Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the OKC Thunder relied on grit and grinded this one out on the road.
SGA dropped 34 points as the Oklahoma City Thunder overcame a poor shooting and Luka Doncic’s triple double to outlast Dallas Mavericks, 100-96, tying their Western Conference semifinals series at two-games apiece.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander drops a playoff career-high 34 PTS as the @okcthunder take Game 4 to tie the series 2-2!
— NBA (@NBA) May 14, 2024
34 PTS | 8 REB | 5 AST | 2 STL | 2 BLK
Game 5 is Wednesday night in OKC ?? pic.twitter.com/FS1CbjDlRE
Gilgeous-Alexander took matters into his own hands and scored 22 points in the second half, including 12 points in the third frame alone, as the Thunder rode a 20-12 run in the final six minutes of regulation to steal one on the road.
SGA strong jab step into the middy!
— NBA (@NBA) May 14, 2024
12 PTS in Q3... 24 for the game 🔥
OKC trails DAL 69-65 headed to the 4th quarter on TNT pic.twitter.com/r4IQc3ZQ9T
Rookie Chet Holmgren hit clutch free throws to make it a 98-95 game with 9.1 seconds left in regulation.
P.J Washington then split his free throws in the ensuing Mavericks’ possession, 98-96, before Gilgeous-Alexander iced the game with a couple of points from the charity stripe.
Trailing 86-80 with six minutes left in the final frame, the Thunder launched a 9-0 run to take the lead at 89-86 with 3:34 seconds left.
Shai 🤯 pic.twitter.com/3m3GEZLJXI
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) May 14, 2024
CHET HOLMGREN FOR THE LEAD!pic.twitter.com/zCPlv8tpZg
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) May 14, 2024
Holmgren added 18 points, Lu Dort chipped in 14 with Jaylin Williams came up with a solid two-way game of 14 markers, nine boards, six dimes and four steals.
OKC shrugged off a dismal shooting--a 38 percent shooting and 28 percent clip beyond the arc--by outscoring the Mavericks, 67-42, in the second-half.
Meanwhile, Luka Doncic registered 18 points, 12 rebounds and 10 dimes for his second triple-double this playoffs, while Washington collected a team-high 21 points and added 12 rebounds.
The loss put a naught to Dallas’ solid block party, collecting playoff-high 13 denials led by Derrick Jones Jr. and Derek Lively (four swats apiece) and Daniel Gafford’s three.
12 blocks on the night for the Mavs! 🚫 pic.twitter.com/CrrH0Qr7eb
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) May 14, 2024
Kyrie Irving, who was 23.5 points in the postseason so far, was just limited to just nine markers and nine dimes.
Kyrie's seven 1st half assists were so tough 👀
— NBA (@NBA) May 14, 2024
Elite vision. Timely precision.
2H coming up on TNT 🍿 pic.twitter.com/oeNo6CIVuG
Dallas raced to a hot start at 30-20 and led 54-43 at halftime behind Doncic and Washington’s combined 23-point output.
Game 4 of this series returns to Oklahoma City on May 16, Thursday, 9:30 a.m. LIVE on NBA TV Philippines and the Pilipinas Live app.
