The Dallas Mavericks are headed to their second Western Conference Finals appearance with Luka Doncic, thanks primarily to Doncic.
The Slovenian star led his team to a 17-point comeback to end a six-game losing skid over the Oklahoma City Thunder and win 117-116 against the top seed in the Western Conference on Saturday. Dallas will face the winner of Game 7 between the Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets on Sunday.
Doncic finished the game with 29 points on 9-of-15 shooting to go with 10 rebounds and 10 assists, his seventh career playoff triple-double and third in a row. Other big contributors were Derrick Jones Jr., who had 22 points on 8-of-13 shooting, and Kyrie Irving, who had 22 points on 9-of-23 shooting.
In the offseason, Irving improved his record in closeout games to 14-0, the best mark in NBA history.
The Thunder spent nearly the entire game leading, and a late second-quarter run put them up 16 at halftime. 77-60 early in the third. The Mavericks trailed for much of the second half and tied the game midway through the fourth quarter, at which point it was a frenetic back-and-forth with five lead changes in the final five minutes.
The game ultimately came down to a controversial call. With three seconds left, up 116-115, PJ Washington attempted a 3-pointer but was fouled by Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The Thunder challenged the foul.
Gilgeous-Alexander clearly got his hands on the ball and then hit Washington’s arm. If the shooter touches the hand when the ball is touched, the play is not a foul, but the officials said there was no ball contact at the release of the shot because Washington made contact and then released the ball.
The Thunder lost the challenge and lost the series. Washington made its first two free throws, then intentionally missed the third, forcing OKC to take over on its own side of the court with 2.5 seconds left.
One disastrous half-court game later, the NBA’s youngest team’s season is over.
Where does the thunder go from here?
The beauty of being the Thunder is that you can not go to the Western Conference Finals and still be considered in time.
That’s what happens when your MVP candidate (Gilgeous-Alexander) is 25, you go 57-25, your future frontcourt anchor (Chet Holmgren) is 22 and the rest of your rotation is 25 or younger. Gilgeous-Alexander and Lu Dort are already under contract for the next three seasons, while Holmgren and Jalen Williams are under contract for two more seasons.
The Thunder could do better next season by maturing, while adding valuable talent, thanks to their ridiculous draft picks (12th overall in the 2024 NBA Draft by the Houston Rockets).
Of course, the most attractive option for the Thunder to legitimately compete is to trade some of those draft picks for veteran talent. Some reinforcements especially in the paint.
If the Thunder have been weak this season, it’s rebounding. Holmgren weighs 208 pounds and reserve power forward Jaylin Williams is 6-foot-9. While Hamgren was solid defensively around the basket with terrific shots, the team ranked 29th in the NBA in offensive rebounding.
The good news is that with a superstar in Gilgeous-Alexander and a superstar in Holmgren, the Thunder have already done the hard part. If your biggest concern is filling out the rotation and finding future extensions, you’re probably in a good place.
