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The Dallas Mavericks beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 104-92 on Wednesday night to take a 3-2 lead in the Western Conference semifinal series as star Luka Doncic dropped 31 points in a triple-double.
Thunder fans did all they could to slow down the Mavericks star, including starting a ‘Luka sucks' chant. It didn't seem to bother Doncic at all, per Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News:
Doncic says he loves the “Luka sucks” chants.” I asked if he saw the fans with the Doncic face and pacifier T-shirts. No, but it sounds like he wishes he’d seen them. pic.twitter.com/Hd2o5FYS2t
— Brad Townsend (@townbrad) May 16, 2024
Said the Mavericks superstar, “I love it. They want to chant ‘Luka sucks?' It gets me going.”
Doncic certainly got going against the Thunder in Game 5. After the Mavericks star led the NBA in scoring during the regular season, Doncic has struggled a bit against Oklahoma City. Doncic had averaged just 22 points on 39% shooting through the first four games while playing through a sore left ankle and a sprained right knee. But he had 11 assists and 10 rebounds to go with his 33 points for his sixth career playoff triple-double.
Luka Doncic and Mavericks on verge of reaching Western Conference finals
As they did in the first round against the Los Angeles Clippers, the Mavericks won Game 5 on the road, as they held the Thunder offense to sub 43 percent shooting.
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Oklahoma City tried to jump-start its struggling offense by replacing Josh Giddey with Isaiah Joe in the starting lineup. Giddey did not start for the first time in 229 combined regular-season and postseason games.
The decision to deny Giddey a chance to start Game 5 caught many fans surprised. Although Giddey has not been performing at a high level in the series versus the Mavericks, the Thunder had stuck with him as a starter –until tonight.
Dallas led by 15 in the second quarter and took a 54-44 edge into halftime as Derrick Jones Jr. scored 15 points in the first two quarters.
Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 14 points in the third quarter as he tried to get his team back into the game, but Dallas still led 79-67 after three quarters of action.
The Mavericks pushed their lead out to 18 points early in the fourth quarter before Oklahoma City finally made their move. A 3-pointer by Gilgeous-Alexander cut the deficit to 89-79 with just under seven minutes remaining and forced Dallas to call a timeout. But Dallas buckled down and the Thunder never got closer than seven points the rest of the way.
With their Game 5 win, the Mavericks now stand just one more victory away from a potential trip to the Western Conference finals where they would take on the winner of the Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Denver Nuggets. The Nuggets lead that series three games to two after dropping the first two games on their home court.
