Today, the Mavericks narrowly defeated the Thunder 117-116 and eliminated the latter with a big score of 4-2 to advance to the Western Conference finals!
The Mavericks were able to win this game, in addition to the core play of Eastern Europe and PJ Washington's 9 points in the final quarter, the play of Derrick Jones Jr. was the biggest contributor to the comeback victory.
Derrick Jones Jr. scored 22 points in this game, 8-of-13 from the field, including 4-of-6 from three-point range.
If he hadn't scored 11 points in the third quarter, the Mavericks would have been beaten by the Thunder.
Especially in the last 1 minute and 13 seconds of the game, when he was less than 2 seconds offensive, he was forced to choose to lean back and make a difficult shot, and finally the basketball fell into the basket steadily, helping the team lead the Thunder 115-110 and helping the team lay the foundation for victory.
Derrick Jones Jr., who was undrafted in the NBA in 2016, has been in the league for 8 years, still not doing much, and not getting a big contract.
He made the most impression on everyone was the All-Star Slam Dunk Contest in 2020.
At that time, he was playing for the Heat, and with the help of judge Wade, Jones Jr. won the slam dunk contest by 1 point, which shattered Wade's personality.
And Jones Jr. was also labeled as "only dunk".
Last year, Jones Jr. signed with the Mavericks in the offseason with a base salary of 2.7 million a year, and played the highlight of his career here.
This season, he averaged 8.6 points per game in the regular season and 9.8 points per game in the playoffs, and he has repeatedly performed steadily in key games, and his defense and three-point ability are surprising everyone.
This summer, he is likely to get a big contract with an annual salary of 10 million like Vincent and Strus.