On May 12, Beijing time, the NBA division semifinals continued, and the Mavericks returned to their home court to face the Thunder. In the first round of the playoffs, the Mavericks eliminated the Clippers 4-2, and the Thunder swept the Pelicans 4-0. As the first in the West in the regular season, the Thunder continued its strong momentum in the playoffs, and the team's offense and defense were the top four in the league in the regular season, and the average steals, blocks, three-point shooting percentage, and turnovers per game were all the first in the league; By the playoffs, the team's defensive efficiency had risen to the top in the league. Holmgren became the first player since Myles Turner to contribute 20+ blocks in the playoffs in his rookie season in the past eight years, and Alexander also became one of the only three players in Thunder history who averaged 25+5+5 per game in the playoffs. However, in the last game, the Thunder unexpectedly lost to the opponent by 9 points at home and lost the home advantage.
Playing the Clippers in the first round, Doncic's efficiency is not high, the overall shooting rate in the playoffs this year is less than 40%, and the knee injury has a big impact on him, but fortunately, Irving's performance is stable, and in the last game against the Thunder, Washington scored 29 points and 11 rebounds, sending the Thunder to the first loss of the playoffs! Doncic has exposed more and more deficiencies in the playoffs, such as complaining, not being active on the defensive end, and being more emotional, but fortunately, the overall performance is picking up. Statistics show that Doncic has played 25+5+5+5 three-point data 9 times in the playoffs, third in history, second only to Curry and Harden. Before this game, the American media "BR" gave a probability prediction that the probability of the Thunder advancing to the Western Conference Finals was as high as 73.9%, and the Mavericks were only 26.1%. However, in Irving's words, it is not yet time to make a push on their own, and the team needs to have a stronger sense of urgency.
Mavericks starters: Doncic + Irving + Derrick Jones + PJ Washington + Gafford Thunder starters: Alexander + Keady + Dort + Jewe + Holmgren. At the beginning of the game, Washington faced Holmgren's dunk, and then Gafford also trained Holmgren, and after Dort's three-point stop bleeding, Doncic threw it with high difficulty, and Jones pulled the rod to complete 2+1! In the middle of the period, Doncic continued to make Dort's three-point fouls, the Thunder relied on Keady to stabilize the situation with consecutive singles, and Washington's three-pointers and rebounds instantly widened the difference! In the second half, Irving continued to break through strong attacks, Alexander burst inside and outside, and Isaiacho hit another three-pointer at the end of the quarter, and the Mavericks led the Thunder 26-23 in the first quarter. Coming back in the second quarter, Washington added three points, and Isaiah Joe felt good and helped the Thunder quickly tie the score. After that, Jay and Hardaway Jr. hit three points, and the two sides fell into a tug-of-war.
In the middle of the period, Alexander ate Irving alone, and Jones stepped back to shoot a jumper, Wallace also hit a three-point shot, and at the critical moment, it was Washington's three-pointer, and then Irving and Doncic took turns to kill, and at the end of the quarter, Holmgren dunked, Doncic stepped back to respond to a three-point shot, and Isaiacho hit a three-point whistle. The Thunder outscored the Mavericks 52-51 at halftime, with Washington scoring 19 points, Doncic scoring 14 points, and Irving scoring 8 points and 6 assists. Alexander had 17 points in the half, Isaiacho had 10 points. At the beginning of the second half, Gafford continued to dunk, Jawway responded with a jumper, Keady seized the empty three-point opportunity, Alexander and Jewy led the team to open a 10-point gap in the middle of the game, and at the critical moment, Lively made free throws to stop the bleeding, and Washington continued to kill three points, and then steals and counterattacked the dunk, leading the team to overtake in waves! In the second half, Doncic and Washington blossomed inside and out, and Irving also hit a three-pointer.
Jayway had a broken foot, and at the end of the quarter, Irving continued to shoot from the outside, and combined with Hardaway to keep the lead! At the end of the third quarter, the Mavericks led the Thunder 82-78. In the fourth quarter of the decisive battle, Hardaway and Irving took turns to score singles, and Holmgren responded with a strong attack, and the two teams maintained about 5 points and fell into a stalemate again. Alexander hit a three-pointer in the middle section, Doncic threw a difficult shot, and at the decisive moment, the Thunder chased all the way to only 3 points, Levery made no mistake on a free throw, Doncic made a steal and layup, and in the last 1 minute, Irving scored a difficult drifting jumper, and Doncic made one of two free throws to kill the suspense of the game! In the end, the Mavericks defeated the Thunder 105-101, and the Mavericks led the Thunder 2-1 in the series.
Thunder statistics, Alexander 31 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals and 4 blocks, Jay 16 points, 6 rebounds and 8 assists, Holmgren 13 points and 8 rebounds, Isaiah Joe 13 points, Keady 9 points. Mavericks statistics, Doncic 22 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals, Irving 22 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists, Washington 27 points and 6 rebounds, Lively 12 points and 8 rebounds, Gafford 8 points and 5 rebounds, Hardaway Jr. 8 points.
Surprisingly, the Thunder, the first in the West in the regular season, fell into a passive situation in the second round of the playoffs. First of all, the biggest surprise of the Mavericks is Washington, two consecutive surprise explosions, three times in this game to save the team in critical moments, playing too confidently, and Doncic and Irving's passes are very timely. Secondly, in addition to Alexander, the Thunder really lacked scoring points in the fourth quarter, the tactics were not very clear, and with Jayway's broken foot, the Thunder's offense was a little weak. You can always trust Irving at critical moments, and the difficult jumper in the last 1 minute, including Doncic's tough foul after his mistake at the last moment, is much better than Doncic in terms of importance on the court.