Mark Daigneault Explains PJ Washington’s Scorching Hot Stretch in Round 2

Mark Daigneault explains PJ Washington's scoring outburst in Thunder's second round series against the Dallas Mavericks.

May 11, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks forward P.J. Washington (25) reacts after dunking | Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

"PJ Washington," OKC Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said with a grin and a shake of his heads "We have to turn his water off," the superstar added, nearly chuckling at how good the Charlotte Hornets transplant has been for the Dallas Mavericks this season.

Dallas has witnessed Washington be the third leading scorer in this series behind just Luka Doncic and Gilgeous-Alexander. The Kentucky product has scored 29 and 27 points in back-to-back nights to lift the Mavericks to a 2-1 series advantage.

Heading into a hostile Game 4, with their season on the line, OKC Thunder sideline pacer Mark Daigneault was asked about the red-hot forward and how the team plans to stop this scoring outburst that serves as an outlier to his typical output.

"You can't ignore what's happening this series in loyalty to sample size, he is clearly playing with a lot of confidence right now. He is donig a really good job for them," Daigneault said ahead of Game 4.

Though, the Thunder bench boss did alert the assembled media to the fact Washington did not just pour in 27 "game plan points," many of his bucks came within the flow of the game with transition buckets, cuts and post-ups. Cleaning up their defense eliminates Washington's fantastic team to a solid outing for the forward.

"We can't overreact, you can't look at the box score and say 'we have to completely change what we are doing, but we are we going to make alterations? Absolutely."

Those changes have yet to be seen as we await the tip-off of Game 4 between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Dallas Mavericks in the second round of the NBA Playoffs as OKC has hopes of knotting up the series at two games a piece.

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