After G3 was played, I said that the two sides had opened their cards openly. Today's G4 is still a bright card, but this time the Thunder caught the king in their own hands and won G4, and the two sides drew 2-2.
The starters of both sides have not changed, and the Thunder still put Giddey in the starting lineup. In the first two games, Giddey only played 11 and 13 minutes respectively, and Giddey's mood has changed significantly. I think it's also because of Giddey's emotions that the Thunder still put him in the starting lineup.
But in the playoffs, where every round is a battle, the Mavericks won't give you much room for error. Giddey + Dort's lineup, the Mavericks continued to let go of these two shrinking insiders, and resolutely did not give Alexander a chance to break through.
As soon as Alexander got the ball, three people stood on the inside watching his movements. The Mavericks have been forcing Alexander to shoot a difficult mid-range shot throughout the game, and you're great, but I don't believe you can make every mid-range shot.
Giddey's effect was still terrible, and in the opening five minutes, the Thunder lost by eight points. Giddey's problem wasn't just that he couldn't shoot threes, in fact, the Thunder made 1 of 11 threes in the first half, and the only one that scored was Giddey's shot.
Giddey's problem is that when Alexander is heavily defended and the ball is given to Giddey, he handles the ball very poorly. In the first half, he was capped three times, and he made a walking error, and in the second half, he finally came up and played for a while, and then sent an offensive foul.
Giddey played just 12 minutes again today, and there was no presence in the second half except for that offensive foul. I feel that his confidence has been exhausted after being emptied again and again, and he will not stay with the whole team in the post-game interview, and his mentality has collapsed.
The Thunder almost trailed by three and a half quarters, scoring only 20, 23 and 22 points in the first three quarters, and played extremely poorly offensively. When his teammates couldn't shoot, only Alexander supported the team with a mid-range shot.
In the third quarter, the Thunder scored 22 points, and Alexander alone scored 12 points. The last quarter started from 6 minutes, Alexander hit four consecutive rounds of hard solutions, the Mavericks still hoarded heavy troops in the restricted area to prevent Alexander from breaking through, and those who gave Alexander retreat shots, Alexander did not lose any of these four rounds.
What you give me, I will take it all. This kind of game temperament can be regarded as truly in line with the identity of Alexander's MVP candidate. At 4:02, Alexander hit a negative angle shot to equalize the score. The Thunder almost lost a night, finally re-establishing themselves with the Mavericks at dawn, and this time, the Thunder had a new look.
After four consecutive mid-range shots, Alexander ignited the momentum of the whole team. Then the Mavericks' encirclement of him became more intense, he assisted Chet and Dort to hit three-pointers, and then scored Jalen at a fast-break point, and another three consecutive waves of assists. Alexander dominated the game alone, and he finally waited for the support of his teammates.
The Thunder shot 7-of-27 from three-point range today, a far cry from their 38.4% three-point percentage of the playoffs prior to today. In the first three quarters, they scored a total of 3 three-pointers, but in the last quarter they scored 4, and finally found the Thunder who had a three-point touch, and instantly overtook the Mavericks.
But despite this, the Mavericks still relied on a bigger system and interior advantage to get themselves a chance to make the final free throw. Doncic stepped to the free-throw line, then missed the first free throw, and the opportunity to continue the game slipped through his fingertips.
Free throws are always a big problem for the Mavericks, and a big problem for Doncic. The Mavericks made 12-of-23 free throws today, compared to the Thunder's 23-of-24 free throws. Although the Thunder's three-point shooting in front of them is sparse, in terms of the degree of grasp of the free throw line, the Thunder and the Mavericks are not at the same level.
Of course, the Mavericks didn't completely lose on the free throws today, and when Alexander was in a big swing in the final quarter, they didn't respond to the loss. I still don't think there's anything wrong with the Mavericks' defensive strategy today, and it's even more scary to let Alexander burst out.
Doncic was 2-of-5 in the final quarter, Irving was 1-of-5, and the Thunder still used their entire team to limit production in Eastern Europe. Washington scored 20 points in the first three quarters and only one in the final quarter, making 0-of-3 from the field. Washington has been the Mavericks' all-team top scorer in three consecutive games, but the Thunder finally waited for the quarter where he felt completely cold, and it was also the most critical quarter.
I think after today's game, the Mavericks should also think about whether this matchup can really be won by players of Washington and Jones' calibre. Role players are role players after all, and at the critical moment of the final quarter, you have to rely on Eastern Europe to stand up.
Alexander played 42 minutes today, shooting 14-of-27 from the field and finishing with 34 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks. This game perfectly illustrates what it means to hold the whole team forward by one person, and finally wait for the support of teammates when they are exhausted. They stood together again after the game for an interview, and supporting each other is the best quality in this group of young people.
When they missed three points again and again, many blurted out that they still lacked experience. They are indeed young, and they will definitely be mentally unbalanced in the big picture, but fortunately they have a trustworthy leader who can carry them out of trouble.
Being young means making mistakes, and at the same time, everything in the future is unknown.