OKLAHOMA CITY — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said he spent “all day” thinking about his Oklahoma City Thunder’s playoff elimination at the hands of the Mavericks last spring and then singlehandedly outscored Dallas’ star duo Tuesday night.
Gilgeous-Alexander’s 39-point outing in the Thunder’s 118-104 win over the Mavs in an NBA Cup quarterfinal — punching the Thunder’s ticket to Las Vegas, where they’ll face Wednesday’s Golden State-Houston winner in a semifinal on Saturday — was the kind of performance that can fuel an MVP campaign.
But Gilgeous-Alexander gave credit to a couple of his teammates — Luguentz Dort and Cason Wallace — for him exceeding the combined point total of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. They were the primary defenders on the Mavs’ stars, who finished with 33 points.
“Hell of a job by Lu and Cason,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “It’s more impressive to hold them that low than it is for me to get 39 points. I think to hold those two that low really gave us a chance to win the game. We felt like we had control of the game because of that. Keeping those two in check like that is very rare.”
It was, in fact, the lowest combined total by Doncic and Irving during a regular-season game they have played together as teammates, according to ESPN Research.
Doncic, who has repeatedly referred to Dort as one of the league’s top three perimeter defenders over the years, was held to 16 points on 5-of-15 shooting and had more turnovers (six) than assists (five). All but two of his 15 shot attempts were heavily contested, a rate of 87% that was the highest in any of Doncic’s games this season, according to Second Spectrum tracking.
“It’s for a reason they’re the No. 1 defensive team in the league,” Doncic said. “They have great defensive players. They decided to double me every time, so give credit to them. I mean they played really, really, really good defense today.”
According to Second Spectrum, the Thunder blitzed Doncic on 13 of the 27 ball screens that he used. That 48% blitz rate is the highest faced by any player who used at least 20 ball screens this season.
Irving was limited to 17 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the field. Irving, like Doncic, had only eight points entering the fourth quarter, when the Mavs trailed by 17.
Oklahoma City forced 19 Dallas turnovers and converted them into 36 points. The Thunder had 14 steals, including a team-high-tying three by Gilgeous-Alexander.
“They do a great job of funneling you into situations on the court and then they want the basketball to find other guys on your team,” Irving said. “When you’re forced to do that every single possession, that’s what makes it successful. More times [than not] they limit us from getting great quality looks — whether it be me and Luka — and they want it to find other people. This is the NBA game. Now you want to get the ball out of the best ball handler’s hands or the best scorer’s hand and let everybody else decide.”
The Thunder executed a similar strategy during last season’s Western Conference semifinals series, holding Doncic and Irving to a combined 40.2 points per game, far below their average. The Mavs’ role players made the Thunder pay, particularly forward P.J. Washington, who averaged 17.7 points and shot 46.9% from 3-point range in the series.
Washington, who had 27 points and 17 rebounds in the Mavs’ road win over the Thunder earlier this season, did not play Tuesday because of illness.
After the Mavs opened the game with an 8-0 run, Gilgeous-Alexander seized control, scoring 16 points in the first quarter. The Thunder took the lead with 2:32 left in the first quarter and never relinquished it.
Gilgeous-Alexander scored another 16 points in the third quarter when the Thunder pushed the lead to double digits.
“Just a lot of times, it’s hard to stop him,” Doncic said. “I think at some point, you’ve got to send two, three players [at Gilgeous-Alexander]. It’s amazing playing against a guy like this, just the battles. It’s fun and he’s an amazing player.”
Gilgeous-Alexander, who also had eight rebounds and five assists, finished 15-of-23 from the field. That included 5-of-9 from 3-point range, a facet of the game he worked on developing during the offseason.
“Shai’s been cooking defenses all year, you know what I mean?” Irving said. “Nothing new. You can tell he’s added that 3-point shot to his game, that step-back, which gives him another threat out there for his game that he has now. So again, these young guys, this is going to turn into one of those teams that we’re going to see — just like Memphis — where down the stretch down into the season, we’re going to be competing with them.”
The Thunder, the youngest No. 1 seed in NBA history last season, entered this season considered the favorites to win the conference after acquiring coveted role players Isaiah Hartenstein and Alex Caruso during the offseason. Oklahoma City heads to Las Vegas atop the West standings with a 19-5 record.
But the Mavs remain the reigning Western Conference champions, a fact that provides motivational fuel for Gilgeous-Alexander.
“They came out [of] the West last year,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “I guess that means they’re the best Western team. We all know how tough the West is, and I respect them. I used that opportunity to get better. I used that opportunity to see if I got better and really measure myself against the best.”
