Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 29 points, nine rebounds and nine assists as the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the visiting Dallas Mavericks 117-95 in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinal series on Tuesday. I made him win.
In his first career second-round playoff game, Gilgeous-Alexander made 8 of 19 from the floor and 11 of 13 from the free throw line. The Thunder became the youngest team in NBA history to win a conference semifinal game.
Kyrie Irving had 19 points and Luka Doncic had 19 points and nine assists for Dallas.
Less than five minutes into the third quarter, Irving's 3-pointer off a feed from Luka Doncic cut the Mavericks' 12-point lead against the Thunder to one.
Oklahoma City defeated Dallas 51-30 in the remaining games.
“I think it's the muscle we've built at this point,” Thunder manager Mark Daigneault said of his team's calm response when Dallas narrowed the lead. “We had to endure a lot of those situations during the season. I think a lot of it comes from respect for the opponent.”
The Thunder answered Irving's trey right out of the timeout, and Isaiah Joe sank a 3-pointer to start a 14-4 run over the next three minutes.
Gilgeous-Alexander assisted on two of the Thunder's four 3-pointers during that run, and then added an exclamation point by sinking a 3-pointer from the top of the key, cheering the home crowd on. excited.
Before the game, Doncic praised Oklahoma City's Luguentz Dort, calling him one of the NBA's top perimeter defenders.
Dort showed why in a key sequence, knocking the ball away from Doncic near mid-court, diving to retrieve the ball, and quickly finding the streaking Joe and giving the ball to Jaylen Williams. He delivered and scored a dunk.
Dort helped Doncic make 6-of-19 shots for the Thunder, including 1-of-8 from beyond the arc.
“It's not going to be easy because they're a great team, a great defensive team, a great offensive team,” Doncic said. “We have to play very good basketball, focused basketball for 48 minutes.”
After Oklahoma City extended its lead to 15 points, the Mavericks went nearly four minutes without a field goal late in the third before Dallas made two baskets in the final 30 seconds to make it 10 points. It was reduced to
Oklahoma City's Chet Holmgren had 19 points, seven rebounds and three blocks, Williams added 18 points and Aaron Wiggins came off the bench to score 16 points, including 12 points in the second quarter. .
The Thunder scored 22 points off Dallas' 16 turnovers.
The Mavericks shot just 39.3 percent from the field, while the Thunder shot 44.9 percent.
Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is scheduled for Thursday (9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN) in Oklahoma City.
