DALLAS — Twenty seconds ago, the Thunder appeared to be orchestrating a moment of revelation. Not a premature end, but a stamp for the future. I was fighting to extend the season, my mind was racing with mindfulness, I was worrying too much about what was going to happen, and yet, as if the play… did not do it Deciding the Game — It was supposed to be on the cover of OKC's Prologue.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the lane. Chet Holmgren in the air. With four defenders crowding in, the star point guard tended to become claustrophobic, and the up-and-coming center crowbarred his arm to flash an incoming lob and take the lead.
Everything leading up to it felt well-separated. 57 wins. The youngest team to do virtually everything. Refreshing attack, calm defense. It's been a season of improbable outcomes for one of the most unlikely No. 1 seeds ever. He fought in a situation where there was even a possibility that he would advance to the seventh game. Rob was a window into possibilities.
And that season ended with the unlikeliest of results: three free throws.
The Thunder's run ended with a 117-116 loss to the Mavericks on Saturday, ending the Western Conference semifinals in six games. That's what PJ Washington decided.
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Oklahoma City had to protect a one-point lead from Luka Doncic, and with time running out, Doncic went down to the block. Lou Dort and SGA each fell apart, leaving Washington, the series' first villain, in his favorite spot: the corner.
As is human nature, Gilgeous-Alexander lunged at him. Washington timed his jumper to match the bodies flying toward him. SGA heard the ball first. Then he heard a train whistle. Washington will once again be the hero in Dallas. Gilgeous-Alexander's magical playoff stint turned into a rocky one.
“It's unbearable to watch,” Gilgeous-Alexander said of the replay. “I don't want to see it.
“It sucks. As much as I wish I could take this moment back, life doesn't work that way.”
Gilgeous-Alexander then took over ownership of the sequence. He went on about how he shouldn't have fouled and how disappointed he was that his season technically ended at his hands.
The foul remains with the person watching. But Saturday's game was much more than that.
Harsh words from Doncic to Dort. A rare play by Gilgeous-Alexander that is seemingly relaxed. The simmering feud between Luka Doncic and the official Tony Brothers. run.
14-3 Dallas stint midway through the second quarter. OKC ended the first half up 24-6. Back and forth, a tug of war. The Mavericks are inching towards the West Finals, and the Thunder are inching towards survival.
In the end, OKC's ending was as expected throughout the series.
Even though coach Mark Daigneault was getting closer to his desired offensive vision, and even thought he was seeing it in Game 5 — OKC hit 36.6 percent from 3-point range, the highest point in the series. – Gilgeous-Alexander was still suffering from a superhuman workload. He scored a series-high 36 points.
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OKC's defense lacked the Roman effort seen in Game 1. Jaylin Williams watched helplessly as the Mavericks fed the ball over and over down the middle of the floor. Alley-oops, flat-foot dunks, consistent power. Everything was available. Williams, who had a team-low minus 14 points, was brought into the game.
Every minute Holmgren spent off the floor, plagued by foul trouble and the flow of the game, was a moment where OKC's defense took its breath away. He was a plus eight. He was the only solution to make up for rookie Derek Lively II's air miles. And while Lively didn't match his performance in Dallas, he did score 21 points on 9-of-15 shooting and a series of alley-oops of his own.
Elsewhere, the Thunder rebounded the drug one last time and Dallas won the count 47-31. Those rebounds magnetically found the hands of Dallas' role players, who sniped OKC all series.
Still, OKC had a chance thanks to SGA's shot-making, Jaylen Williams' best game of the series (22 points, nine rebounds, eight assists), and Holmgren's timeliness. That's been the case in most games this season.
Gilgeous-Alexander's connection with Holmgren and the moments leading up to OKC's closure felt memorable to viewers. Now, Sandor only remembers the emotion he felt next.
“It's hard to say whether I remember the win or the loss better, but this one definitely hits home,” Holmgren said. “It doesn't feel good. No one has ever won a championship 12 years in a row, so there's definitely a chance we'll experience something like this again someday.
“But I will do everything in my power to avoid this feeling again.”
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Playoff shyness is real.
Gilgeous-Alexander explained everything. Stubborn shot-making, immeasurable footwork. On Saturday, in the final minutes of the Thunder's season, he found himself smiling and full of life between plays that cemented his run.
“Obviously he's a big-time player, but he hasn't proven it yet on this stage,” Thunder manager Mark Daigneault said. “And I thought that really came through throughout the playoffs.”
Perhaps the Thunder's shortcomings suggest that the youngest No. 1 seed in history wasn't ripe enough at this point. But history will show that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was ready.
In his first postseason as a first option, Gilgeous-Alexander carried the weight of the franchise on his shoulders. SGA never changed when young co-stars Williams and Holmgren were limited offensively for much of the West Regional semifinals. Gilgeous-Alexander told the world that his life was consistent during his regular season.
Life goes on as we prepare for SGA in May.
He had 36 points, eight assists and two blocks on Saturday, making 14 of 25 shots. He averaged 32.2 points, 8 rebounds, 7.3 assists, 2.3 blocks, and 1.2 steals in the series. He shot 51 percent from the field, 55 percent from three and 83 percent from the free throw line.
For a while, especially towards the end of the series, he was crime. He was OKC's hope. Ironically, the play that ended the team's season fell on him.
But the franchise star continued to make colorful mid-range shots through a sea of defenders and through the most congested paint Gilgeous-Alexander had ever had to expertly play.
The playoff shyness was real. He looked an awful lot like the version that built the case for regular season MVP.
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Dallas' role players continued to shine
The transfer of power from Washington to Derrick Jones Jr. may have been telekinetic. The passing of the baton to see who would take down the Thunder with open threes seemed seamless.
First up was Washington, which came close to 30 points on two separate occasions leading up to the series opener. Next up was Jones, who averaged 18 points on 66.7 percent shooting in Games 3 and 4 and scored a series-high 22 points on 8-of-13 shooting on Saturday.
The Thunder relied on strong wings like Washington and Jones to win. Everyone except a few closers like Doncic and Kyrie Irving. It ended up being a lot of trial and error.
“That's why they're here,” Daigneault said. “We respect those players. For the series, we thought the best bet was to push Doncic and Irving into the crowd and force the other players to make plays.”
Other than the wing in Dallas, Lively excelled in that role. He flew through the air and led a one-man rim unit. He led the Mavericks in plus-minus all series, and Saturday's swing was the scariest. Dallas starting center Daniel Gafford was -25. Lively was plus-26.
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