DALLAS — — Kyrie Irving in all probability puzzled if his uncanny run of closeout victories with out a loss in his profession was lastly close to an finish.
The streak lives, and the Dallas Mavericks are by way of to the Western Convention finals for the second time in three seasons.
P.J. Washington Jr. made two free throws earlier than an intentional miss with 2.5 seconds left because the Mavs rallied from 17 factors down within the second half for a 117-116 victory over the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder to complete the second-round sequence Saturday night time.
The Mavericks wrapped up the sequence in Sport 6 at house towards the top-seeded Thunder, simply as they did within the first spherical towards the Los Angeles Clippers.
Dallas — which trailed by 17 early within the third quarter and by 9 early within the fourth — will begin the West finals on the Denver-Minnesota winner on Wednesday night time.
“Being down 17 in a closeout sport isn’t a place you wish to be in,” stated Irving, who’s now 14-0 in such video games and can play within the convention finals for the primary time since 2017 with Cleveland. “However that’s the place we discovered ourselves. We needed to reply the way in which we’ve been responding all season.”
Washington was fouled by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on a 3-point try after Chet Holmgren put the Thunder in entrance 116-115 with a dunk on an help from his star guard with 20 seconds remaining.
Luka Doncic, who had 29 factors, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for his fourth triple-double this postseason, labored his solution to the basket within the closing seconds earlier than passing to Washington within the nook. Washington pump-faked to get Gilgeous-Alexander within the air and the whistle blew because the shot fell quick.
Oklahoma Metropolis challenged the decision, however replay confirmed Gilgeous-Alexander making contact with Washington’s arm as he went as much as shoot.
“Clearly if I had the second again I wouldn’t have fouled him,” stated Gilgeous-Alexander, who had a playoff profession excessive with 36 factors. “I’d have simply let him miss the shot. You want you’d take the second again. Simply need to study from it, and I’ll.”
After making the primary two free throws to place Dallas in entrance, Washington missed on goal with the Thunder out of timeouts after the problem. Holmgren handed to Jalen Williams, whose desperation shot from nicely behind half courtroom wasn’t shut.
“If it was a clear-as-day foul, I clearly wouldn’t have challenged it and held the timeout,” Oklahoma Metropolis coach Mark Daigneault stated. “Even should you advance the ball with 2.5 seconds at a deficit, your likelihood is very low.”
The ultimate sequence capped a riveting fourth quarter with 5 lead adjustments and two ties within the closing 5 minutes after the Thunder led for all however one minute till then.
Irving and Derrick Jones Jr. scored 22 factors apiece for Dallas. It was the second consecutive sport with a playoff profession excessive for Jones.
“It wasn’t Luka or Kai making the sport winner,” Dallas coach Jason Kidd stated. “It was the belief of Luka and the ball touches the paint, they collapse, he trusted P.J. We discover a solution to win.”
Washington — the second-leading scorer for Dallas on this sequence, forward of Irving — did not have some extent till the fourth quarter. He scored 9, with tying and go-ahead 3s earlier than the profitable free throws.
“I believe we simply keep collectively,” Doncic stated. “We at all times speak on the bench, keep collectively, optimistic vitality. And as we speak was instance of it.”
Doncic did not have Irving in main the Mavs to the West finals in 2022, when Dallas misplaced to defending champ Golden State in 5 video games.
The primary two months of the Doncic-Irving pairing after the blockbuster deal final yr have been a dud for the gamers now with 13 All-Star appearances between them. Extra commerce deadline strikes this yr from basic supervisor Nico Harrison labored this time.
The Mavericks completed 24-9 to rise to fifth within the West and ousted the Clippers within the first spherical with the identical sequence of wins and losses that beat Oklahoma Metropolis.
The Thunder misplaced 4 out of 5 video games following a 5-0 begin to the playoffs.
Led by the MVP runner-up in Gilgeous-Alexander and two extra key items of a younger core in Williams and Holmgren, Oklahoma Metropolis tied defending champion Denver for one of the best document within the West at 57-25.
Williams had 22 factors, 9 rebounds and eight assists because the Thunder have been ousted. Holmgren scored 21.
Simply two seasons in the past, the Thunder completed 24-58 in a second consecutive yr of fewer than 25 victories.
Daigneault’s playoff debut got here in his fourth season, and the first-round sweep of New Orleans was the franchise’s first sequence victory since reaching the West finals in 2016.
“You don’t accomplish what we achieved with out large resilience and the power to throw punches with our expertise, with the way in which we play after which take punches,” Daigneault stated. “And tonight we took a variety of punches, and we did … and we took a lead into the final 20 seconds of that sport.”
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This story has been corrected to indicate that the Mavericks superior to the Western Convention finals, not semifinals, within the first occasion.
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