Oklahoma City Dries up Dallas Offense in Hostile Environment
In a game that was trending the same direction as both games prior, Oklahoma City's back was against the wall as an interactive Dallas crowd was in the thick of it all.
Another impressive game by P.J. Washington, it appeared early on that the Mavericks' defensive presence would be too much for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and its young group to overcome. The Thunder's MVP runner-up didn't sit back lightly down the stretch to let that happen though, taking matters into his own hands and getting to his first open spot and sinking it as he's done all season long.
But it was primarily Oklahoma City's stout defense and an abysmal free throw performance from the Mavericks, who shot just 12-of-23 in that department, stripping Game 4 away from the Mavericks to safe face and head back home with the series knotted.
"He's hooping," Gilgeous-Alexander said of Washington following the Thunder's collapse on Saturday in Game 3. "We've got to turn that water off if we want to win the series, for sure."
Nearly all series long Washington has been torching from outside, leaving no answer for the Thunder to respond -- that was still a similar story in this Oklahoma City win though, as he sank 5-of-11 tries from deep to lead Dallas in scoring. It was the limitation of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving that truly sold the deal for the Thunder alongside the Mavericks' free throw woes. The Dallas duo put up 19 assists combined, but were hardly scoring factors relative to their capabilities, generating just 27 points between the two of them.
They may have not turned that water off and dried Washington up specifically, but holding the Dallas offense to 40.9% from the field and 34.3% from three seems like a win considering how they've been shooting the ball of late. In a physical series, it's getting hostile, but the young Thunder are not backing down nor are they shying away from the challenge.
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