OKC Thunder capture the top seed in the West by beating Mavericks

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s efficient night helps the OKC thunder capture the top seed in the West

 

On Thursday night, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 126-119 victory over the struggling Dallas Mavericks with 31 points and 9 rebounds.

Dallas guard Luka Doncic was sidelined due to a left hamstring strain. His seven-game string of straight triple-doubles came to an end on Wednesday versus the Golden State Warriors when he left in the fourth quarter. Before the game, Mavericks coach Jason Kidd stated that the NBA scoring leader’s injury revealed a “clean” MRI, suggesting that it will probably only be a temporary problem. Doncic will undergo another assessment once the team’s return home, according to Kidd.

Oklahoma City leveraged this. After missing Tuesday’s game against the Indiana Pacers due to a sprained right ankle, Jalen Williams scored 27 points in his comeback.

Williams is growing more at ease every night, according to Gilgeous-Alexander. “He’s observing various protection mechanisms. The child puts in a lot of effort, and with each repetition, he really gets better. That’s what I anticipate.

Williams was also a master at defense. He recorded three blocks, one of which came from a highlight-reel block on Kyrie Irving’s shot in the second quarter.

With Josh Giddey’s 18 points, the Thunder moved into a tie for the top overall in the Western Conference at 46-20 with the Denver Nuggets, who are currently idle.

The Thunder overcame their defeat against Indiana by passing the ball expertly.

Mark Daigneault, the coach of the Thunder, stated, “I thought we effectively moved it.” It was a good reaction to the Indiana game, where I felt we were unable to develop a strong rhythm during the game for some reason. We want to swiftly get back on track with things like that. Though we have no influence over whether the ball enters the net, we do have control over how we play. And I felt that our offensive play tonight was really honest.

For the Mavericks, Daniel Gafford contributed 19 points and 15 rebounds, Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 23 points, and Irving finished with 36 points and a season-best 12 assists.

 

In the opening minute of the match, Gafford missed a putback attempt, bringing his run of consecutive field goals made to 33. He fell two short of the NBA record of 35 held by Wilt Chamberlain.

Kidd remarked, “The streak is very impressive.” “Not so many people are in that air when you speak of Wilt Chamberlain type of people.”

Irving finished the first half with 8 assists and 20 points, but the Thunder held a 65-63 advantage at the intermission. After leading 95–87 at the end of the third quarter, Oklahoma City managed to hold on in the fourth. 52.3% of the Thunder’s shots were field goals.

The Mavericks used their length to their advantage and out rebounded the Thunders 52 to 42 in the paint. In the fast break, Okc demonstrated their youthful core strength by outscoring the Mavericks by 18 points to 9. OKC was good with their defense with 8 blocks compared mavericks sluggish defense with 2 blocks only.

In order to stay out of the play-in tournament, the Mavericks must win frequently. There were moments when Kidd disagreed with the referees due to the gravity of the situation.

“This time of year, the NBA is centered around the best teams competing,” Kidd stated. “There is a fight going on between both squads. I therefore believed it to be a competitive game. It’s inevitable that some calls may go unanswered in the NBA. However, you must persevere through it.

In Western Conference OKC thunder grabbed the top spot by this win. https://x.com/NBA/status/1768506945474805934?s=20.

Thunder will face Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday. Mavericks will host the Denver Nuggets on Sunday.