On May 12, Beijing time, the NBA playoffs Mavericks hosted the Thunder, and the score between the two sides was 1-1 before the game. Thunder starters: Alexander + Dort + Keady + Jalen Williams + Chet Holmgren, Mavericks starters: Doncic + Irving + Jones + Washington + Gafford
Chet missed two free throws at the beginning, Washington dunked, Chet also dunked in response, Gafford made a layup, Dort scored three points, and then Doncic, Jones and Washington took turns to score, the Mavericks opened the difference, Alexander scored 4 points in a row to stop the bleeding, Washington hooked, Keady toss, Washington three points and then hit, at this time the Mavericks led by 7 points, Jaylin and Alexander made fouls, Washington made a basket, Irving made a jumper, the difference was 9 points, the Thunder rebounded badly, and the outside line was not allowed, Alexander jumped to stop the bleeding again, Wiggins hit a three-pointer, Hardaway hit a three-pointer, Alexander stepped back and hit a three-pointer, Doncic made a free throw, Isaiah hit a three-point shot, Alexander hit a whistle block, and the Thunder trailed by three points at 23-26 in the first quarter.
For the first quarter, the Thunder relied too heavily on Alexander. In the second quarter, Washington could still hit three points, Isaiah and Jalenway led the team to counterattack, the Thunder chased to 29 draws, Doncic threw to help the Mavericks stop the bleeding, Dort hit the board, Lively flew in the air, Jalenway hit a three-point overtake, Hardaway also scored three points on the Mavericks' side, and the two sides began to stalemate, Alexander layup was blocked by Irving, Lively dunked with both hands, Wiggins pulled the lever, the score alternately led, Alexander jumped, Wallace and Washington soared three points, Irving suddenly scored in a row, Doncic 2+1, the Thunder was not to be outdone, Alexander and Chet responded together, Gafford suddenly returned to the locker room, Doncic stepped back to hit a three-pointer, and Isaiah responded with a three-pointer, and the Thunder beat the Mavericks 52-51 at halftime.
Halftime statistics, Alexander 17 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists, Isaiah Joe 10 points, Jalen Williams 5 points and 5 assists, Holmgren 4 points, 3 rebounds and 4 blocks, Aaron Wiggins 2 points and 4 boards, Keady 4 points and 2 boards, Dort 5 points, Wallace 3 points. On the Mavericks' side, Washington had 19 points and 2 boards, Doncic had 14 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists, Irving had 8 points, 3 rebounds and 6 assists, Gafford had 2 points and 3 boards, Jones had 3 points and 2 boards, Lively had 2 points and 6 boards, and Hardaway had 3 points.
Yibian fought again, at the beginning of the game, Gafford continued to dunk in the air, Jalenway scored 4 points in a row, Keady hit a three-point shot, Alexander turned over and scored a jumper, Jalenway dunked, the Thunder led by 10 points, but unfortunately they couldn't keep it, Lively made consecutive fouls, Washington scored three points, and then he dunked again, the Mavericks chased back in waves, Josh Green overtook with three points, Doncic hit the board, Washington hit three points and hit, the Mavericks gradually opened up the difference, Isaiah made a layup, Dort fired outside, Irving hit a three-pointer, Jalen Weewei returned to the locker room, Alexander jumped, Gafford ate a cake and dunked, Alexander continued to make fouls, Irving responded with three points, Wiggins threw a throw, Hardaway hit a three-point shot from the whistle, and the third quarter ended with the Thunder 78-82 Mavericks.
At the beginning of the last quarter, the Mavericks led by 6 points after Hardaway throw, Chet 2+1, Irving suddenly broke out and scored 4 points in a row, Lively dunked in the air, the Thunder was in danger, fortunately, Jalenway and Alexander led the team to bite the point difference, Lively missed two free throws, Chet ate cake, the Thunder fell behind by 3 points, Doncic and Lively made fouls, Isaiah threw three points, Jalenway tossed, but the difference was not big The Thunder just couldn't overtake, Doncic steals and layups, Alexander makes free throws, the difference is 3 points, Alexander's key three-point iron, Irving hit a fatal throw, Alexander made a layup elbow to Doncic's face and was whistled for an offensive foul, Doncic made a dribbling error, Chet made both free throws, Doncic made two free throws to end the suspense, and finally the Mavericks narrowly beat the Thunder 105-101.
Unexpectedly, the Thunder lost again, the trend of the playoffs changed dramatically, the Mavericks won G2 and G3 in a row after losing G1, and the current big score has led the Thunder 2-1, considering that G4 is still in Dallas, it is obvious that the Mavericks are expected to get the match point. Looking at the whole game, the reason for the Thunder's loss is that they rely too much on Alexander, the inside line is blown up, there are more mistakes, the outside line is inaccurate, and then the rebounds are lost badly, and one thing has to be mentioned that the Thunder's ability to play key shots is not as good as the Mavericks.
In terms of statistics, Doncic scored 22 points, 5 assists, 15 rebounds, 2 steals and 4 turnovers on 7 of 17, 1 of 4 three-pointers, and 7 of 10 free throws.
And Doncic played again with an injury today, and he limped off the court after the game. Irving was 10 of 17, 2 of 6 three-pointers and scored 22 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 block and 4 turnovers, only scored 8 points in the first half, but broke out in the second half and scored 14 points, especially in the final quarter, Irving went on a rampage to create a miracle 4 shots, and the final stage of the throw was very fatal, this is Irving's awesomeness, he came at the right time every time he scored.
Washington contributed 27 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists in 11 of 23, including 5 of 12 three-pointers, and was an important contributor to the Mavericks' victory, Washington's style of play is like the peak George, G2 He has cut 29 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 1 block, and has made two consecutive meritorious contributions, which is very good, Gafford 8 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 block, Jones 3 points, 4 rebounds and 3 steals, Lively 12 points and 8 rebounds, Hardaway Jr. 8 points and 2 rebounds. This series is a bit like the first round against the Clippers, when the Mavericks also lost G1 miserably, but ultimately won the series.
Thunder data: Alexander 10 of 23, 2 of 3 three-pointers, 9 of 10 free throws, 31 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists, 5 blocks and 5 turnovers, the last quarter play is not very ideal, the biggest gap between the Thunder and the Mavericks is here, the Mavericks have Irving to play key shots, and Alexander is still a little worse. Chet Holmgren had 13 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 blocks, Jalen Williams 16 points, 6 rebounds, 8 assists and 3 turnovers, Keady 9 points and 2 rebounds, Dort 8 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists, Isaiah 13 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists, and Aaron Wiggins 6 points and 4 rebounds. With the series down 2-1, the Thunder are in danger and Alexander is on his own, and they need more people to step up.