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Jalen Williams, OKC Thunder hold off 30-0 run from Luka Doncic, Mavericks for road win
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- Jalen Williams, OKC Thunder hold off 30-0 run from Luka Doncic, Mavericks for road win
DALLAS — Luka Doncic galloped down a baseline full of frenzied faces, curling back just in time to brush past Mark Daigneault , who'd already nearly paced underneath the rim in hopes of an answer.
A genie, a pause on life like in Adam Sandler's "Click." Anything but his final timeout.
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While the Mavericks' historic onslaught unfolded, Daigneault itched for something to change his mind. But Doncic's layup with 4:10 to play was the last of what he could handle. He'd watched a 30-0 Dallas run — the largest unanswered run in the play-by-play era — diminish his team's once 24-point lead.
His Thunder squad did the remainder of the game's talking. It ran up one final 15-3 run to close the game and end up on the right side of league history in a 126-120 win .
"We just had to be present, stay in the moment," Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said.
Gilgeous-Alexander had seen it all before. The All-Star guard knew Dallas would trap him for much of the game. He knew he'd be forced to find teammates, finishing with nine assists and 17 points. He also knew what to expect from the Mavericks' late inbound that became an SGA steal and clutch bucket.
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More: Don't rest on Thunder: SGA, OKC play spoiler to LeBron James again in win vs. Lakers
Oklahoma City forward Jalen Williams, right, drives to the basket past Dallas forward Grant Williams during the second quarter Saturday at American Airlines Center in Dallas.
"It's like script, like they just run it. ... You can tell if they're lackadaisical with it," SGA said when asked about his fifth steal. "And if they were, I was gonna try to get a steal."
The play made sense after all that'd unfolded since Daigneault's timeout. There was a Jalen Williams dunk, part of his team-high 23 points. A couple of right-place-right-time Chet Holmgren putbacks. A series of Holmgren blocks — he finished with 11 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks — to put a muzzle on the Mavs ' earlier momentum.
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The game comes with variance. It can be equally romantic and cruel.
OKC could be passionate through a half when it made 13 of its 24 3-pointers and SGA's teammates helped him fry every trap he saw. The Mavericks shot 29.2% from deep during that stretch.
The Thunder likely kissed its teeth when Seth Curry , Derrick Jones Jr. and Luka Doncic — who lost his mind in a 36-point, 15 rebound and 18 assist performance — pieced together a run the league hadn't ever seen.
"Is 30-0 a record?" Daigneault asked reporters postgame.
Finding a way back came with a buzz. A blur of emotions and pictures that surely confused both teams. Daigneault could only explain the quarter so well.
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"It's kind of a weird way to win," he said, "but certainly don't wanna underestimate the mental toughness of the team."
Clasping the rebound that sealed the game, Jalen Williams waltzed toward the Thunder bench, barking at his teammates and walking off an avalanche of a fourth quarter. Even behind confusion, he knew what he'd witnessed.
"It's getting easier for us because we've been in these situations so much, just even from last year, that we're starting to trust each other more in these situations," Williams said.
More: Who makes the OKC Thunder list for 15 best players in team history?
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Holmgren's hold on the rim
Holmgren hasn't shied away from any of it yet. Despite constant big men and athletic wings flying toward him, he's stood his ground at the rim time after time — for better or worse.
He launched vertically as well as he could to meet Dereck Lively II and Jones at the rim a couple times in Saturday's game. He got postered twice before the American Airlines Center crowd. But if Holmgren grew timid after those plays, he would've never saved the game.
AJ Lawson will probably see the rookie big man in his nightmares.
Trailing by four with 3:42 to play, Holmgren spiked Lawson's attempt at the rim. Nearly two minutes later, Lawson drove again. Not even 10 seconds later, Holmgren erased Curry's late-clock attempt.
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Nearly two minutes later, Lawson tried his luck once more. Holmgren met the ball at its apex, swatted it, and after a frantic sequence he found his way back at the rim for a putback.
His 3-point efficiency was missing. He took just 10 shots. It was another game of staying within himself, within the offense. Still, despite barely scoring in double figures, Holmgren's impact on the game was profound.
In the ability for the Thunder to run offense through him late. In his own ability to anchor its defense.
"In order to win the game, we had to turn it around at some point, one way or another doing something," Holmgren said. "So I just tried to do it with my energy."
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Whether he'll be OKC's second-option moving forward is still murky. There are nights, despite his modesty, where his scoring outbursts certainly look the part. But it's difficult to argue with the idea that, because of how much he matters on both ends, he's been the team's second best player.
Oklahoma City guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander brings the ball up court during the second quarter Saturday at American Airlines Center in Dallas.
Doncic's dad-day masterclass
A good chunk of NBA players might not have even played the day after their child was born, let alone post one of the best games of their career.
Doncic missed Dallas' Friday game with the birth of his daughter. He had fans on edge but ultimately opted to play Saturday. Then he joined elite company.
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After his Saturday performance, he joined Oscar Robertson as the only other player in NBA history with multiple 35-15-15 games.
Every point was crucial. Impossible stepbacks, lane floaters, lobs to Lively. All of it fell short.
But it gave fans a game they'd never quite seen. And it gave Cason Wallace another glimpse at the talent in the league.
"He's a good player," said Wallace, who followed with a smirk before saying "stepback pretty solid, you know?"
Thunder tip-ins
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Davis Bertans is a mad man. His biggest play of the game came toward the end of the third quarter: A 3-pointer that he seemingly was releasing before even squaring his body and planting his feet.
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The 6-foot-10 marksman has made it known that the ball is going up whenever it breezes his way. Somehow that play surpassed any previous expectation of what he was about. He finished with 15 points after drilling two 3-pointers and being fouled on a couple more attempts.
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Wallace proved significant in his homecoming. Inside third quarter lineups that weren't particularly helpful while SGA was aggressively trapped, Wallace's efficiency and shotmaking was pivotal. He finished with 15 points and six rebounds in 20 minutes.
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It's no secret Josh Giddey has had trouble fitting into the puzzle as of late. He still somehow found himself on the floor during a fourth quarter ruled by Minnesota 's monstrous zone earlier in the week. On Saturday, his presence grew thin.
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The third-year guard played just 17 minutes. His last time on the floor? The 8:15 mark of the third quarter. His lack of shooting gravity has put him in tough spots. If Saturday's game was any indication, he might not be part of Daigneault's best closing lineup anymore.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC Thunder hold off Mavericks after 30-0 Dallas run in fourth quarter
