On May 19, Beijing time, the NBA division semifinals continued. The Oklahoma City Thunder take on the Dallas Mavericks on the road.
In the battle of Tianwang Mountain, the Mavericks led the team calmly with Doncic, who did not spread his hands, and stole a victory from the Thunder's home court, leading 3-2. For the Thunder, today is a back-to-back battle, and the losing season is over.
After this group of duels reached G4, from the perspective of the situation on the court, the Mavericks had a slight advantage. If G4 hadn't been for the Mavericks' free throws being too bad and Alexander's being too steady, the Mavericks might have succeeded. So, the G5 Mavericks were a bit of a surprise but not a surprise away from home.
In today's game, the Thunder took the lead in the first quarter and widened the difference in the second quarter, ending the first half with 64:48. Everything looks to be going well, and the series trend feels like it's going to be a tie-breaker.
Coming back at halftime, the Mavericks' first comeback from Jones in the third quarter was pressed back by Chet. Three and a half minutes later, the margin was still fixed at 17 points, and the balance of victory still seemed to be tilted in favor of the Thunder.
From this moment on, the game ushered in a turning point. Doncic and Irving teamed up for a second wave of counter-attacks, which lasted two and a half minutes. In this wave of offense, the Eastern and Eastern European duo combined for 13 points, and the Mavericks closed the score to 73:77. For the first time, the Mavericks saw hope of winning.
However, losing the game means going home, and the Thunder can't easily throw in the towel. Jalen Williams and Alexander rushed to step up and stabilize the lineup, and the Mavericks trailed the Thunder by seven points at 83:90 at the end of the third quarter.
In the final quarter of the showdown, the Mavericks Jones, Irving, and Doncic blossomed more. With six and a half minutes left in the game, the Mavericks finally tied the score, and the two sides entered a tug-of-war. With Chet's dunk 20 seconds before the end, the Thunder led 116-115.
In the final round, PJ Washington received an assist in the bottom corner and made a shooting preparation. Alexander's desire to win was too early to jump to block, his center of gravity was out of control, and PJ caused Alexander to shoot for a foul.
In the end, PJ made three free throws and two shots to complete the quasi-lore in the face of the cheers of the audience, and the Mavericks narrowly defeated the Thunder 117-116 and advanced to the Western Conference finals with a big score of 4-2.
When the timer ran out, Lively, a first-year rookie who changed the direction of the second-half interior matchup, was not happy to suppress Chet, nor did he celebrate with his teammates in the first place. He looked at the sky with both fists, then clapped his chest with one hand and made a gesture of prayer to his mother who was far away in heaven.
PJ made a final shooting foul and hit a free throw to help the Mavericks turn the game around, ending the series in Dallas. The teammates all gathered around PJ excitedly, and PJ reproduced the signature gesture of pretending to be B with his arms crossed in front of the cameraman's lens.
The photographer then focused on Doncic and Irving. Since the combination of the two, whether they can achieve the effect of 1+1>2 has been controversial. Breaking into the Western Conference Finals finally proved that the two ball carriers are not incapable of coexistence, and at this moment Eastern Europe hugged each other in tears, as if to tell something.
At another angle of the arena, the former boss Cuban was so excited that he rushed into the arena and hugged the girl to celebrate.
Thunder Alexander had 36 points and 8 assists, Jalen had 22 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists, and Chet had 21 points. Dort and Joe each scored 11 points.
Mavericks Doncic had 29 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, Irving and Jones each had 22 points, Lively had 12 points and 15 boards, and Gafford had 10 points and seven boards.
After winning this game, the myth of Irving's undefeated match point will continue, and this is the 14th time in his career that he has won a match point game, Uncle Drew Bull!
Dirk Nowitzki, a one-person-one-city Mavericks legend, came to watch the game today and tweeted after the game to congratulate the Mavericks on reaching the Western Conference Finals.
Congratulations to the Mavericks, who have acquired PJ Washington and Gafford through two signings before this year's trade deadline. And these two played a major role in the Mavericks' journey to fifth place in the regular season and their run to the Western Conference Finals. Looking back on the deal now, I think it should be rated S.
At the same time, we would like to express our deep respect for the Thunder. The youth team has had an impressive season, and Alexander has grown to an MVP level. They are still young and have a promising future.