DALLAS -- As OKC's defense broke down, Maxi Kleber threw the easy alley-oop to PJ Washington. He spent no time celebrating his nasty jam as he blocked Jalen Williams' layup attempt on the other end. The offense-to-defense sequence was a pound of salt to the wound.
The Oklahoma City Thunder suffered a 106-98 loss to the Dallas Mavericks. The rare defeat had plenty of caveats for both sides. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was a late scratch with a wrist sprain. He joined Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein in street clothes. Dallas was without Luka Doncic and Dereck Lively II.
Without Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder took a minute to adjust. The Mavericks scored the first 10 points before OKC registered a bucket four minutes into the contest. That was the start of nine straight points. It finished the first quarter with a 26-22 lead.
The lead slowly melted away for OKC. The Mavericks caught fire in the second quarter with a 41-17 scoring advantage. That included an 18-2 run at the end of the first half. The SGA-less offense couldn't contain the basketball, much less generate baskets. The Thunder entered halftime in a massive 63-43 deficit.
Out of the halftime break, the Thunder added intrigue to a game that could've easily turned into a snoozefest. They scored the first 12 points in the third quarter to make it a 63-55 contest. The Mavericks didn't score their first second-half points until five minutes in.
By then, the Thunder offense found a groove. After a pedestrian first half, Williams found a rhythm with his jumper. it was OKC's turn to dominate a quarter as it outscored Dallas, 33-14, in the frame. The 23-year-old exchanged baskets with Spencer Dinwiddie in the final seconds to make it a 77-76 deficit for OKC entering the fourth quarter.
Williams banked in a turnaround mid-range jumper to tie it up at 83 apiece with over eight minutes left in the fourth quarter. Down by 21 points, all momentum was on OKC's side as it muddied the game. Dallas struggled to generate offense without Doncic.
Both teams went back and forth. When the Thunder made a 3-pointer, the Mavericks answered right back. And vice versa. After Lu Dort knocked down a 3-pointer to make it a one-point deficit, Dallas created breathing room on the scoreboard with six straight points.
Kyrie Irving found Dinwiddie for the 3-pointer to give Dallas the 98-91 lead with a little over two minutes left. Considering the Thunder's offensive woes without Gilgeous-Alexander, mustering nearly 10 points in that short time frame was a near-impossible task. It's like sucking blood out of a stone.
Dinwiddie made another 3-pointer to serve as the dagger. The Mavericks had a 101-93 lead with less than a minute left. The Washington alley-oop and block on Williams were just the exclamation points. In a sentence that's been written too many times for OKC's liking, its offense struggled in a loss at Dallas.
The Thunder shot 39% from the field and went 10-of-46 (43.5%) from 3. They shot 8-of-12 on free throws. They had 24 assists on 35 baskets. Five Thunder players scored double-digit points. OKC utilized 11 players to make up for the universe-size holes Gilgeous-Alexander, Holmgren and Hartenstein left.
Williams finished with 19 points but on 22 shots. Dort continued his hot shooting and tallied 18 points. Jaylin Williams had a 12-point double-double. Cason Wallace and Aaron Wiggins were the other two starters who scored 10-plus points.
Meanwhile, the Mavericks shot 49% from the field and went 16-of-41 (39%) from 3. They shot 16-of-22 on free throws. They had 25 assists on 37 baskets. Four Mavericks players scored double-digit points.
Irving led the way with 25 points on 9-of-19 shooting, five assists and five rebounds. Washington haunts OKC's dreams with 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists. The Thunder boogeyman scored the first basket on a 3-pointer and his animated nature got under their skin. Dinwiddie had 16 points. Naji Marshall had 14 points and 10 rebounds off the bench.
Multiple statements are true about this loss. Yes, it's easy to throw it into the garbage can. Plenty of built-in caveats exist for both sides. The Thunder were without their two best players and another top-six player. Meanwhile, the Mavericks were without their franchise player and starting big.
