The Oklahoma City Thunder entered the game Saturday night looking to avoid elimination when the ball tipped into the American Airlines Center, but all they had in mind was deciding to take the series to Game 7. All I had to do was extend it. The moment the referee put the ball in the air, things felt different.
Oklahoma City was competing for the opening tip with Jaylen Williams, who hasn't been at his best offensively this series, and the Santa Clara product barreled through the lane for a runaway dunk that got the Thunder off to a right-footed start. This led to an opening 13-4 run for OKC thanks to constant ball pressure and early turnovers.
As expected in playoff basketball, the Thunder and Mavericks traded a ton of points, and the game once again became tense after Oklahoma City opened multiple double-digit leads. As chants of “Let's go Mavs” echoed around the court, Dallas looked for a solid haymaker to get the young Thunder on the mat.
As Dallas watched 13-0 Kyrie Irving hit a triple to pull the Mavericks within two points in a close game, the Thunder called a timeout and the Rowdy American Airlines Center You may have sensed the familiar comeback in Game 6 that pushed up this fair.
Dallas got big rebound after big rebound, and the Thunder hit big shot after big shot, setting the stage for an instant classic in this Red River shootout.
After a roller-coaster stretch, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander hit an 18-foot jump shot with 4 minutes, 43 seconds to play, making it 105-101 for the Thunder and forcing a Jason Kidd timeout on the high side.
As he has done all season, Gilgeous-Alexander steadied the waters and provided tough buckets to extend Oklahoma City's lead. When you're facing elimination, shots like that are what get you into the upper-level conversation.
But that wasn't enough. Despite Mark Daigneault deploying the Thunder's double big man lineup, Oklahoma City forced the Mavericks to grab the rebound after a missed free throw, kick out and make a 3 to tie the score. That four-point possession swung the game, with Doncic stepping back to give Dallas the lead.
Gilgeous-Alexander tried to lead the Thunder to a decisive Game 7, but the superstar was unable to stave off elimination as his Dallas co-stars were too much to handle in the clutch.
The Oklahoma City superstar was good in the clutch, making mid-range hits and knocking off near-impossible stepbacks, but it wasn't enough to keep the young Thunder over the top.
The Dallas Mavericks advance to the Western Conference Finals for the second time in three years, and the youngest No. 1 seed in NBA history will return home after six games.
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