Luka Doncic Guides Dallas Mavericks to Pivotal Game 5 Victory Over OKC Thunder for 3-2 Series Lead

OKLAHOMA CITY — After losing Game 4 disappointingly despite a 14-point lead, the Dallas Mavericks responded with a 104-92 road victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder to take a 3-2 series lead. Luka Doncic set the tone with 31 points, 11 assists, and 10 rebounds in part of an efficient display when the Mavericks needed it most.

“Our mentality, we know the last game we played against them at home, we let it go,” Doncic said. “It was our mistakes and they hit shots. In the playoffs, it’s the first to four, you got to win before they do. So you got to go game by game.

“The whole team stepped up. I couldn’t do it without my teammates," Doncic explained. "Everybody that came on the floor gave 100 percent energy. We play as a team. We win as a team. We lose as a team. I’ve been having a lot of fun with this team.”

Kyrie Irving continued to emphasize making a defensive impact while taking what the defense gave him within the flow of gameplay, finishing with 12 points and four assists with 11 shot attempts. He continued to command heavy defensive attention, so the Mavericks faced defensive coverages that dared their wings, like Derrick Jones Jr. and P.J. Washington, to shoot and make plays off the catch. Jones totaled 19 points with three made 3-pointers, while Washington recorded a double-double with 10 points, 10 rebounds, and four assists.

"I'm really laying my hat on the defensive end, and giving a lot of effort and just trying to make the right plays offensively," Irving said. "They're putting three [defenders] on the ball at times for me, and I could obviously take a lot of tough shots and I think that's coming in the near future when it's needed.

"For right now, just reading the game and allowing the basketball Gods to shower me with a lot of love when you're playing the right way because, again, I've spoken on this a few times, but just internally as a young player," Irving explained. "it was easy for me to kind of throw away the good stuff that I was doing because I want to focus on my scoring.

"I know how many people want me to focus on my scoring right that is not in the locker room," Irving concluded. "I don't want to fall into that trap. Really want to focus on the positive vibes that are given to me from my teammates, and they're gonna find me when it's time. I love finding them just as much."

READ MORE: Luka Doncic Leads Dallas Mavericks to Decisive Game 5 Win: 3 Game-Changing Plays

Dallas received strong contributions from Dereck Lively II, who added 11 points, 10 rebounds, and one block, while providing a clear interior defensive presence. Daniel Gafford added nine points and seven rebounds, continuing to provide the one-two punch at the center position Dallas has needed, particularly while Maxi Kleber remains sidelined due to a shoulder injury.

The Thunder changed their starting lineup by moving Josh Giddey to the second unit while deploying Isaiah Joe. The defensive scheme the Mavericks favor is maximized when there is a weak perimeter shooter to pre-rotate off of and sag off, but with Joe, there isn't one of those players since they have enough threats to space out. Despite the adjustment, Oklahoma City was contained to a playoff-low-scoring total despite receiving 30 points and eight assists from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

“Our mood won’t change, our mentality won’t change," Gilgeous-Alexander said. “It’s one game at a time. We wanted to win this game tonight as badly as we’re going to want to win the next game.”

Luguentz Dort essentially becomes the Thunder's weakest link shooting-wise, which is a much more capable circumstance than having him next to Giddey. Dallas managed to sustain an early advantage despite the Thunder's lineup change and a few early breakdowns, leading 11-8 at one point. Doncic communicated more than usual with his teammates to settle the team into the game more. After a few early mistakes, particularly giving up offensive rebounds, the Mavericks responded well to his leadership efforts.

“I just tried to focus on basketball. We played great defense," Doncic said. "Some of the little stuff we didn’t do last game, we did today. I don’t know how many offensive rebounds they had but they had, like, four in the first four minutes and we cleaned that up.”

Given how significant of stakes this game held, Doncic was intent about keeping his communication with officials focused on basketball and playing with job. It helped him to stay focused on the task at hand and leading to greater performance.

“Just focused on basketball," Doncic said. Remember the thing I love to do and just play basketball.”

The Thunder were intent on flooding the strong side with help defense when going small, but when Holmgren was on the court, they mixed having him cross-match and serve as the low defender versus being directly in the action. Each of these strategies was intent on not enabling Doncic or Irving to have a clean lane to attack the rim.

The Mavericks also mixed up their rotation, featuring Jaden Hardy in the second unit instead of Dante Exum, who has struggled to reach a comfort level attacking in the half-court offensively. Given how aggressively Oklahoma City has guarded Doncic and Irving, the goal seemingly was to have another scoring threat and initiator kickstart the offense.

After failing to secure an offensive rebound, Jaylin Williams was left open from the perimeter and hit the shot, reducing the Mavericks' edge to 20-18, prompting them to call a timeout. Dallas continued to maintain the advantage through the end of the first quarter, leading 24-22.

Dallas deployed a very small lineup to close the first quarter, with Irving, Hardy, Hardaway, and Green all on the perimeter. Dallas gave up a significant amount of offensive rebounds early, leading to second-chance scoring opportunities for Oklahoma City, but it was exclusive to small ball groups.

