The Thunder lost 101-105 to the Mavericks and fell behind 1-2.
Now the Thunder urgently need adjustments and helpers to help the team turn the score around, but until the end of the game, no one can step up, not even Hayward, a veteran who signed at the time with playoff experience.
Hayward played 3 minutes in this game and did not score on 0-of-1 shooting. In all seven playoff games of the Thunder this year, Hayward played but didn't score a point, playing a total of 45 minutes and 55 seconds, with 0 points, 9 rebounds and 2 assists.
You know, in the 23-24 season, Hayward still has a contract with an annual salary of 31.5 million. However, compared to the playoffs, Hayward in the regular season is worthy of his salary.
He averaged 9.8 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.1 assists in 24 minutes per game while shooting 46.4 percent from the field and 41.1 percent from three-point range.
With Hayward's current state and level, it may be extremely difficult to stay in the NBA next season, let alone fight for a high salary.
And the Thunder in this round of the series, facing the Mavericks with close strength, in a situation where no one stepped up to bear the pressure for Alexander, they really couldn't resist the pressure of the cowboy army.
Because in addition to the two cores, the Lone Ranger also has one person who stood up and took on the role of the third giant.
In the two games in which the Mavericks won the Thunder in a row, the top scorers on the Dallas side were not Doncic and Irving, but P.J. Washington.
The Mavericks were able to come from behind and lead their opponents from 0-1 to 2-1 in the series, and the first contributor was Washington. In G3, Washington played 40 minutes and 14 seconds in the whole game, scoring a team-high 27 points, in addition to 6 rebounds and 2 assists, and the number of turnovers was 0.
Looking at the whole game, only the opposite MVP candidate Alexander scored more points, and Washington's 23 shots were also the highest in the game, which is far more than the role player's stats and ball possession.
This is not a flash in the pan for Washington. In the last game, the Mavericks forward shot 7 of 11 from beyond the three-point line, scored a team-high 29 points with Doncic, and grabbed 11 rebounds at the same time, becoming the first player to shoot 10 rebounds + 7 three-pointers in a single playoff game since Curry in the 2022 Finals.
PJ Washington's projection on the front line, every shot cost the Thunder's defensive strategy.
With the help of this extreme 3D, and the key Mr. Dallas in control, winning is not a problem.
In the G3 game, the familiar Irving once again exerted his strength in the second half, especially in the fourth quarter, Irving scored 8 points alone, including a wave of 6 points in a row to lead the team to open up the difference, and a left-handed throw that ended the game at the last moment.
Whether in the regular season or the playoffs, Irving was one of the brightest players in the league in the final quarter and crunch time.
He averaged 7.3 points per game in the fourth quarter of the regular season to rank seventh, and his three-point shooting percentage ranked among the "180 clubs", and when the game reached the critical moment when the difference was within 5 points in the final 5 minutes, Irving averaged 4.2 points per game and ranked third in the league, with a three-point shooting rate of 60%-42%-95.5%.
In this round of the playoffs, when the strength of the two sides of the game is close, the Mavericks have an extraordinary third giant, a stable ball-holding giant and a deadly key giant, and their performance and cooperation make the Mavericks not fall behind in the face of this youth storm.