Stiles Points: OKC Thunder Leaned On Playoff Defense Against Mavericks

Luka Doncic looked dejected the vast majority of the night on Tuesday. With a trip to Vegas and $500,000 dollars on the line, Doncic had one of the worst games of his NBA career. The superstar labored his way to a measly 16 points on 5-for-15 shooting from the floor and giving the ball away six times in a frustrating night.

The Oklahoma City Thunder made it a personal mission to take away Doncic and force his supporting cast to beat them, sound familiar? This was the exact strategy in the NBA Playoffs a year ago, in which the Thunder got bounced in six games, being forced to tip its cap to PJ Washington and the back up band, moving onto the offseason.

There was no Washington to save Doncic. The Former Hornet missed this contest with an illness. All that was left was Oklahoma City's harassing defense even more flustering to play against than it was a year ago.

This statline from the Mavericks star will garner all the headlines, but there wasn't much for the all-world player to do. He was picked up near the timeline with high ball pressure, the Thunder hedged on every screen, blitzed on most, and worried about the rest later.

That plan worked out much better for the Thunder this season. Besides for Nnaji Marshall's 19 points off the pine, the rest of the Mavericks were held in check, due to the Thunder's roster upgrades.

As the Thunder sent pressure to Doncic, they were equipped to handle the fall out. New acquired Alex Caruso scaled up to disrupt the Mavericks inside and proved an athletic boost to Oklahoma City as they sprinted out to contest triples.

Oklahoma City still surrendered some quality looks to Mavericks, many of them not cashed in, but it is the NBA. You can never take everything away, the goal is to leave the less appealing option. Doncic facing off with even elite defenders one-on-one? That is a situation Dallas longs for.

Forcing Marshall into 14 shots, Dinwiddie into nine more and Grimes into five? Advantage Thunder. That is not to say the supporting cast could not rise to the occasion - point and case last postseason - but it is not a certainty the way Doncic is.

This was the exact plan Mark Daigneault drew up in their postseason loss to Dallas a year ago, only now the Thunder are able to execute it. They have their small ball center back in the fold in Kenrich Williams, a massive defensive upgrade in Caruso and the rim protection of Hartenstein which only heightens upon Chet Holmgren's return later this season.

Stiles Points

Chet Holmgren made an stop by the Paycom Center on Tuesday and even gave the OKC Thunder a pregame speech, according to Gilgeous-Alexander postgame.
OKC now awaits the winner of the Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors clash, set to take place Wednesday night, to find out who they will face in the NBA Cup semifinal game. The final four of the NBA Cup takes place on Saturday.
Kenrich Williams was fantastic in his small ball center role, making it more puzzling how he fell out of the Thunder's rotation a year ago in the postseason. The TCU product, though, dealt with injuries all season.
Jalen Williams labored offensively until a 5-for-10 fourth frame lifted his overall box score. The Mavericks continue to pose the biggest threat to the Thunder's rising star with its physical style of defense and ability to take aways the spots the Santa Clara product likes to get to.

Song of the Day: Big in Vegas by Buck Owens

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