On Thursday night, the Oklahoma City Thunder faced off against the Dallas Mavericks in a thrilling matchup that ended with a final score of 117-116. The game was highly anticipated, as both teams were vying for a crucial win to boost their playoff positioning.
The Thunder started off strong, taking an early lead in the first quarter thanks to stellar performances from their star players. However, the Mavericks fought back fiercely in the second half, narrowing the gap and eventually taking the lead late in the fourth quarter.
Oklahoma City battled the opening tip around to Jalen Williams, who has not had his best stuff offensively this series, giving the Santa Clara product a runaway dunk right through the lane to start the Thunder on the right foot. This led OKC to an opening 13-4 run thanks to their constant ball pressure and forcing early turnovers.
Doncic finished Game 6 with 29 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, becoming the fifth player in NBA history to record three consecutive triple-doubles during the playoffs, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.
But Doncic, who is dealing with a sprained right knee and a sore left ankle, struggled for much of the series. He averaged 24.7 points -- a significant drop-off from his league-leading 33.9 in the regular season -- and shot 44.7% from the floor despite finding his touch in the final two games.
"We won the series. That's what matters in the end," Doncic said. "We won 4-2, [even though] we didn't have home advantage. It's great that we won, but just struggles are going to come. You got to stay positive and keep hooping."
Washington intentionally missed the final free throw, preventing the Thunder from setting up a play for a potential buzzer-beater. Jalen Williams missed a 64-foot heave to end Oklahoma City's season and prompt streamers to fall from the American Airlines Center rafters.
The fifth-seeded Mavericks now await the winner of Sunday's Game 7 between the Minnesota Timberwolves and defending champion Denver Nuggets to determine their opponent for the West finals -- which will start Tuesday night with Dallas on the road.
"Today is about today's game, and tomorrow, we'll think about the conference finals," Doncic said. "I think we should all enjoy this, because this, I would say, was a really hard series."
Read more
Dallas Stars win 2-1 over Colorado Avalanche in Game 6 Bayer Leverkusen first team to go through entire Bundesliga season undefeated
Sarah H
Also on site :
- JoJo Siwa reveals secret bedtime scenes with Chris Hughes that DIDN’T air on TV amid romance rumours
- Study of Over 865,000 Abortion-Pill Patients: 11% Suffer ‘Serious Adverse Events’
- Mitchell Robinson shrugs off his growing Knicks issue