Oklahoma City remain unbeaten in playoffs with dominant 22-point win in Game 1 vs. Dallas

The battle between Luka Doncic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has begun in this Western Conference semifinal matchup, but only one of them played as their true self this Tuesday night. In Game 1, the Thunder star posted 29 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists to beat the Mavericks 117-95.

The Slovenian, on the other hand, simply wasn’t in the game. His Canadian opponent dropped in 8 of 19 attempts from the field, and 11 of 13 from the foul line, as he was finally taken out of the game with 3 minutes left to the final buzzer, as his squad enjoyed a comfortable lead. 

When he was asked about his shooting, Doncic shrugged off and simply said they still have lots to improve. “Who cares,” he insisted. “We lost. We just got to move onto the next one. We’ve got to be better.”

The Thunder are the only team this postseason to keep their opponent under 100 points EVERY GAME.

(5-0)

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The Dallas guard wasn’t just missing his shots for no reason, as Lu Dort was his shadow and guarded him throughout the game. Also, coach Mark Diagneault placed rookie Cason Wallace and center Chet Holmgren to pester him around the rim. 

The Thunder tactician, who earned Coach of the Year this season, gave special praise to Dort. “He’s just a warrior,” Daigneault expressed. “Brings the juice every single night. Doncic is a really hard matchup and a great player that didn’t have his best pitch tonight. He’s going to play better than this. Lu made it hard on him. I thought our team made it hard on him.”

Holmgren, who was recently voted as second-place to the Rookie of the Year award, contributed with 19 points, 7 rebounds and 3 blocks on Tuesday. His teammate Jalen Williams wasn’t efficient from beyond the arc, but still managed to score 10 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter. 

Now the Thunder coach will be wary that the Mavericks stole home court against the Clippers in the playoff’s first round, as they head to Oklahoma this Thursday with hopes of remaining unbeaten. “I think we can expect them to play better than they did tonight,” Mark said. “The last thing we’re going to do is underestimate this opponent.”

The Thunder set a franchise record with 29 assists in a single playoff game this Tuesday evening 

After the game, Diagneault was asked to explain why the team was so prolific with offensive plays and how they went on to break Oklahoma City’s franchise record on 29 assists in a single postseason match. 

“I thought we got a good groove going after kind of a choppy start,” the coach said said. “Really intelligent attacks. We had a good blend of aggression and also taking what the defense gave us, keeping them on their heels, keeping the ball ahead of them. They’re really good when you slow down and you allow them to kind of scheme and calibrate.”

Despite Kyrie Irving’s 20 points and teammate Daniel Gafford’s 16, 11 rebounds and 5 blocks, the team will need to change their strategy and regroup for Thursday clash. 

“They’re a great team,” Doncic expressed. “Great defensive team, great offensive team. So it’s not going to be easy at all. We’ve got to very good basketball and focused basketball for 48 minutes.”