Winning Game 1 of their second-round matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder was always going to be a difficult task for the Dallas Mavericks. The Mavericks were coming off a hard-fought six-game series against the Los Angeles Clippers, which ended on Friday night, while the Thunder had already punched their ticket to the second round by Monday after they swept the New Orleans Pelicans. The crowd at Paycom Center is always going to be unforgiving, and thus, it was no surprise that the Mavericks fell, 117-95, to begin the series.

The Mavericks were within shouting distance for most of the game; heading into the fourth, they were down by 10, but teams these days can easily wipe away that kind of deficit. Alas, a few questionable rotation decisions, a Jalen Williams heater, and an untimely inability to make shots doomed the Mavs.

These are the Mavericks who must do better moving forward as they get another chance to steal homecourt advantage when they take the floor in Paycom Center on Thursday night.

Luka Doncic did not look like himself

Throughout the Mavericks' series against the Clippers, Luka Doncic did not look like his usual dominant self. Sure, he racked up stats with the best of them thanks to his elite court vision. But Doncic performed rather poorly (relative to his own standards) against a Clippers team that he bent to his will despite his playoff losses in 2020 and 2021.

Doncic shot just 40.5 percent from the field and 23.9 percent from deep against the Clippers, but it did not matter; the Mavericks still took care of business thanks to how unstoppable Kyrie Irving was and due to their perimeter defense that stifled Paul George and James Harden. Alas, the Thunder are in a league of their own compared to the Clippers, especially in the athleticism department, and Dallas absolutely cannot afford for their best player's struggles to continue.

Luka Doncic, in Game 1 against the Thunder, was inefficient yet again from the field; he finished the night having made just six of his 19 attempts from the field, and he only made one of his eight attempts from beyond the arc, continuing the trend of his poor output from long distance. Moreover, Doncic went just 6-10 from the foul line while turning the ball over five times.

It wasn't as if Doncic was put through the Dorture Chamber like Brandon Ingram was; the Mavericks star simply couldn't find his rhythm from beyond the arc, as it seemed like he settled for pull-up attempts rather than actively going downhill to try and stress the Thunder's defense.

Now, Doncic is one of the greatest pull-up threats in history. The law of averages dictates that he'll be much better from deep as we go deeper into the playoffs. However, there's a major factor that appears to be limiting the Mavericks star's production, with that being his knee injury.

Doncic's knee remains heavily taped, and the physicality of the Clippers series did him no favors in that regard. He was limping on a few occasions during Game 1, and it seemed like he was laboring more often than not. His knee also limited his burst and therefore forcing him to hoist up more difficult three-point attempts rather than attack the basket.

At this point, it's unclear how severe the knee injury is and how much this is truly bothering Doncic. But if the Mavericks superstar continues playing like he did in Game 1, then it's hard to see them taking four games against a Thunder team that looks hungrier than ever.

Mavericks made questionable rotation choices, role players got outplayed

Daniel Gafford loves to play against the Thunder. During the Mavericks' previous outing against OKC, which came on March 15, Gafford put up 19 points and 15 rebounds along with two blocks. Game 1 was more of the same for him; he had his way against Chet Holmgren on multiple occasions, even blocking a three-point attempt, and this certainly looks more like a series suited for him than against the Clippers, as he tallied 16 points, 11 boards, and five blocks on Tuesday night.

Despite this, Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd still limited Gafford's minutes. With 9:16 left in the fourth quarter, Kidd subbed out Gafford in favor of Dereck Lively II. The Thunder would proceed to go on a 17-7 run before Kidd decided to wave the white flag and pull his starters out.

Kidd attempted to go small to try and space the floor as they faced a double-digit deficit. However, this simply weakened the Mavericks' defense, and it wasn't like Dallas' offense became unstoppable when they went small. This was where Maxi Kleber's absence was really felt, as he could have allowed the Mavericks to cover more ground defensively while spacing the floor all the same, all without sacrificing too much size.

But beyond this, the Mavs' role players were simply outplayed by the Thunder's. On a night where Luka Doncic did not look like his best self and Kyrie Irving got going a bit too late, it all boiled down to the supporting cast to keep the Mavericks afloat. Daniel Gafford did his job, while Josh Green provided some energy during his minutes. But the other players weren't particularly at their best.

PJ Washington, in particular, did not perform too well on the defensive end. In the fourth quarter, Jalen Williams went at Washington and went on a run of his own to solidify the Thunder's lead. Derrick Jones Jr., meanwhile, stayed in front of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander more often than not. But Gilgeous-Alexander is different from James Harden and Paul George in that he can actually draw fouls and get to the line for easy points.

And then there's Tim Hardaway Jr.; he didn't play too many minutes against the Clippers after he sustained an ankle injury, and that wasn't particularly a bad thing. It gave the Clippers one fewer player to target in screening actions. Hardaway then returned for Game 1 against the Thunder, and this could have been helpful given the additional offensive firepower he provides the Mavs. However, Hardaway struggled to the tune of two points on 1-5 shooting from the field, and he didn't exactly become a lockdown defender overnight.

Meanwhile, the Thunder got incredible contributions from Aaron Wiggins and Jaylin Williams. Wiggins, in particular, was huge all night long. What might dictate this series is the performance of the teams' supporting casts, and in Game 1, the Mavericks' failed to rise to the occasion.