What transpired in this contest can safely stay in a vacuum. No long-term observations can be made from the loud variables absent. But man, does it feel like the Mavericks have OKC's number. Four technical fouls from the usually-mannered squad show that. Multiple on-court altercations show that. Letting Washington push them around show that.
Bringing up last year's playoff results can be deemed pointless. The Thunder are a much different team from then to now. They've dominated the league and are on a historic 70-win pace. But the Mavericks will continue to hover over them. The only way to quiet them down is by beating them -- something OKC has struggled to do despite various circumstances this season.
Let's look at Thunder player grades:
With Gilgeous-Alexander and Holmgren out, Williams jumped from third fiddle to OKC's focal point. That allowed the Mavericks to focus their full defensive energy on the 23-year-old as he was its sole source of offense. The results weren't pretty but could pay dividends down the road.
Williams finished with 19 points on 7-of-22 shooting, six assists and five rebounds. He shot 1-of-5 from 3 and went 4-of-8 from the free-throw line.
If anything was learned, the Thunder's offense went as Williams went. First-half struggles to produce points aligned with the 23-year-old. He had four points in the opening two quarters. He couldn't counter Dallas' blitzes and finished with six turnovers. Even when he did pressure the rim and draw a foul -- a season-long problem -- he couldn't hit on his free-throw attempts.
It was about as bad as a first half as Williams could've had. His struggles in Dallas were magnified in the playoffs. In his first trip back since then, it was a continuation. The halftime break helped cool him down. He came out of it with a new swagger.
Williams found a rhythm. Tough jumper after tough jumper, the Mavericks couldn't stop him in the third quarter. It was the best he looked. The Thunder hope the main scoring option reps can benefit the 23-year-old in the future if these teams square off in the playoffs again.
Even without Gilgeous-Alexander, Dort carried his hot hand from OKC to Dallas on this home-and-road back-to-back. Even though this game wasn't on a national TV stage, being viewed as the villain on the road fueled him.
Dort finished with 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting, five rebounds and three assists. He shot 6-of-8 from 3. Because of OKC's injuries, he was prompted up to its second-best scorer.
The 25-year-old saved his best for last as he scored nine points on three 3-pointers in the final frame. He single-handedly kept OKC in it with his hot outside shooting as the rest of the offense struggled.
There's no love lost between Dort and Mavericks fans. Of the 29 fanbases, Dallas is easily the loudest for their hatred for the 25-year-old. His physical style of defense paired with Doncic's underwhelming history against the Thunder is the perfect storm for a rivalry to be born. This was the latest chapter in their beef as he was hit with two rare technicals -- a flopping one and a traditional one.
The depleted Thunder allowed Wallace to spread his wings against the Mavericks. Some of the vacuum left by Gilgeous-Alexander was filled by the 21-year-old.
Wallace finished with 10 points on 4-of-11 shooting, six rebounds and five assists. He shot 2-of-4 from 3. He also had four steals.
The aggressiveness is always welcomed. Wallace has not had the chance to eat up frequent shot attempts, so this was a nice test to see how much he could handle. His drives to the basket looked crisp and the outside shot continued to fall for him.
With Hartenstein out, Williams received his second straight start. He was more productive against the Mavericks after returning to a role he didn't have last season.
Williams finished with 12 points on 4-of-11 shooting, 10 rebounds and three assists. He shot 2-of-7 from 3 and went 2-of-2 from the free-throw line.
The outside shot has yet to fall for Williams at a decent clip. The Thunder need that to turn around soon if he remains as the starting center until Hartenstein returns. If not, OKC could pivot to a center-by-committee approach. Branden Carlson and Ousmane Dieng played some minutes at that spot.
As the Thunder and Mavericks quietly despise each other, Washington's hard foul on Williams resulted in the latter landing hard and another scuffle. After a review, Washington was given a flagrant foul. He's been a nuisance to OKC it must eventually confront.