Anthony Davis, still searching for his first points of the game, stepped to the free throw line with 29.8 seconds left until the halftime break.
Fans inside Paycom Center broke out with a chant of support toward the home team: “OKC! OKC!”
Davis missed both freebies and the Oklahoma City Thunder fans roared with excitement. His final chance to score in the first half came just before the buzzer, but he was rejected at the rim by Chet Holmgren. Those same spectators cheered even louder.
It was the symbolic sequence of a difficult night for the Dallas Mavericks big man, leading to a 132-111 loss for the Mavericks on Friday night.
Davis finished with just two points in 24 minutes, which marked his lowest-scoring game since he was held scoreless on Christmas Day of last season when he was a member of the Los Angeles Lakers. He suffered an ankle injury in the first quarter of that game and was limited to just seven minutes.
It looked as if Davis would finish scoreless in Friday’s game as well when he appeared to suffer an injury at the 6:35 mark of the third quarter. The Mavericks big man bumped his left knee against Holmgren’s right knee and collapsed to the court while holding his leg. It led to a five-on-four advantage for the Thunder and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander made the Mavericks pay on the possession with a wide-open 3-pointer.
After sitting for the remainder of the quarter, Davis returned to the game in the fourth quarter and was constantly blitzed by the swarming Thunder defense, which ranks No. 1 in the NBA. It wasn’t until the 8:08 mark of the fourth when Davis scored a reverse layup for his first points of the game.
Davis’ night was done less than 30 seconds later when Mavericks coach Jason Kidd chose to preserve his big man by inserting two-way center Moussa Cisse into the game.
Overall, the Mavericks were overwhelmed by the NBA’s best team. They were outrebounded 43-35 without P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford, who were not available because of their respective right-ankle injuries.
Gilgeous-Alexander scored a game-high 33 points on just 12 shot attempts, only missing two. Known for his ability to draw fouls and get to the stripe, Gilgeous-Alexander connected on 11 of 12 from the foul line.
The second matchup between the Mavericks and Thunder wasn’t quite like it was the last time, especially for Davis. Despite a 101-94 loss on Oct. 27, Davis had a double-double of 26 points and 11 rebounds.
The Mavericks and Oklahoma City Thunder have evolved since their early season meeting in Dallas. The defending champions are on a historic winning pace, now 22-1, while the Mavericks entered riding a three-game win streak - their longest of the season.
Davis was the only Mavericks starter who did not reach double figures, but he added eight rebounds and six assists. Naji Marshall started his fourth straight game in place of the injured Washington and led Dallas’ starters with 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting. Cooper Flagg added 16 points, two rebounds and two assists.
Jaden Hardy led the Mavericks with 23 points. Ryan Nembhard had 10 points, three rebounds and four assists.
The Mavericks won’t have time to dwell on the beating they suffered by the NBA’s best defense because they’ll host the league’s fourth-best defense when the Houston Rockets visit American Airlines Center on Saturday.