OKC Thunder Facing Elimination, Mavs' Kyrie Irving Undefeated in Closeout Games

The Oklahoma City Thunder was facing a big opportunity on Wednesday. They were hosting the Dallas Mavericks in Game 5 with the series tied 2-2. Instead of capitalizing on their home-court advantage and take a series lead heading back to Dallas.

Now the Mavericks have every bit of control in the series as they look to close the series out on their home floor Saturday evening. The catch? Mavericks star Kyrie Irving is a perfect 13-0 in closeout games, which was an extended undefeated streak a series ago as they finished off the LA Clippers.

It's now up to the Thunder to change that narrative and go against all odds. Going down 3-2 was already a hurdle, now Irving's undefeated streak only adds to that. The Thunder seem to know what they're being presented with on the verge of elimination, too.

Only a couple of Thunder players have been in this situation before, though, and certainly only those actively in the rotation. One that has is Lu Dort, who had an incredible Game 7 in the first round of the 2020 NBA playoffs.

“You really give it everything you got. Don’t wanna go home. It’s not just me, it’s the same feeling for the whole team," Dort said of playing an elimination game. "We’re gonna give it our best shot.”

Dort is going to have to give the team an incredible offensive performance as he did four seasons ago with the team's back against the wall. The falloff of shooting has been one of the team's biggest downfalls and reasons for the series deficit, and Dort getting hot from 3-point land would be cruical to staying alive.

Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault understands shots are going to have to fall and players have to step up for the team to survive another day.

“We were the best 3-point shooting team in the league for much of the season," Daigneault said. "This team is taking away the rim at all costs, parking their bigs at the basket. So 3-pointers are available and we have to find them and take them.”

Last game, Daigneault started Isaiah Joe in place of Josh Giddey to help in the shooting department. The team is likley going to take a similar approach in Game 6, though Joe might not be the answer.

“I know what I plan to do but I don’t talk about lineups or rotations heading into the game," Daigneault revealed.

Cason Wallace and Aaron Wiggins are two other strong candidates to get a start, should it not be Joe or Giddey.

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