Doncic was intentionally the paint in the second quarter. He used a fake step-back to get into a give-and-go, setting up a lob to Lively out of the dunker spot. Later, Doncic attacked the paint to create a goaltending call on Holmgren before making a three-quarter-court throw-ahead lob to Lively for a dunk. Overall, Doncic was intent on pushing the pace in transition to create advantages. This stretch of play made it clear that he was at the start of a superstar performance. His teammates predicted it sooner, even as early as taking the floor 15 minutes early for his pre-game workout.

“I saw it in his warmup,” Jones said. “He came out earlier and was knocking down shots and I was just sitting back saying, ‘It’s going to be a long day for them.’ I’m always harping on 77. Once he gets a rhythm and has it going, he’s tough to stop.”

The Mavericks led by as many as 15 points in the first half but entered the break being up 54-44. Doncic was off to a strong start, already recording 17 points, seven assists, and six rebounds. Jones was also in double figures with 15 points and was perfect on his six shot attempts, even with three occurring from behind the 3-point line.

“It’s always good seeing the ball go through the basket,” Jones said. “I’ve always said I’m going to take the shots that I get no matter what. I’m not going to pass up on nothing. For me, I’m going to take whatever I get. I get in that little short pocket and if they don’t step up, I’m going to take a floater – a little jump shot. But if they step up I’m going to drop it off to my big man."

Dallas was more comfortable accepting blitzes and playing out of the pocket than in recent performances, making the Thunder pay for being vulnerable to 4-on-3 situations. Gafford was poised to attack Holmgren in the paint, playing off two feet and using fakes before launching his hook shot. When considering the previous struggles to execute in the paint with Holmgren on the floor in this series, it was a clear improvement for Dallas.

Coming out of a timeout with the Mavericks leading by 14 points, the Thunder trusted Gilgeous-Alexander to begin attacking downhill to settle them into the game. After Doncic hit a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer, Dallas was up 68-53, proving to be a timely answer for Dallas.

As the Thunder have shown throughout this series, they would not go away quietly. Gilgeous-Alexander was aggressive, attacking the paint again, even drawing an and-one on a floater against Hardy using his size advantage. Oklahoma City briefly reduced the deficit to single figures until Doncic answered with a step-back 3-pointer, resulting in a 79-67 advantage entering the fourth quarter.

A continued theme throughout this game was Doncic making timely plays and scoring the ball when the opportunities were available to him. One sequence involved an and-one floater playing through contact early in the fourth quarter to push Dallas up by 15 points. After Jalen Williams scored on a drive, Doncic attacked the paint again for a floater playing off two feet. The Mavericks reached a new game-high lead after Doncic hit a deep catch-and-shoot 3-pointer, putting them up 89-71.

After the Thunder reduced the Mavericks' lead to 10, Irving had a prime chance to stifle Oklahoma City's momentum on a drive but missed the floater. Williams attacked the rim for a finish on the other end. Doncic turned it over when trying to counter a double team with a pass to the paint, but the low defender stole it. Instead of allowing a run, Dallas achieved a defensive stop and settled the flow of the game down to close it out.

“(It’s important) knowing the difference when we’re very much well-connected and also when we’re kind of splintered and the game is flowing in a different direction and we’re not being there for each other,” Irving said. “We know the difference. And we showed each other tonight how to respond to tough losses.”

Washington was left open in the corner and made the Thunder pay, briefly positioning the Mavericks ahead by 10 points before Williams answered with a short-range pull-up jumper. Washington was blocked on a 3-point attempt but recovered his miss to dunk it. Dallas received timely contributions from role players down the stretch, similar to how the Thunder benefited from that phenomenon in their own right in Game 4. These sequences were difference-making plays that came down to playing hard and trying to set the tone as aggressors.

"There are going to be little tweaks here and there, but at the end, it comes down to us being the aggressor, us going out and making sure we stop the offensive rebounds and play together, have fun and try to move on,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said.

Gilgeous-Alexander had a pair of free throws, making them both to bring Oklahoma City within nine points. The Thunder deployed a blitzing approach even against Irving to get the ball into the hands of the Mavericks' role players. Dallas iced the game after Lively made a pair of free throws, then used a steal to set up a throw-ahead pass and dunk to Jones, putting them up by 13 with under two minutes remaining in regulation.

The Mavericks made A final statement when Doncic emphatically blocked Gilgeous-Alexander on a drive to close the game. Earlier in the period, the Paycom Center crowd was chanting "Luka sucks!" repeatedly, seemingly providing additional motivation to the Slovenian superstar.

“I love it,” Doncic said. “If they want to chant “Luka sucks.” It gets me going.”

After having two days off, the series will continue Saturday with Game 6 played at American Airlines Center.

“We’ve got one more to win out of two games,” Doncic said. “That’s it. We’re up 3-2, but that’s still nothing. We’ve got to finish it and go with the same mentality at home.”

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