The Dallas Mavericks are headed to their second Western Convention Finals with Luka Dončić, primarily due to Dončić.
The Slovenian star led his workforce to a 17-point comeback to finish the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder in six video games with a 117-116 win in opposition to the highest seed within the Western Convention on Saturday. Dallas will face the winner of Sport 7 between the Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets on Sunday.
Dončić completed the sport with 29 factors on 9-of-15 taking pictures with 10 rebounds and 10 assists, his seventh profession playoff triple-double and third in a row. The opposite massive contributors have been PJ Washington, who had 22 factors on Eight-of-13 taking pictures, and Kyrie Irving, who additionally had 22 on 9-of-23 taking pictures.
Though ineffective, Irving improved his shutout document to 14-Zero, the perfect mark in NBA historical past.
The Thunder spent virtually your complete sport within the lead, with a run late within the second quarter that put them up 16 at halftime. The lead peaked at 77-60 early within the third. The Mavericks trailed for a lot of the second half and tied the sport halfway by means of the fourth quarter, at which level it was a frantic back-and-forth with 5 lead adjustments within the remaining 5 minutes.
The sport finally got here all the way down to a controversial name. Down 116-115 with three seconds left, Washington tried what would have been a Three-pointer, however was fouled by Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The Thunder contested the foul.
Subsequent replay confirmed Gilgeous-Alexander clearly obtained a clear hand on the ball, then hit Washington's arm. Touching the ball then the taking pictures arm normally means the play was not a foul, however the officers dominated that the contact with the ball was not on the launch of the shot as a result of Washington made contact after which launched the ball.
The Thunder misplaced the problem after which the sequence. Washington made its first two free throws, then deliberately missed the third, forcing OKC to take possession by itself facet of the court docket with 2.5 seconds left.
A half-court shot later, the season of the youngest workforce within the NBA was coming to an finish.
The place do the Thunder go from right here?
The great thing about being the Thunder is you can fall in need of the Western Convention Finals and nonetheless be thought-about in the end.
That's what occurs whenever you go 57-25, whereas your MVP candidate (Gilgeous-Alexander) is 25, future frontcourt anchor (Chet Holmgren) is 22, and the remainder of your rotation is 25 or below . Gilgeous-Alexander and Lu Dort are each already below contract for the following three seasons, whereas Holmgren and Jalen Williams are locked in for 2 extra seasons.
The Thunder can solely be higher subsequent season by getting older whereas including low cost expertise through ridiculous bounty of draft picks (decide 12th within the 2024 NBA Draft by deciding on the Houston Rockets).
After all, the extra engaging choice now that the Thunder are legitimately dealing with it’s to commerce a few of these picks for veteran expertise. Particularly some reinforcements within the paint.
If the Thunder had a weak point this season, it was their comeback. Holmgren is underweight at 208 kilos and beginning middle Jaylin Williams is undersized at 6-foot-9. The workforce ranked 29th within the NBA in offensive rebounding, although they have been nonetheless robust defensively with Holmgren terrorizing photographs across the basket.
The excellent news is that the Thunder have already carried out the heavy lifting with a famous person in Gilgeous-Alexander and a possible famous person in Holmgren. In case your largest worries are filling out the rotation and discovering future extensions, you're in all probability in a reasonably great spot.