On May 10, Beijing time, the Mavericks defeated the Thunder 119-110 away, with a big score of 1-1. The man behind the Mavericks' win in this game was definitely Irving, who helped the team regain the lead when Doncic was not on the floor in the third quarter, and helped the team control the tempo with defense and assists in the final quarter.
Irving took the blame after the loss in G1 in the semifinals: "It was me who made too many mistakes, I should take responsibility, Dort is a good defender and should be praised and respected. But then he wrote on social media: We're going to be together no matter what.
G1 Irving shot 7-of-14 from the field, including 3-of-4 from three-point range and 3-of-3 from the free-throw line, and finished with 20 points, 1 rebound, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 block and 4 turnovers. (Doncic made 6+5 turnovers in 19) It's clear that Doncic is worse.
Before G2, Doncic averaged 28.3 points and 3.9 turnovers per game in the playoffs, shooting 39.5% from the field and 22.7% from three-point range; Irving averaged 25.6 points and 2.6 turnovers per game, shooting 51.2% from the field and 47.2% from three-point range.
The collapse of the G1 Mavericks is that Irving has no ball after consecutive points in the third quarter, this G2 Irving was 1 of 4 in the entire first half, got 4 points, 7 assists, 2 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 block, Irving's stroke in the first half was obvious.
The US media wrote: Please tell Owen that we need him too much in this G2.
Irving in the second half was indeed different, especially after Doncic went off the court, Irving led the team to play a wave of 10-2 climax, which opened to 8 points and directly stopped the Thunder. After the ATO, the Thunder missed Irving to assist Xiaoha 3+0, Irving played 9 minutes in the third quarter, 3 points, 3 assists and 1 steal, he was replaced with a plus/minus of +10, and scored 7 points, 10 assists and 2 rebounds in the third quarter.
In the final quarter, Irving was too powerful on the defensive end, hated Dort, and then assisted Washington for a dunk, and Irving had 2 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist and 1 block in the final quarter.
Irving played 41 minutes in the game, 2-of-8, 0-of-2 three-pointers, 5-of-6 free throws, 9 points, 11 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 blocks and 2 turnovers, shooting 25% from the field, plus or minus +9 (the highest in the starter as Washington)
NBA reporter Kevin O'Connor wrote: Irving only scored 9 points, but he played exceptionally well this time, helping the team in other ways, the super difference maker of the small-ball era, and setting the tone for the Mavericks to win.
Text/Yan Xiaobai's basketball dream