The Oklahoma City Thunder took their third loss of the season against the Dallas Mavericks, losing 121-119.

In a game where the Thunder struggled all night, they gave themselves a chance to win with less than a minute to play. The ball rolled in the right direction for them and several players hit clutch shots, but in the end it wasn’t enough.

OKC’s inability to rebound the basketball left them trailing 66-58 at halftime and generally in a hole the entire game. Maverick center Daniel Gafford grabbed six rebounds in the first half and finished with 12 total. A combination of him and forward PJ Washington allowed the Mavericks to outscore the Thunder 53 to 29 all night.

The Thunder trailed 39-34 at the end of the first quarter. Gilgeous-Alexander closed the half with a plethora of free throws and rookie guard Ajay Mitchell found his spots in the midrange to add to. A combination of Kyrie Irving, Naji Marshall and Jaden Hardy helped keep the score close for the Mavericks toward the end of the first quarter.

OKC and Dallas went back and forth throughout the first quarter until the Mavericks pulled away late. They held that lead for the remainder of the second quarter, with Irving, Marshall and guard Quentin Grimes all contributing. Irving finished with 10 points in the first half and Marshall had 11 off the bench.

OKC star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander needed a spark in the second half and looked to improve after his 20-point performance in the first half. Sharpshooter Isaiah Joe started the OKC scoring with a triple and Lu Dort added to the total by reaching the free throw line, as did Gilgeous-Alexander in midrange.

The X-factor off the bench for the Mavericks was Marshall. Once he entered the game at any point, he impacted the scoring and intensity on the defensive side of the ball. He scored just once in the third quarter, but impacted the game in other ways.

A surprising impact player for OKC was first-round rookie Dillon Jones. He finished the night with 12 points on 5-for-6 shooting, the best performance of his young career. He scored five points and added two assists in the third quarter, resulting in a 97-92 lead in Dallas’ favor.

With Luka Doncic out for the Mavericks, Dallas needed others to step up in his absence. In addition to Marshall, Jaden Hardy stood out as a goal scorer. He finished with 13 points on 6-for-9 shooting and did an excellent job getting to the rim and creating space on mid-range attempts. Both Marshall and Hardy would prove to be valuable assets for Dallas down the road.

In a period when Gilgeous-Alexander was on the bench, Dallas was able to take advantage early in the fourth quarter and extend the lead to 11 points. Fortunately for the Mavericks, the scoring gap was too big to bridge, even with Gilgeous-Alexander in the game.

The story of the night for the Mavericks was the bench production. They got another assist from deep on the bench, this time from Spencer Dinwiddie. He scored all his points in the fourth quarter and extended Maverick’s lead, finishing with a total of 120 points.

Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 36 points that night, coupled with two rebounds and eight assists. His third 30-point performance of the season wasn’t enough to beat Dallas. The same reason OKC has seen an increase in close wins or losses over the last four games is the lack of rebounding. As long as Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein are unavailable, it will be a challenge to recover.

The Thunder trailed by eight points with about a minute left and needed multiple stops. Gilgeous-Alexander scored a triple with 25 seconds left to cut the deficit to three and forced and recovered possession on a late jump ball, but could not tie the score as the clock read zero. The late comeback attempt was heroic, but simply not enough.

OKC next plays the San Antonio Spurs at 8:30 PM CT on Tuesday, November 19 on the road in San Antonio.

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