It’s not a whole revenge for his or her elimination from final yr’s NBA playoffs elimination, however the Oklahoma City Thunder bought the higher of the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday.
The Thunder superior to the semifinals of the NBA Cup by stifling the Dallas Mavericks in a 118-104 dwelling win. They will face the winner of the Wednesday’s quarterfinal between the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets.
The win began and ended as a principally depressing day on the gymnasium for Mavericks star Luka Dončić, which has develop into a recurring story for the Thunder, house owners of the league’s prime defensive ranking.
The five-time All-Star completed the sport with 16 factors on 5-of-15 capturing. At halftime, he had solely two factors on 1-of-7 capturing with 4 turnovers. He made his numbers extra respectable within the fourth quarter, however Dallas by no means bought nearer than eight factors to OKC.
With their major offensive engine sputtering, the Mavericks yielded far an excessive amount of floor to the Thunder. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had considered one of his finest video games of the season with 39 factors on 15-of-23 capturing with eight rebounds, 5 assists and three steals, fully outplaying his celebrity counterpart.
“Just general, [Gilgeous-Alexander] is a superb scorer, he will get his teammates concerned and numerous instances it is laborious to cease him,” Dončić said after the game. “Think sooner or later it’s a must to ship two, three gamers. It’s wonderful to play towards a man like this, the battles, it is enjoyable.”
The Thunder entered the quarterfinal because the West’s prime seed by advantage of their efficiency in 4 group-play video games and regarded the half because the convention’s prime canine. Despite nonetheless lacking Chet Holmgren, they totally outplayed the crew that eradicated them within the Western Conference semifinals final yr.
They at the moment are two wins from greater than $500,000 every in NBA Cup prize cash, however Tuesday was additionally one other encouraging step for his or her larger objective.
