Luka Doncic's Dallas Mavericks Take 2-1 Series Lead Over OKC Thunder

After pulling out a victory in Game 3, the Dallas Mavericks achieve a 2-1 series lead over the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Semifinals.

May 11, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (77) looks to shoot past / Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

DALLAS — With the winner having a chance to take a 2-1 series lead in the Western Conference Semifinals, the Dallas Mavericks protected homecourt at American Airlines Center by achieving a hard-fought 105-101 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Luka Doncic battled through a right knee sprain and left ankle soreness, recording 22 points, 15 rebounds, and five assists. He continued to command heavy defensive attention from the Thunder, often facing a pre-rotated low defender or blitzing throughout the game.

“Everything,” Doncic said regarding what was hurting after the game. “I'm just battling out there.”

May 11, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (77) looks to shoot past / Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Kyrie Irving added 22 points, seven assists, and five rebounds. However, for the second consecutive game, P.J. Washington led Dallas in scoring with 27 points while adding six rebounds and two assists. The only other double-figure scorer for the Mavericks was Dereck Lvely II with 12 points and eight rebounds, often the focus of intentional fouling down the stretch.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander set the tone for the Thunder with 31 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, and five blocks. Aside from Chet Holmgren's rim protection, with four blocks, the impact from Oklahoma City's supporting cast was limited. Holmgren chipped in 13 points and eight rebounds. Jalen Williams finished with 16 points, eight assist, and six rebounds. Isaiah Joe scored 13 points.

“It's extremely competitive,” Holmgren said. “Both teams really want it. If you take the result out of it, it's everything that you want to be going through in a basketball game.”

The Thunder continued to start Josh Giddey despite their struggles with him on the court in the series. Dallas resumed sagging off of him on the perimeter to pack the paint, making it more challenging for Gilgeous-Alexander to attack the paint with an advantage.

From the opening tipoff, the Mavericks got off to a strong start, with the initial emphasis being to feed the ball to Washington again, as in Game 2. Despite Luguentz Dort's aggressive on-ball defense, Doncic often attacked, including making a mid-range jumper, getting into the gap out of pick-and-roll later, and drawing a foul on a 3-point attempt. After the Thunder unsuccessfully challenged the foul call on a 3-point attempt against Doncic, he made two attempts to extend Dallas' advantage to 13-5.

Coming off a 29-point performance in Game 2, Washington got off to another hot start in this game, scoring 11 points midway through the opening period after making a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer off of a pass from Irving, then cleaning up a missed finish from Lively for a putback.

“He's hooping,” Gilgeous-Alexander said of Washington. “We've got to turn that water off if we want to win this series, for sure.”

Irving aggressively scored on a few plays, including using a jab-step out of triple-threat, leading to a made jumper to push Dallas up 24-15. Doncic returned to the floor shortly after, but Oklahoma City made a change by taking out Giddey and focused on blitzing the Slovenian superstar with Irving off the court.

There was a clear difference in how the Thunder executed offensively with Joe on the court instead of Giddey in the first half. Joe makes the Mavericks pay for showing strong side help against Gilgeous-Alexander. Playing out Stack pick-and-roll with Joe as a back screener, the Thunder tied it again with Jalen Williams finding Dort on a cut. Oklahoma City led 34-31 with 8:40 left before halftime.

After missing his first three shot attempts and having entered Game 2 being 2-10 from the floor, Lively received a pocket pass from Irving before throwing down an emphatic dunk, putting Dallas up 36-34 midway through the second period.

Cason Wallace hits a corner 3-pointer after he was left open in the strong side corner early in a possession, putting the Thunder up by a five-point margin with 4:31 left before the break. Washington reached 19 points after hitting a corner 3-pointer, followed by the Mavericks forcing a shot clock violation during the next play with Giddey and Dort on the court.

Irving hit a mid-range jumper later, followed by Doncic finishing an and-one sequence to give the Mavericks a 48-45 edge. There was no shortage of runs for both teams, resulting in a tight game down the stretch. Doncic hit a step-back 3-pointer against Dort before the half ended, but Joe answered right back with a quick catch-and-shoot attempt from deep to put Oklahoma City ahead 52-51, continuing a back-and-forth trend.

