Thunder roll on, rout Mavericks
shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 29 points, nine rebounds and nine assists to help the top-seeded Thunder beat the mavericks 117-95, at Oklahoma city on Tuesday night in Game 1 of their Western conference semifinal series.
chet Holmgren added 19 points, 7 rebounds and 3 blocks for the Thunder. 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.
Gilgeous-Alexander got the best of the matchup with Dallas' luka Doncic, a fellow mVP finalist. Doncic scored 19 points on 6-for-19 shooting and had five turnovers. lu Dort got most of the work guarding him, with rookie cason Wallace getting some of the action and holmgren pestering him near the rim.
kyrie irving scored 20 points and Daniel Gafford added 16 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks for the fifth-seeded mavericks.
Gilgeous-Alexander rested briefly at the start of the second quarter before subbing in at the 8:20 mark. he scored 11 points in the period to help the Thunder take a 62-53 lead at the break. he scored 19 points in the first half, while reserve Aaron Wiggins scored 12 of his 16 points before the break.
Dallas opened the second half on a run, and a 3-pointer by Irving cut Oklahoma city's lead to 66-65 and forced the Thunder to call a timeout.
isaiah Joe and Dort hit 3pointers when play resumed, then Dort ripped Doncic, leading to a dunk by Williams that put the Thunder up 74-67. Gilgeous-Alexander's 3-pointer with Doncic in his face put Oklahoma city up 80-69. Irving hit a 3-pointer as the third quarter expired, but the Thunder still led 89-79.
Williams scored eight straight points for the Thunder in a run that put Oklahoma city ahead 102-87.
Gobert top defender
Rudy Gobert made some history. Victor Wembanyama nearly did.
Gobert, the Timberwolves center, was announced Tuesday night as the NbA’s Defensive Player of the Year for a recordtying fourth time — joining basketball hall of fame inductees Dikembe Mutombo and ben Wallace.
It was the fifth time in the last 11 seasons that a french center won Defensive Player of the Year — and it sure seems like Wembanyama will add to that country’s total before long. The spurs star, announced monday as the league’s Rookie of the Year, was second in the voting and fell one spot short of being the first player to win the DPOY trophy in Year 1 of his NbA career.
Viva la france, indeed. Joakim noah became the first frenchman to win DPOY when he was the overwhelming choice in 2014, and Gobert now has the trophies for 2018, 2019, 2021, and 2024.
“It’s great teamwork,” Gobert, the best defender on a Timberwolves team that had the best defense in the NbA this season, said on TNT during the award’s announcement. “We love to get individual awards and all these things, and it’s great but you can’t do it alone.”
It’s the ninth time in Gobert’s 11 seasons that he has been seventh or better in the voting. he was second in 2017, third in 2020 and 2022, fifth in 2015, and seventh in 2016 — and picked up this trophy one day after missing a playoff game for the birth of his son.
“A lot of blessings,” Gobert said. “Just really grateful.”
heat center bam Adebayo was third, his best finish in the voting. he was fourth in 2021 and 2022, along with fifth in 2020 and 2023.
Gobert was second in rebounds per game and sixth in blocked shots per game — a category where Wembanyama led the league.
The Timberwolves led the NbA this season in fewest points allowed per game. They also held opponents to the lowest field goal percentage.
“This year, training camp, we came Day 1 and said we wanted to be a top defense in this league,” Gobert said. “Every guy has bought in. Everyone has put in the work every single day, and now we’re here with one goal in mind, to try to get this championship.”
Murray fined
Nuggets guard Jamal Murray was fined $100,000 by the NbA but avoided a suspension for “throwing multiple objects in the direction of a game official during live play,” the league announced.
murray tossed a towel and a heat pack onto the court late in the second quarter of Denver’s 108-80 loss to minnesota on monday night that gave the Timberwolves a 2-0 lead in the Western conference semifinal series that shifts to minneapolis this weekend.
The Nuggets were frustrated by the officiating as they fell behind by 28 points shortly before halftime.
The heat pack toss garnered the most attention as TNT replays showed murray sitting at the end of Denver’s bench and throwing it onto the court. It slid across the floor as players jockeyed in the lane just before minnesota’s karl-Anthony towns made a layup with 4:41 left in the second quarter.
kentavious caldwell-Pope retrieved the heat pack and tossed it aside as the public address announcer admonished the crowd not to throw any objects onto the court.