This NBA Playoffs showdown between Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Luka Doncic is getting more interesting. It is all tied up with both squads notching one win apiece. The Oklahoma City Thunder just could not find the momentum to get any of their guys on a consistent rhythm. Their offense looked heliocentric at times with the Most Valuable Player finalist often having to create because of lacking options. What did the Luka Doncic-led Dallas Mavericks do better this time? They knew every beat and made their opponents defend.
Who's to blame for the Thunder's loss?
Any member of the Thunder who got caught up in the Mavericks' pick-and-roll cage. Whenever Luka Doncic was getting a pick, there was not much blitzing going on. So, the Thunder was left to only have one defender hounding him and it was either Lu Dort, Josh Giddey, or Aaron Wiggins. Oftentimes, these men would have a split-second choice to pick their poison. They could either go over the screen and contest the shot by the Mavericks' ball handler or under it to anticipate the roll man. It was a bad decision made every time.
The Mavericks' star guard ended this NBA Playoffs clash by going 11 for 21 on his field goal attempts and making five out of his eight three-pointers. Those all combined to give Doncic an impressive 29 points. Whenever he wasn't the one manning the offense, it was Kyrie Irving making the Thunder suffer. He may have only netted nine points but that is for a good reason. After missing six out of his eight field goals, Irving dedicated himself to feeding the roll man which is why he got 11 assists.
Going back to Doncic, when the Thunder make the rare move of contesting him over the screen, his insanely high IQ kicked in. He saw the cutter and landed the pass every time except for once when he committed a turnover. The recipient was always PJ Washington in this game and it was evident. Their NBA trade deadline acquisition was popping out from three. This led to seven out of his 11 three-pointers finding the net. Not to mention, Washington also went 11 for 18 on the field which all led to him finishing with 29 points.
The Thunder looked confused whenever they were faced with these decisions. Thankfully, it is a seven-game series and they can clearly adjust and come back.
Thunder lack offensive firepower
No one else was making the proper plays consistently aside from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The second runner-up in this year's MVP race saw his shots hit the bottom of the net 13 out of 24 times for 33 points. He also tried to keep the rest of the Thunder involved with eight assists. But, he just could not spark a big enough run in the clutch.
The other members of the Thunder's core, Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams, had awful shooting nights. These two only accounted for 31 of their squad's 110 points while falling to the Mavericks' 119 in this NBA Playoffs clash. What made it worse was that they shot a collective 11 for 29 on all three levels of scoring. Someone needs to answer the call aside from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
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