DALLAS (AP) — Luka Doncic was already feeling stiffness in his right knee and pain in his left ankle after falling hard on his back while scrambling for a loose ball with leading defender Lu Dort.
Not only did Doncic steal the ensuing jump ball, but the NBA's leading scorer chased down the ensuing loose ball, helping the Dallas Mavericks maintain a late lead.
Asked what hurt, Doncic said minutes after walking gingerly to the locker room after Dallas defeated Oklahoma City 105-101 in the Western Conference semifinals Saturday to secure a 2-1 lead. “Everything,” he replied. “I'm just out there fighting.”
The same goes for many others.
Kyrie Irving scored 22 points, including A person running left-handed in the lane He helped the Mavs hold on in the final moments.
Doncic also had 22 points and 15 rebounds, and P.J. Washington Jr. had 27 points, two points shy of his career high in the playoffs. Dallas wins Game 2.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 31 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks, but with 29 seconds left and the Thunder leading by five points, Doncic was called for a charge as he defended a drive.
Chet Holmgren, who had 13 points, also had four blocks, and Oklahoma City finished with 10 points. But the Thunder were outrebounded on the offensive glass, 16-5, by the skittish Mavs, who held a 16-9 edge in second-chance points.
Top-seeded Oklahoma City started the playoffs 5-0 before losing consecutive games. Game 4 will be played Monday night in Dallas.
“It's very competitive,” Holmgren said. “Both teams really want that. Given the outcome, that's all you want to experience in a basketball game.”
Irving bounced back from just the third single-digit scoring game in his long playoff career to score 14 points in the second half, including Dallas in the fourth quarter when he helped the Mavs build a nine-point lead in the final period. That included six consecutive points.
With 39 seconds left, Irving hit a runner across the lane and missed Gilgeous-Alexander's 3-pointer, cutting Dallas' lead to three points.
The eight-time All-Star went just 8-for-9 when Dallas tied the series against Oklahoma City, but hit 10-of-17 from the field and had seven assists for the second straight game. led the team.
“One of the coaches came to me and said the wait was too long, so obviously I have to get better,” said Irving, who made all four of his shots in the fourth quarter. said. “We play a young team. So we just want to continue to do the things that earn us this W, and that starts on the defensive side.”
For the second straight game, Washington led by 19 points at the half and once again fell three points short of the total before Irving and Doncic took a break. Washington made 3 of 6 3-pointers in the first half and 5 of 12 for the game.
“He's hoo-hooing,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “If we want to win this series, we have to shut off the water, for sure.”
Oklahoma City coach Mark Dainot intentionally called a foul on Derek Lively II in the fourth quarter, and the rookie center missed three of his first four free throws. But he made the next four in a row to put Dallas up 100-95 with 3:06 left.
Lively, who shot 51 percent from the line in the regular season and 11 of 21 in the playoffs, finished with 12 points and eight rebounds on 8 of 12 free throws.
Mavericks center Daniel Gafford, who dislocated his pinky finger in Game 2, left the game in the second quarter after injuring his left shoulder in an inadvertent collision with Josh Guidy.
Gafford returned to the court in the second half with a heavily rolled shoulder, but removed it and continued to start. After the break, he was limited to six minutes of action and finished with eight points.
Oklahoma City's Jaylen Williams sat still for almost 30 seconds in the third quarter after injuring his left ankle, ending with Irving's 3-pointer. Williams briefly retreated to the locker room but returned early in the fourth quarter and finished with 16 points and eight assists.
Isaiah Joe scored 10 points before halftime, the best performance of his playoff career, and hit a 3 just before the buzzer to give Oklahoma City a 52-51 lead going into halftime. . Joe finished with 13.
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