The Oklahoma City Thunder proved that little things matter as they tied the series against the Dallas Mavericks.
Oklahoma City Thunder started their semi-final battle with the Dallas Mavericks strong and intimidating but Dallas punched the youngsters left and right by winning the second and third games with a nine and four-point margin.
Yet, when Dallas thought these youngsters would tap out of the ring, OKC took out their wands and hit the Mavericks from behind within two-minute intervals in the last quarter.
There are some key takeaways in Game 4 and what to expect in Game 5 from the Dallas Mavericks and Oklahoma City Thunder.
Oklahoma City Thunder Vs. Dallas Mavericks Game 4 Recap
Oklahoma City Thunder started the game slow but silently killed the Dallas Mavericks coming from behind.
On the other hand, the Mavericks started their game fast with clean buckets and dunks that proved dominance, intimidating the youngster.
However, I’d suggest that we’re too close to the canvas, so let’s zoom out a little to get a bird’s eye view of the canvas.
In the first half of the game, the Mavericks were leading in the first and second quarters with 30 and 24 points respectively. Thus at the end of the half, Dallas led OKC with nine points scoring 54 points.
Also, both Luka Doncic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (SGA) scored 12 points with Dallas scoring 50% of their first-half points from 3-point shots in the second quarter.
Now, the second half started with the Mavericks lonely at the top until SGA said enough is enough.
The Turning Point For The Oklahoma City Thunder
It’s the first quarter of the second half and OKC was still yet to take the lead.
The Mavericks were enjoying their game and dishing out assists for alley-oops and dunks but Kenrich Williams wasn’t having it as he almost started an uproar between him and Dereck Lively II. This is eight minutes to the end of the fourth quarter with OKC three points behind the Mavericks.
The settled tension between Kenrich Williams and Dereck Lively started a snowball effect the Mavericks didn’t see coming.
Exactly after two minutes with OKC seven points behind Dallas, Kyrie Irving fooled Jalen Williams after Jalen scored a 2-pointer which added to the snowball effect of OKC taking the lead.
Despite the slow start from Oklahoma City Thunder, they added momentum to their game to dominate at the end while the Mavericks declined in their game performance from the first half.
Oklahoma City Thunder’s Super Hero
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder’s superhero, got 30 points, four minutes before the end of the fourth quarter when he tied OKC to the lead with two buckets behind the rim making the score 86-86.
Then Oklahoma City started leading two minutes before the end of the fourth quarter. Also, during this period, Dallas went three minutes without scoring a point which reduced their chance of winning the game.
The Maverick’s home is shivering; they just noticed the snowball roll at full speed from the top of the mountain to crush them. Therefore, they tried to equalize and take the game to overtime.
Tim Hardaway Jr. attempted to put the Mavericks one point close to the lead by carding a deep 3-pointer from the shooting guard position, yet that couldn’t do the trick.
Ten seconds till the end of the 4th quarter was going to be the decisive moment to drive the game into overtime but Luka Doncic missed a free throw which gave OKC the upper hand.
The game ended 100-96 with OKC victorious and tied to the playoff series lead 2-2.
What to Expect in Game 5
The Maverick Dallas will double down on their offense and put more pressure on the Oklahoma City Thunder to close out Game 5.
Also, OKC took a risk by just focusing on defending the Dallas’ superstars, leaving PJ Washington to take the lead in points and it worked for Oklahoma City. However, the same strategy might not work in Game 5 as the Mavericks will be hungry for a win.
Further, Oklahoma City proved that little things matter as they played aggressively in the 4th quarter using 50-50 basketball tactics and carding more than 90% of their free throws, whereas the Mavericks fumbled as they got 52% from the line. Therefore, the Mavericks would work hard on their free throws coming game 5.
Finally, the Mavericks could set other players up to shoot from the field and outside the arc to allow their two offensive weapons to strive in Game 5.
About the Author
Wisdom is an email and brand copywriter with two years of content writing experience. He started Cloud Kitchen Concept to help startups and business owners elevate their brands from good to great. You can connect with him on LinkedIn and Instagram to enjoy cooked meals for your business’s growth.
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