**OKLAHOMA CITY – The Mavericks picked a dreadful time to throw out one of their worst performances of the season.**
With a trip to Las Vegas for the semifinals on the line, the Mavericks could not have been flatter in a disastrous third quarter and went on to lose 118-104 to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2024 NBA Cup Nights quarterfinals at Paycom Center.
Luka Dončić struggled mightily against the OKC defense that is ranked No. 1 in the NBA in pretty much every notable defensie category. The Thunder made life miserable for Dončić, who had just two points until he got things percolating late in the third quarter.
By then, the Mavericks were down 90-73 and faced a difficult and ultimately insurmountable task in the final 12 minutes.
Kyrie Irving tried to light a fuse for the Mavericks with a couple of three-pointers that got them within 97-87 with 8:55 still left.
But Cason Wallace, the guard that the Mavericks drafted in 2023, then traded to the Thunder for the rights to Dereck Lively II and O-Max Prosper, hit a three-pointer and a dunk that highlighted a run to put the Thunder up 111-92 with 5 minutes left. They would get no closer than nine the rest of the way.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had a monster game for the Thunder with 39 points.
And the Mavericks’ seven-game winning streak was snapped.
Oklahoma City’s win pushes them to the semifinals of the 2024 NBA Cup Nights Saturday at Las Vegas. The Thunder will play the winner of Wednesday’s Golden State-Houston matchup.
For the Mavericks, they now will have a game added to their schedule against the loser of that Warriors-Rockets meeting in Houston. The date and time are to be determined.
By playing on the road in the quarterfinals against the Thunder and in Las Vegas in the semifinals, the Mavericks will have only 40 regular-season games this season at American Airlines Center.
The Mavericks saw their winning streak end, but still have won 11 of their past 13 games.
That said, they have barely gained any ground on the Western Conference front-running Thunder, who have gone 11-3 in their last 14 games.
Plenty of hoopla surrounded this quarterfinals match in the tournament, but both coaches cut to the heart of the matter before the game.
“Nothing’s different,” Mavericks’ coach Jason Kidd said. “It’s just that we got to stay in character. This isn’t the Super Bowl, this is just to find a way to get to Vegas.
“We don’t want to put anything more on it that we get out of character. We want to continue to keep playing well. Seems like we’ve been on the road the whole season. So another road test.
Tuesday made 12 of the last 16 on the road for the Mavs.
And they haven’t been in Dallas for more than one game since an early November five-game home stand.
OKC’s Mark Daigneault agreed that this game had no added meaning.
“I see it as one of 82 against a really good team,” he said.
Perhaps more importantly than the Cup was the fact that these teams are in the top three in the Western Conference. They faced off in the second round of the playoffs last season and it would surprise nobody if they met again sometime in this year’s postseason.
So the level of play was high, for whatever reason. Neither side led by more than eight points in the first half, in which Dončić missed six of seven shots and had just two points, although he also had six rebounds and five assists.
Given that, it was a blessing for the Mavericks to only be down 57-54 at the end of the first half.
The Mavericks played without P.J. Washington, who was sidelined with an illness, as was Maxi Kleber. That cut down on their front-court depth. The Thunder were without center Chet Holmgren, out until at least February with a hip injury.
**X: @ESefko**