being able to read the situation."
Kidd explained further: "Sometimes defenses are different. They tilt heavy with the post-up with C Wood tonight. We have to flash. I thought in the second half we did a better job. Timmy did a better job of flashing and giving us an outlet when we did do."
Dallas often deployed a "Horns" set but could not generate much rim pressure out of it. They were too quick not to make an entry pass and have Wood clear out to the 3-point line. With the Thunder being a switch heavy defense, the typical high pick-and-roll or handoff play didn't create usual advantages.
"Just try to put guys in positions to be successful and be able to play make or look for their shot," said Kidd of the Mavs' usage of Horns sets. "I thought to keep Spencer in that set with C Wood or DP with all the switching it would get us to the elephant that we wanted. That was just something that we used a lot tonight."
Kidd expanded: "On the roll, I thought there were a lot of great plays rolling to C Wood, and also to DP on the roll with the smaller guy on him to deliver that pass and to catch and finish. There were a lot of good things out of that set tonight."
With Doncic sidelined, the experienced shortcomings in generating rim pressure coupled with a lack of shot creation. Against a long Thunder team that likes to switch, it proved to be problematic. The Mavs' offense relied heavily on catch-and-shoot 3s to dictate their success. There just wasn't enough firepower to outpace the Thunder for a prolonged period.
It was often too challenging for the Mavs to contain Shai Gilgeous-Alexander at the point of attack as he finished with 33 points, five rebounds, and five assists. He got into the paint often and was able to either finish, or use his soft touch in short-range shooting over the top. Reggie Bullock and Tim Hardaway Jr. were the most frequent assignments.
“He’s a great player,” said Wood of Gilgeous-Alexander. “He’s been having a great season all year. He was getting left, getting downhill, getting to his spots, creating for others when he got to his spots, getting a lot of and-ones, getting to the free throw line.”
When Frank Ntilikina converted a long two at the 9:41 mark of the fourth quarter, the Mavs trailed just 97-91. Oklahoma City made big plays on both ends down the stretch to never lose its lead. They managed to build a lead back to be as large as 18 before the end of regulation.
“They do a great job,” said Kidd. “They’re one of the best teams at attacking the paint and continuing to attack the paint. If one doesn’t (get to the rim), they pass it and the next one does. They did that on a consistent basis. Shai got to the paint. We tried to make it tough on him. He’s an all-star. And we just couldn’t stop him.
“But it was a six-point game. And we take two threes, two good looks, and missed and from there it was just uphill.”
Wood totaled 27 points and 16 rebounds to lead the Mavs in both categories. Dinwiddie (21) and Hardaway (19) and combined for 40 points, but did so while shooting a combined 12-34 from the floor and 5-15 from 3-point range. The rest of the unit was unable to generate much, either.
The Thunder held a substantial advantage in the paint with a 56-to-24 advantage in points in the paint. Doncic is among the NBA's best at getting downhill to create an advantage, but without him in the lineup, it proved challenging to achieve positive results. There was a balanced scoring effort from the Thunder with all five starters reaching double-figures scoring.
The Mavs continue a five-game road trip with a matchup against the LA Clippers at Staples Center on Tuesday.
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