What a game. The Dallas Mavericks rebounded on the road on the second night of a back-to-back, beating the league-leading Oklahoma City Thunder 121-115 while missing 7(!) players from their rotation. The Thunder were on a second night of a back-to-back themselves, after defeating the Utah Jazz last night.
As with the game last night against the Timberwolves, the Mavericks were missing a major chunk of their rotation. They were without Dereck Lively (Right Ankle Stress Fracture), Klay Thompson (Left Ankle Sprain), Naji Marshall (Illness), Luka Doncic (Left Calf Strain), Dante Exum (Right Wrist Surgery), Jaden Hardy (Right Ankle Sprain) & Dwight Powell (Right Hip Strain). Phew! It should make this win count twice to win without so many players.
The Mavericks played with so much heart and effort all game long, keeping it close through the 1st half, ending it down by only 2 pts. They played hard defense on SGA, keeping him from repeating his 50pt effort against the Jazz. The Mavericks then really dialled up the defense in the 3rd quarter, limiting the Thunder to only 21pts. Mavericks nemesis Lu Dort got ejected halfway through the quarter for hitting Daniel Gafford below the belt. The 4th quarter was a back-and-forth affair with the Mavericks playing smart and gritty to hold off the Thunder’s comeback attempt. This win ensures that the Mavericks win the season series 3-1, making the Mavericks the only team to beat Oklahoma City multiple times, having done so Three(!) times this season.
Let’s look at how the Mavericks graded out in an impressive win against the rival Thunder:
Kyrie Irving: A
24 Points/3 Rebounds/4 Assists/2 Steals
The fanbase would’ve forgiven Kyrie for sitting this one out after playing a shade under 40mins last night against Minnesota. He gritted it out though, playing superbly on the second night of back-to-back to lead Dallas to the win. He hit timely shots and finished the game 8/17 from the floor and 4/8 from the 3pt line. His play earned him a team-high plus-16 for the game. There’s not much more to be said about Irving’s excellence at this point. He’s the Mavericks MVP this season.
Spencer Dinwiddie: A+
28 Points/1 Rebound/3 Assists
Bullying works. Maybe Spencer Dinwiddie reads these Grades pieces? After earning a ‘D’ grade for his less-than-stellar play last night, Spencer rebounded with a superb effort against the Thunder. He had a team-high 28pts on a very efficient 11/14 shooting. His 3 misses were all from the 3pt line, going 3/6 from beyond the arc. Kudos to Dinwiddie though for his great production in this game, something the zombie Mavericks are desperate for while trying to stay afloat in a loaded Western Conference playoff race.
Spencer Dinwiddie recorded 28 points (11-14 FG, 3-6 3FG, 3-3 FT) against the Thunder tonight, two points shy from tying his season high (30 at SAC 12/30/24).
His 11-of-14 shooting (.800 FG%) marked the most efficient 25-point game of his career. pic.twitter.com/O9F1PsazkQ
— Mavs PR (@MavsPR) January 24, 2025
P.J. Washington: A+
22 Points/19 Rebounds/3 Assists/3 Steals/2 Blocks
PJ’s play against the Thunder should be studied by all. It’s baffling to see him turn up like this against this team. PJ was already a fan favourite at this point, but his play against Oklahoma City has cemented him as a modern Mavericks legend. He finished the game with his 11th double-double on the season (a career-high) with 22pts & 19(!) rebounds. He also stuffed the stat sheet with 3 assists and 5 stocks. Let’s try & convince the Mavericks coaching staff to employ some kind of brainwashing to trick PJ into thinking he plays the Thunder every night.
P.J. Washington Jr. notched 22 points, a career-high 19 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks.
Washington Jr. became the first player since Elton Brand (2003-04) and Tim Duncan (1999-00) to record 20-15 in back-to-back games in OKC in the same season. pic.twitter.com/xheYrwhGT6
— Mavs PR (@MavsPR) January 24, 2025
Daniel Gafford: B+
12 Points/5 Rebounds/2 Assists/1 Steal/1 Block
Gafford endured a rough game physically but was positive in taking advantage of his size against a smaller Thunder team. He got kicked in the head inadvertently by Cason Wallace at the end of the 1st half and spent some time lying on the floor, drawing a collective gasp from the fanbase who were already in a panic state over the team’s frontcourt depth. He then got hit below the belt by Lu Dort in the 3rd quarter, leading to Dort’s ejection. He had a fantastic chase-down block on SGA in the 2nd half, making it his 17th straight game with a block, tying Shawn Bradley.
Kessler Edwards: A
7 Points/4 Rebounds/2 Assists/1 Steal
Edwards was a surprise start in this game as Kidd played with all of our heads by tweaking the rotation once again with so many players out. He was great on defense, never being out of place. He was a little TOO tentative on the offensive end passing out of some wide open shots, but he kept the ball moving and didn’t turn the ball over against an aggressive Oklahoma City Thunder defense. That’s all you can ask from a two-way player playing significant minutes(23mins) due to an injury crisis.
Quentin Grimes: B
9 Points/1 Rebound/3 Assists
QG was decent enough in this game. He had a rough 1st half but rebounded with some timely 3pt shots in the 4th quarter keeping the Thunder at bay. Seeing Grimes hit some of these shots was great considering that he’s had some rough shooting in the last few games. He finished the game 2/5 from the floor and 2/4 from the 3pt line.
Maxi Kleber: B
3 Points/3 Rebounds/4 Assists
Maxi is such a polarizing player at this point. He played OK in his 20mins, which is more than his supposed minutes restriction, and showed a lot of the typical Maxi things. He hit a key 3pt shot in the 4th quarter which was critical in holding off the Thunder’s comeback attempt and his play in the short roll, when the Thunder double-teamed & trapped Kyrie, was great. Tolle Sache, Maxi!
Olivier-Maxence Prosper: A+
14 Points/3 Rebounds/0 Assists/1 Steal
Most of us expected Prosper to start again and were surprised to see Edwards in the starting lineup. O-Max played great off the bench though, bringing his trademark energy and effort. He hit shots too in this game, going 4/6 from the field and 1/2 from the 3pt line. He was aggressive with his drives to the basket against a smaller Thunder team and was rewarded with 9(!) Free throw attempts. Now if only he could hit them at a decent clip. He made only 5 of his 9 attempts. The only probable positive from this injury crisis might be the additional minutes that O-Max is getting which is a great thing if it contributes to his development.
Brandon Williams: B+
2 Points/3 Rebounds/3 Assists
That stat line might not read as much, but getting some moderately decent play from the Mavericks end-of-bench players is a great thing. Williams’ contribution in his 8minutes allowed the team to soak up the minutes with Kyrie on the bench and while he turned the ball over twice, he wasn’t an overall dud. At this point, that’s all we can ask for.
Markieff Morris: B+
0 Points/1 Rebounds/1 Assist/1 Steal
These were the 1st minutes that Keef played in the 1st half this season, and the Mavericks didn’t get run off the floor. Most were bracing for extended minutes from Morris after Gafford went down, but thankfully that didn’t come to pass. He finished a plus-5 in the game in his 5 minutes played. Great!
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