Sixteen made threes to Oklahoma City’s five made the arithmetic of Dallas’ 120-96 victory impossible to miss. The Mavericks won by 24 points Wednesday at American Airlines Center, yet their advantage from beyond the arc was 33 points by itself.
That shooting gap deserves more attention than any sweeping verdict about Dallas’ defense, particularly against a Thunder lineup missing Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams, Alex Caruso, Cason Wallace, Nikola Topic and Thomas Sorber.
Dallas did not wait for one shooter to carry the night. Daniel Gafford joined the long-range scoring with a three from Cooper Flagg at 8:29 of the first quarter. Kyrie Irving followed with threes at 6:58 and with 10 seconds left, while P.J.
Washington and Flagg also connected. By halftime, Dallas had made 11 threes and led 65-59. Eight Mavericks had already made one from outside: Gafford, Irving, Washington, Flagg, Zaccharie Risacher, Caleb Martin, Max Christie and Marcus Sasser.
That distribution is more revealing than calling the opening half a hot streak. Irving finished with 15 points and made three threes, but shot 6 of 14 overall. Flagg scored 26, though he went 2 of 8 from deep.
Washington made two threes and finished with 18 points. Risacher, Martin, Christie and Sasser each added to the spread before halftime, and Gafford’s early conversion made the center’s shot one more problem for Oklahoma City to track. Dallas built a large advantage from several useful contributions rather than one player going incandescent.
Oklahoma City’s 5-for-32 shooting from three—15.6 percent—was an enormous swing. It also puts a boundary around what can be claimed from one night. A depleted Thunder rotation makes the comparison less clean, and a single 15.6 percent performance cannot become proof of a permanent defensive identity for Dallas.
Still, the misses were not the entire explanation. Ajay Mitchell attacked effectively for 29 points on 12-of-20 shooting, while Isaiah Hartenstein scored 10 and collected 14 rebounds. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 21, although he made only 1 of 6 threes.
Oklahoma City had individual offense; it did not get enough perimeter conversion around it.
Dallas widened the game after halftime by pairing fewer threes with more decisive interior finishes. The Mavericks made only five threes in the second half, but a third-quarter sequence turned a six-point halftime lead into a 94-81 advantage. Irving’s floater, Washington’s finger roll, Risacher’s tip-in and Gafford’s alley-oop from Flagg helped push Dallas ahead 78-63.
When Gilgeous-Alexander answered with a three and Oklahoma City trimmed the margin to 78-71, Flagg responded with a pullup at 5:47. Risacher’s reverse layup and Morez Johnson’s running finish helped restore separation.
