Big upset! Doncic 22+15, 10 of 23 in Alexandria, the NBA miracle was born, and the Thunder must recognize the reality!
Text: Lao Kan Kanqiu
Editor|Lao Kan Kanqiu
On May 12, Beijing time, the second round of the NBA playoffs ushered in the Western focus battle, and the Dallas Mavericks sat at home to face the Oklahoma City Thunder. At present, the two teams are tied 1-1, the Thunder team took the lead in the first game of G1, and the Mavericks G2 equalized by 9 points. The scale of the blowing penalty in this series was indeed a bit tighter than in the first round, so much so that it disrupted the rhythm of the Mavericks, and in the G1 game, many defensive giants got into foul trouble. However, after adjustments, in the G2 battle, the Mavericks obviously spent more energy on the offensive end and launched an offensive battle with the Thunder, and Doncic is obviously more adapted to this rhythm, shooting 5 three-pointers with a 62.5% shooting rate, you know, in the previous 4 series, he used 35 shots to shoot 5 three-pointers, which is obviously a good sign for the Mavericks. Before the game, the American media ESPN gave a winning rate prediction, with the Mavericks winning rate of 54.2% and the Thunder winning rate of 45.8%.
As Doncic himself said: "We know this series, it's going to be a tough game, and we're going to fight until the last minute, and we all have a lot of respect for the Thunder, they have great players, good chemistry, a passionate team." All we need to do is give our best and win every game! ”
In terms of injuries, the Mavericks' Kleber and Prosper continue to be absent, and Kidd continues to use the starting five of the first two games: Doncic, Irving, Jones Jr., PJ Washington, and Gafford . The Thunder are fully available for the starting lineup: Alexander, Giddey, Dort, Jalen Williams, Holmgren.
At the beginning of the first quarter, Washington continued the hot hand of the last game, followed the pass from Irving to complete the one-handed dunk, and won the first place for the Mavericks, and then Jones Jr. played a limited 2+1 under the aerial confrontation, and Dort received the ball at the top of the arc and hit a three-point shot steadily, responding. Doncic flanked Dort's three-point shot, successfully causing the latter to foul, the Thunder chose to challenge, and after the referee replayed the video, the challenge was ruled unsuccessful, and the game had lost the opportunity to challenge early. After Doncic hit two of his three free throws, he wanted to use Lively to block and dismantle in the next round, but was whistled for a covering foul, Doncic was seriously dissatisfied and kept complaining to the referee. Washington received a pass from Irving on the wing, faced Alexander and hit another three-pointer, and had scored 9 points on 4-of-5 shooting in the opening game, and Irving hit the defense after a pull-up jump shot, scoring four points in a row, and the Mavericks had a lead of 9 points. Alexander hit a solid shot from the stop, and then hit a three-pointer against Doncic to end the first quarter and the Thunder trailed the Mavericks by three points at 23-26.
In the first quarter, the shooting rate of both sides was not high, among them, the Mavericks made 1 of 8 three-pointers, with a shooting rate of 12%; The Thunder were 3-of-10 shooting from the field, shooting 30 percent. Coming back in the second quarter, Washington squatted in the bottom corner, received Doncic's breakthrough and split the ball, hit a three-pointer again, Wiggins grabbed the backcourt rebound, and there was a passing error without defense, and the Thunder were obviously still out of shape today. After Lively missed the empty catch, the Thunder seized the opportunity to fight back, and Jayway chased a three-pointer to help the Thunder complete the comeback. Doncic is also not in good shape, after hitting Dort with his back and missing a shot, he missed three points at the top of the arc, and currently only hit 2 of 8 shots, and the Thunder seized the opportunity to play a wave of 19-7 offensive climax, Hardaway counterattacked and made a layup again by Holmgren's big hat fan, who has sent 4 blocks, after Holmgren got off the break, Lively immediately completed the air cut and glide two-handed dunk, and at halftime, the Mavericks trailed the Thunder by 1 point at 51-52.
Halftime data, on the Mavericks' side, Doncic had a poor hand, shooting 4 of 11, including 1 of 4 three-pointers, and scored 14 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists; Irving shot 4-of-7 and finished with 8 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists and 1 block; Washington became the biggest surprise man, 8-of-13 from the field, with 19 points, 2 rebounds and 1 assist. On the Thunder's side, Alexander carried the team on his back, shooting 6 of 10, cutting 17 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal and 2 blocks; Holmgren had four points, three rebounds, one assist and four blocks. It is worth mentioning that Holmgren made four blocks in the half, becoming the first rookie player since Myles Turner in 2016 to get more than 20 blocks in the playoffs, creating an NBA miracle.
Yibian fought again, Giddey scored 5 points in a row, Alexander hit a solid jumper, and the Thunder played an 11-0 climax and had a lead of 10 points. After Washington hit a three-pointer, he then counterattacked quickly to complete a two-handed dunk, Doncic hit Dort's throw again, and then split Washington in the bottom corner, the latter could still score three points, and the Mavericks played a 16-0 counterattack wave and successfully overtook the score. In the defense, Jayway accidentally injured his leg, lay on the ground for a long time and could not get up, and has returned to the locker room. Irving was pinched and assisted Gafford to complete a dunk, and then hit a 3-pointer to complete the third quarter, and the Mavericks led by four points at 82-78 into the final quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Holmgren grabbed the rebound in the front court and played 2+1 strongly, Irving hit Jewei with his back, and continued to turn around and hit a difficult backward jumper, Hardaway was guided by a fast break, and Lively jumped high to catch Holmgren. The Thunder used the Lively Kill tactic twice in a row, the latter made only 1 of 4 free throws, but was replaced by Kidd, Isaiah Joe hit a three-pointer against the defense, and the Thunder continued to cut Lively but he hit both free throws. Doncic's eyes are fast, and he scored a layup after a key anti-steal, the Mavericks led by 5 points, and then jumped high in the defensive round, and fell to the ground after fighting for the ball in the air with Dort, and successfully won the ball, it was really a fight, Alexander made two fouls and made two free throws, and Irving also hit the key throw, and in the end, the Mavericks won 105-101 and went to the next city, which was exactly the same as the plot of the Clippers' first round, and the big score came to 2-1, and the Thunder should recognize the reality, this Maverick team is not easy to deal with, and it is necessary to get serious.
In terms of statistics, on the Mavericks' side, Doncic shot 7 of 17 and scored 22 points, 15 rebounds and 5 assists; Irving contributed 22 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists and 1 steal; Gafford had eight points and five rebounds; PJ Washington 27 points and 6 rebounds; Jones Jr. 3 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists; Josh Green had 3 points, 1 rebound and 1 assist. On the Thunder's side, Alexander shot 10 of 23 and shot 31 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists and 5 blocks; Jalen Williams contributed 16 points, 6 rebounds and 8 assists; Holmgren 13 points, 8 rebounds, 1 steal and 4 blocks; Josh Giddey 9 points and 2 rebounds; Dort 8 points and 2 rebounds; Aaron Wiggins scored six points.