Three Takeaways From the OKC Thunder's Tight Game 3 Loss to the Dallas Mavericks

Oklahoma City dropped its second consecutive game on Saturday afternoon, falling behind 2-1 in their series against Dallas.

Lu Dort (5) and PJ Washington (25) / Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

After a 5-0 start to the postseason for the Oklahoma City Thunder, the youngest team in the NBA Playoffs is having to face adversity for the first time since the regular season ended.

OKC has dropped two consecutive games to the Dallas Mavericks, including one at the Paycom Center, and trails 2-1 in the series with a huge Game 4 looming on Monday night in Dallas.

Falling 105-101 on Saturday afternoon, the Thunder will be looking to regroup and respond on Monday night to avoid being on the brink of elimination.

Here are three takeaways from Oklahoma City's second playoff loss.

OKC's Game 2 shooting struggles return in Game 3

In Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinals, the Thunder had an incredible shooting performance, hitting 45.7% of its 3-point shots.

In Game 2, however, Mark Daigneault's team didn't have the same result, hitting just 33.3% of their shots from beyond the arc. These shooting struggles haunted Oklahoma City again in Game 3, as OKC once again shot 33.3% from deep in a losing effort.

The Thunder finished the regular season with the top 3-point percentage in the NBA, connecting on 38.9% of their shots from beyond the arc. In the first round of the playoffs, Oklahoma City shot a similar percentage from deep.

In the second round, however, OKC has won the only game it shot above 40% from long range and dropped both contests where the Thunder have hit less than 35% of their 3-point shots. To prolong their matchup against Dallas and have a chance at getting to the Western Conference Finals, Daigneault's team will need to start knocking down triples like they did in Game 1 and throughout the regular season.

Oklahoma City needs adjustments on defense

After the Thunder's first five playoff games, observers lauded the team's defense, as OKC held the Pelicans under 93 points in all four contests and held the Mavericks to 95 in Game 1.

While Oklahoma City's defense hasn't been terrible in Games 2 and 3, there are obvious warts that Daigneault and company will need to work out. Most notably, PJ Washington was Dallas' leading scorer in the last two contests, tallying 29 points in Game 2 and 27 points in Game 3.

Many of Washington's points have come from open 3-pointers, as the Thunder have double-teamed Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, often leaving one of the Mavericks' role players open from 3-point range. While this strategy worked well in Game 1, Washington has shot the ball very well for two games in a row.

With five makes from beyond the arc in Game 3 and seven in Game 2, Daigneault and company need to prevent Washington from getting so many open looks, especially if OKC continues to struggle from deep.

Thunder show their youth

In Oklahoma City's first five games of the postseason, the team looked strong and mature, responding to every punch the Pelicans and Mavericks threw at them. Even in a Game 2 loss, OKC didn't feel like a team making youthful mistakes.

In Game 3, however, the Thunder made plenty of uncharacteristic errors that played a huge factor in what ended up being a four point loss.

The young team committed 13 turnovers on Saturday afternoon with multiple coming at extremely inopportune moments in the game. At one point, Isaiah Joe stole a pass from Irving as the Thunder trailed by three with about two minutes left in the game.

While Joe was trying to get the ball upcourt, Doncic intercepted the pass and scored on the other end to give the Mavericks a five point lead.

"We’re not playing quite at a level that I think we’re capable of right now," Daigneault said after the game.

Additionally, the Thunder had a chance to pull away with a 10 point lead in the third quarter, but gave up a 16-0 run by Dallas that completely shifted the game's momentum.

Being the youngest team in the postseason and the youngest team to ever win a playoff series, it is not surprising that OKC's youth could show in games against playoff veterans like Irving and Doncic.

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