Luka Doncic & Kyrie Irving Downer? Dallas Mavericks Squander Late Lead in Game 4 Loss to OKC Thunder
The Dallas Mavericks controlled Game 4 against the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder all the way until the fourth quarter when it mattered most. After coming out of the gates with high energy and physicality, the Mavs fumbled away their fourth-quarter lead en route to a 100-96 loss.
For the third consecutive game, it was versatile forward P.J. Washington who led the Mavs in scoring, finishing with 21 points on 7-19 shooting and 12 rebounds. Although Washington was great overall, the Mavs needed their two stars to step up in the fourth quarter. Unfortunately for Dallas, that never came.
Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Despite playing stellar individual defense at times, the efficiency woes continued for Luka Doncic, who has been playing with a knee sprain since early in the first round against the Los Angeles Clippers. Doncic has shown incredible toughness while battling through pain for his team, but he finished Game 4 with 18 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists while shooting just 6-20 overall and 2-9 from deep.
Kyrie Irving, who is known for his fourth-quarter prowess, wasn't able to come through in the final quarter this time around. He finished with nine points and nine assists while shooting just 4-11 from the floor and 0-2 from deep.
Dallas held OKC to 38.0 percent shooting from the floor as a team but still lost the game because of poor free-throw shooting. The Thunder shot 23-24 from the charity stripe, and the Mavs shot 12-23. A four-point loss with 11 missed freebies is a tough pill to swallow for a team that had a chance to go up 3-1 in the series.
"We just got to work on our free throws," Doncic said. "We shot 52 percent. That's unacceptable."
The Mavs had several opportunities to put the game away throughout the first three quarters, but the steadiness of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander gave OKC a fighting chance. He finished with 34 points on 14-27 shooting from the field.
Dallas had a chance to win three consecutive playoff games for the first time since it won the 2011 championship against the Miami Heat, but that time will have to wait for anouther day. The Mavs will have to defeat the Thunder two times in the next three games to reach the Western Conference Finals for the second time in three years.
