Oklahoma City Drops First Game in 2024 Playoffs, Mavericks Tie Series

The Oklahoma City Thunder couldn't quite take full advantage of home court, falling to the Dallas Mavericks just under double digit points.

May 9, 2024; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Luguentz Dort (5) gestures / Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports

The Oklahoma City Thunder can't be undefeated forever.

In its first loss of the playoffs, the Thunder fell to the Dallas Mavericks 119-110. It was a tale of two vastly different offensive nights, with Oklahoma City failing to convert nearly as many 3-point opportunities.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander continued his excellence from Game 1 of the series, dropping 33 points, 12 rebounds, eight assists, one steal and two blocks on 13-of-24 shooting. Even through questions of injury, his performances in the second round have been far more encouraging, truly leading the the Thunder as its superstar.

Jalen Williams provided a nice secondary option, recording 20 points, four rebounds and four assists. Although it was on an inefficient 7-of-17 night, he was the only other player who fully stepped up to the occasion outside of Gilgeous-Alexander.

Luka Doncic and P.J. Washington had equally fantastic performances to lead the Mavericks to victory, They combined for a whopping 58 points, 21 rebounds and 11 assists, a true show-stopping night for the pairing. Kyrie Irving could only muster up nine points, but his 11 assists showed impressive playmaking that proved important to the Dallas offense.

Oklahoma City began with a rough start, allowing a 13-2 deficit in the first three minutes of the contest. It soon embarked on a 7-0 run — which included a ridiculous block from Holmgren on Dereck Lively II — helping it quickly get back into the game.

Even with Doncic's 16 points and a total of eight team 3-pointers, the Thunder still managed to stick with the Mavericks, only falling behind four points after the first quarter.

Once again Dallas went on an unanswered scoring run to open up the second quarter, this time being 9-0. The favor began to swing Oklahoma City's way once again with a stretch of eight straight points from Gilgeous-Alexander, but it wasn't enough to prevent a halftime deficit of six points.

Doncic and Washington combined for 37 of 68 Mavericks points, while Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams combined for 32 of 62 Thunder points — a fairly balanced duel between the top duos of the night.

The third quarter was another competitive one, but a lead still wasn't in Oklahoma City's sights. It was outscored 99-89 heading into the fourth quarter, making for a challenging deficit to come back from in the final 12 minutes of action.

The Thunder offense stumbled for much of the fourth, completely losing its ability from behind the arc. A couple of costly mistakes and missed opportunities prevented it from ever fully making a push at stealing a win, resulting in a series tie heading into Dallas on Saturday.

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