Dallas opened up the half-court coming out of halftime by using Jones as a back-screener in Stack pick-and-roll, setting up Doncic's lob to Gafford for a dunk. The Mavericks ran it again but the Thunder packed the paint, resulting in Washington getting a loose ball and driving for a floater with Holmgren patrolling the lane, causing a miss.

A significant element of the Mavericks' defensive strategy has been to disrespect Giddey as a floor spacing threat. He made a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer against Gafford on one possession then later got by him attacking a closeout, pushing the Thunder up 61-55.

The Mavericks went through a stretch of getting stifled in the paint with Holmgren and Gilgeous-Alexander pressuring the drive, along with Doncic turning it over on a drive. He felt there was a foul, allowing Oklahoma City to have numbers in transition, setting up an alley-oop to take a 10-point lead.

Before the Mavericks tightened up defensively, there was a stretch of empty offensive possessions leading to Thunder scoring chances that left an impressive of the game slipping away if their approach did not change. Gilgeous-Alexander hit a short range jumper

A series of defensive stops for the Mavericks created favorable transition chances to help propel an 8-0 run, resulting in Dallas trailing 65-63 entering a timeout. The first play involved Doncic making a throw-ahead pass to Lively, who then sprayed it out to Washington in the corner for a 3-pointer. Green then had a two-on-one that ended with a lob to Washington, pushing his scoring total to 24.

Green gave the Mavericks the lead after passing to Washington for a closeout attack before dishing it back to him for a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer. Dallas pulled down a series of offensive rebounds after missed 3-pointer on the next trip down the floor offensively before Doncic banked in a floater after a fake turnaround jumper against Dort.

Washington hit his fifth 3-pointer of the night to put the Mavericks up 71-65, but the Thunder answered with a 5-0 run to make it a one-possession game. However, after Williams was on the floor after appearing to injure his ankle, Irving converted from the perimeter. He stabilized the game as the only superstar on the court for Dallas, later accepting a double team out of a Zoom action before finding Gafford sealing off a small for a dunk, then making another shot from beyond the arc.

Dallas managed to maintain the lead without Doncic on the court, setting up an 82-78 edge entering the fourth quarter after Hardaway's jumper from distance before the period ended. Hardaway managed to get a floater to go to begin the final period, making another timely offensive play.

Irving had a highly impressive sequence, including three consecutive short-range jumpers, putting on a complete clinic on short creation. Hardaway then found Lively for an emphatic dunk. The Mavericks went up 92-83, but continuing the game's theme, the Thunder fired back.

“One of my coaches just came up to me and said I waited too long, so obviously I’ve got to be better on my end,” Irving said. “We’re going against a young team. So we just want to continue to do the things that get us these W's, and it starts on the defensive end.”

With the score being 94-90 midway through the fourth quarter, Williams intentionally fouled Lively with the Mavericks being in the bonus to send him to the free throw line. The rookie center split the pair of free throws. Lively was fouled again on the next possession and missed both free throws.

Doncic posted up Dort and found Washington open in the weak-side corner, but he missed the jumper with another rim out. Dort committed his fifth foul, sending Doncic to the free throw line before he split both shots, extending the Mavericks' lead to 96-92 with 4:02 remaining to play.

Oklahoma City tried hunting Doncic in clutch time by having his man, Cason Wallace, come to flip a screen for Gilgeous-Alexander to try to create an advantage, but it didn't work. Lively was sent to the free throw line again, and this time, he made both shots, solidifying a 98-92 edge for Dallas.

Both teams made a series of plays in clutch time to keep it a tightly contested matchup before the outcome was decided. A quick trigger 3-pointer from Joe made it a single-possession game, with the Thunder again before intentionally sending Lively to the free throw line. He made both free throws again. After Irving turned it over, passing against a double team, Doncic almost immediately stole a pass before finishing against Holmgren. Doncic later tied up the ball on defense to force a jump ball and won it.

After Gilgeous-Alexander made it a single possession game by getting to the free throw line and converting on both shots, Irving settled the game down for the Mavericks before getting a floater to fall, putting Dallas up by five points yet again. Oklahoma City was unable to tie or take the lead for the rest of regulation after trying to make up ground.

Dort fouled out with 7.2 seconds left sending Doncic to the line, he split the trip to the line, but making one free throw was enough to hold enough to win with a four-point lead.

The series will resume on Monday when Game 4 is played at American Airlines Center.