The first entry into the 2024 Western Conference Finals has been decided with the Dallas Mavericks coming back from 16 points down to defeat the Oklahoma City Thunder, 117-116, at home in Game 6 on Saturday night.
The Mavericks were down 77-60 in the third quarter, but an offensive uptick in Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving and Derrick Jones Jr. led a comeback. The Mavericks were down 64-48 at halftime, but outscored the Thunder 69-52 in the second half.
Doncic hit a step back jump shot to give the Mavericks a 107-105 lead with 3:39 to go, and the teams went back and forth on the next few possessions. Jalen Williams responded to Doncic's make with a triple, while Irving responded with a three-pointer of his own with 3:02 to go. After Gilgeous-Alexander tied things up with a jump shot, P.J. Washington hit a triple, and Williams missed and Holmgren could not get a three to go down. With 1:05 remaining, Gilgeous-Alexander hit a big three-pointer from the top of the arc to cut the lead to two, and a foul on Washington led to a Gilgeous-Alexander free-throw and Holmgren dunk on a lob from Gilgeous-Alexander.
With 20.1 seconds on the clock, the Mavericks brought the ball up, Doncic crowded by Dort and Gilgeous-Alexander but able to find Washington in the corner. As Gilgeous-Alexander elevated, he hit the ball but also caught Washington on the arm. Washington made two-of-three free-throws before intentionally missing the last attempt. With no timeouts, a Williams heave was no good.
The loss for the Thunder is unquestionably difficult, the league's top seed relinquishing a big lead on the road in a must-win game. At times, as they had throughout the series, they did rush things and did not allow their offense to settle. A young team that was an unexpected number one seed, they will learn from this defeat and it will only help them going forward. They will no doubt lean on their leader, Gilgeous-Alexander, going forward. The MVP candidate was brilliant once again in Game 6, with 36 points and 8 assists on 14-for-25 shooting in 43 minutes. He also joined Michael Jordan as the only guards in league history to average 30-plus points and 2-plus blocks in a playoff series - Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 32.2 points, 8.0 rebounds, 7.3 assists, and 2.3 blocks in the series. In Game 6, Williams scored 22, grabbed 9 rebounds and had 8 assists, while Holmgren scored 21 on 9-for-15. The team would have benefited greatly from a better shooting performance from Dort (3-for-10) who once again found himself in foul trouble.
For the Mavericks, they are back in the Western Conference Finals after appearing there in 2022, a 4-1 loss to the Golden State Warriors. Doncic (29 points, 10 assists, 10 rebounds) and Irving (22 points) were big down the stretch, while Dereck Lively was effective inside and active on the glass with 12 points and 15 rebounds. Jones Jr. finished with 22 points.
The Mavericks shot 51.2 percent to the Thunder's 47.8, while making one more three-pointer (16), to the Thunder's 15. The Mavericks had a very decisive 47-31 rebounding advantage, size being something that the Thunder needs to, and will address, in the off-season.
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