Luka Doncic bounced back with a strong performance to lead the Dallas Mavericks to victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 2 of the Western Conference Semifinals.
in Game 2, resulting in a 1-1 series tie heading back to American Airlines Center for the next two games of the series.
There was more of a focus from the Mavericks to get Doncic off the ball at times, with him being the focus of actions. While he did have a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer early by spacing the floor, Dallas ran double wide pindown for him at one point to attack Dort downhill, using a spin move on his drive right before using short-range touch to score.
The Mavericks gave up a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to Holmgren on a full-court pass, reducing their lead to 36-32 entering the second quarter. Irving frequently dished the ball to the big in the paint when the Thunder tried to send late doubles, but he often made the pass before that could develop. Gafford's catch and finish for an and-one midway through the second quarter put Dallas up 55-41. Irving had a quiet half from a scoring perspective with four points but dished out seven assists.
The Mavericks turned to a small ball lineup with Washington at the five spot, immediately resulting in Williams attacking the rim for a dunk to close out the first half. After stealing the ball after a defensive rebound by the Thunder, Irving found Green for a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer, setting up a 68-62 advantage entering the break.
After Doncic made a pair of free throws and found Derrick Jones Jr. for a quick transition alley-oop dunk late in the third period, the Mavericks were back up by 14 points. Oklahoma City used a 4-0 run to close the frame, setting up a 99-89 edge for Dallas.
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