Three Takeaways From the OKC Thunder Dropping a Pivotal Game 5 to Dallas

The Thunder stole home-court advantage back in Game 4 but could not capitalize on it in Game 5.

May 15, 2024; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA;Oklahoma City Thunder guard Luguentz Dort (5) shoots a / Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports

The Thunder are on the brink of elimination after a subpar Game 5.

Oklahoma City lost to the Dallas Mavericks 104-92 in Game 5 of their second-round series. Trailing 3-2, Oklahoma City is facing elimination for the first time this season.

Luka Doncic finished with 31 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists to lead Dallas. His 3-pointer with 9:31 left in the fourth quarter gave Dallas an 18-point lead and appeared to put the game away.

However, the Thunder responded and scored 10 straight points to get back into the game. Despite their efforts, the Thunder could not get the Mavericks’ lead lower than seven points. 

Dallas also outperformed Oklahoma City in almost every major category, including an advantage of 13 on the glass.

Let’s dive into three lessons that can be learned from yesterday’s game.

May 15, 2024; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) / Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports

OKC’s outside shooting is unreliable 

The Thunder finished the regular season with the league’s best 3-point percentage and continued their elite shooting in the first round. However, the Thunder are feeling the cliche of “live by the three, die by the three” against Dallas.

Game 5 was Oklahoma City’s worst outside shooting performance of the postseason at 10-of-40, narrowly worse than its 7-of-27 performance in Game 4. Although the Thunder proved in Game 4 that they can win without a good shooting night, it makes life more difficult.

With Dallas running Oklahoma City off the line and getting consistent late contests, Those efforts led to 2-of-8 shooting nights for both Lu Dort and Isaiah Joe. Still, the Thunder have not struggled to this extent all season.

Wednesday marked the fourth straight game Oklahoma City shot 33.3% or worse from 3-point range, its longest streak of the season.

The MVP counterparts might not show up in this series

Coming into this series, it was apparent Luka Doncic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander would likely get their usual stats. However, their secondary ball handlers have yet to have a notable offensive impact.

In his first playoff run, Jalen Williams has had big moments but has not put together a good second round. This series, he has averaged 16 points, six rebounds and five assists while shooting 40.8% from the floor and only 31.3% from deep. That includes 12 points on Wednesday and a 5-of-19 outing in Game 4.

Meanwhile, Kyrie Irving’s struggles have not mattered much for Dallas. He has averaged 14.4 points and 6.8 assists on only 12.2 shots. Although he is still shooting well, his overall production is a significant dropoff from his 25.6 points in the regular season and 26.5 points in Round 1. Game 5 marked his third game this series with 12 points or fewer, matching the total for the rest of his season.

Although neither team has gotten the contributions they expected from their secondary stars, it’s clear which team needs that to change in Game 6.

Oklahoma City can't survive when their superstar is on the bench

The Thunder have hung their hat on being a deep team all season, but this series has tested that. Despite entering the playoffs with a 10-man rotation, finding consistent contributions has been a struggle.

In Game 5, the Thunder were outscored by only three points when Gilgeous-Alexander was on the floor. The Thunder struggling without their superstar is nothing absurd, but it is disappointing with how they have looked without him throughout the season.

This series, Gilgeous-Alexander has averaged 31.4 points, nine rebounds and 7.2 assists. Including his heroics in Game 4, he has been one of the Thunder’s only bright spots since Game 1.

Although it might not be a sustainable move, playing Gilgeous-Alexander all 48 minutes or close to it is on the table with the season on the line.

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The Thunder have their backs against the wall after Game 5, but the young team has consistently responded to challenges all season. Still, this game was a missed opportunity and could lead to this core’s first playoff exit.

Oklahoma City will look to stave off elimination in Dallas on Saturday night in Game 6.

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