Three takeaways from the OKC Thunder dropping a pivotal game 5 to Dallas.
The Thunder grabbed home-court advantage in Game 4, but were unable to capitalise in Game 5.
The Thunder are on the verge of elimination following a disappointing Game 5.
Oklahoma City fell to the Oklahoma City 104-92 in Game 5 of their second-round series. Oklahoma City, trailing 3-2, is facing elimination for the first time this season.
Dallas’ Luka Doncic led the team with 31 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 assists. His three-pointer with 9:31 remaining in the fourth quarter gave Dallas an 18-point advantage and appeared to seal the game.
However, the Thunder rallied and scored 10 straight points to regain control of the game. Despite their attempts, the Thunder could not cut the Mavericks’ lead to less than seven points.
Dallas outperformed Oklahoma City in practically every major metric, including a 13-point advantage on the glass.
Let’s look at three key takeaways from yesterday’s game.
OKC’s outdoor shooting is unreliable.
The Thunder concluded the regular season with the league’s best 3-point percentage and maintained their high-level shooting in the first round. However, the Thunder are experiencing the cliche of “live by the three, die by the three” in their game versus Dallas.
Oklahoma City’s worst outside shooting performance of the postseason was 10-of-40 in Game 5, just slightly worse than its 7-of-27 in Game 4. Although the Thunder demonstrated in Game 4 that they can win without a strong shooting performance, it makes things more difficult.
Dallas ran Oklahoma City off the line and won consistent late contests, resulting in 2-of-8 shooting nights for Lu Dort and Isaiah Joe. Still, the Thunder have not struggled this much all season.
Oklahoma City’s longest streak of 33.3% or worse from 3-point range continued on Wednesday.
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