Dallas, TX – The Thunder hit the road for game 3 in their series against the Mavs after their first playoff loss this postseason and looked to take home court back in this series.
In the time leading to the game there was a lot of talk about how the Thunder would adjust to the Mavs after they shot 18-37 from three in game 2. Thunder would need to figure out how to focus their defense on Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving while also not giving up too many open looks. OKC would also need to adjust to how quick the Mavs decision making was after Luka and Kyrie were getting doubled.
Early on, the Mavs brought all of the energy and just like the first two games the Thunder looked a little lackluster to start. They hadn’t really adjusted to the Mavs quick decisions either. That quickly changed for the Thunder as they increased their intensity on the deceive end after getting down by as many as 9 early on.
Thunder were getting good looks early on but just couldn’t convert. That also changed once they increased their intensity defensively because this team really feeds off of their high energy defense. After being down 9, Thunder pulled back and grabbed control of the game early in the second quarter with a 19-7 run to take the lead.
Going back and forth for the majority of the second quarter, the Thunder were able to squeeze out a lead going into halftime. Both teams had adjustments to make but this had the making a very intense heavyweight fight for the rest of the day.
And a fight it was. Both teams went up double digits and both teams fought back from the double digit deficit. Thunder 11-0 run and Mavs 16-0 run bot in the third. The smallest things became the biggest in this game and it was the Mavs who took advantage.
They won most of the 50/50 battles, were slightly the more physical team, controlled the pace, and ended up inching out to a 105-101 victory to take a 2-1 series lead.
Here Are The Big Reasons For The Loss
Little In The Little Things
In high pressure games, like the playoffs, you have to be big in the little things. If not, they will continue to add up and turn into very big things. In game 3, the Thunder were pretty little in a lot of the little things and they certainly added up.
The Thunder weren’t the hardest working team in the game. Too many offensive rebounds for the Mavs. 15 to be exact and those led to 16 second chance points in a game that the Thunder lost by four. 14 turnovers that led to 10 points in again, a game they lost by 4. Too many unforced errors. Not being the more physical team and not controlling the pace. All little things that turned into big things.
The Thunder will need to be much bigger in those little things if they want to tie this series up because if they don’t, it will end sooner than they hoped.
Couldn’t Figure Out The Paint
The Thunder had an abnormally game in the paint in game 3. Only 38 points there and the most shocking part is they only were able to get up 32 shots in the paint. That just can’t happen.
That’s their bread and butter.
Have to give the Mavs a lot of credit for the way they defended the paint but the Thunder simply can’t allow that. Especially on nights where they don’t have it going from three. It wasn’t a situation where they were taking a lot more threes than shots in the paint because they took more shots in the paint. They just didn’t really get much there.
They will need to figure out how to offset one or the other when they don’t have either of them going. Especially in close games. Getting one of those going would have swung the game in their favor. And to be frank, it needs to be the paint. That’s how they set everything up. Getting established in the paint will allow them to get better looks outside.
The Thunder were led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander who had 31 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists, and 5 blocks. He’s the first player in franchise history to put up those numbers in a playoff game and only the eleventh player in NBA history to have such a game. Jalen Williams added 16 points, 8 assists, and 6 rebounds while Chet Holmgren added 13 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 blocks.
OKC will look to turn things around Monday night in game 4.
