Shai shines as Thunder struck Mavs
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-alexander was his usual self and Luka Doncic wasn’t.
Gilgeous-alexander had 29 points, nine rebounds and nine assists to help the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Dallas Mavericks, 117-95, on Tuesday night, May 7, in Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal series.
Gilgeous-alexander made 8 of 19 field goals and 11 of 13 free throws before coming out of the game with 3:26 remaining and the Thunder leading 111-89.
Doncic, an MVP finalist like Gilgeous-alexander, scored 19 points on 6-for-19 shooting and had five turnovers. He bristled when asked about his shooting.
“Who cares,” he said. “We lost. We just got to move onto the next one. We’ve got to be better.”
Lu Dort got most of the work guarding Doncic, with rookie Cason Wallace getting some of the action and 7-foot-1 center Holmgren pestering him near the rim.
Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said Dort, one of the league’s best perimeter defenders did his job.
“He’s just a warrior,” Daigneault said. “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 added 19 points, seven rebounds and three blocks. Jalen Williams struggled with his shot for three quarters but scored 10 of his 18 points in the fourth to help Oklahoma City remain unbeaten in the playoffs.
Kyrie Irving scored 20 points and Daniel Gafford added 16 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks for the fi h-seeded Mavericks.
Game 2 will be Thursday night in Oklahocity. ma Daigneault is aware that the Mavericks stole home court from the Los Angeles Clippers in Game 2 of their first-round series. Dallas went on to win that series 4-2.