Oklahoma City Thunder – Dallas Mavericks · NBA

Win probability changed during the game. · 18 May 2024

OKC116–117DAL

Is it worth watching?

Highly recommended

It was more exciting than 95% of NBA games since 2017

· It was still open in the final minutes
· The win probability swung between the two teams 25 times

It measures how much the win probability moved during the game —without looking at who won or at the score— and compares it with the 10,950 NBA games with a curve since 2017. “Highly recommended” is the most intense 20%, “recommended” runs from 50% to 80%, and “skippable” is the rest. Source: ESPN.

↑ DAL winsOKC wins ↓

Home team's win probability across the game (source: ESPN). The band rises when DAL leads and falls when OKC does.

This is how the game was decided.

Luka Dončić decided it, the Dallas Mavericks player with the most points (29, with 10 rebounds and 10 assists; +7 with him on the floor); the winner's best plus-minus was Dereck Lively II's (+26). The criterion: the winner's points in the box score; plus-minus says who was on the floor when the game opened up.

The game-winner in Dallas Mavericks 117-116 Oklahoma City Thunder (May 18, 2024) was hit by P.J. Washington: a free throw with 2.1 s left in the fourth quarter, putting the Dallas Mavericks up 117-116. They never trailed again.

The biggest run of Dallas Mavericks 117-116 Oklahoma City Thunder (May 18, 2024) was a 13-0 run by the Dallas Mavericks in the third quarter (from 8:13 to 6:00), from 60-77 to 73-77. The Oklahoma City Thunder' best was a 8-0 run in the first quarter (from 10:14 to 9:22), from 5-4 to 13-4.

▸See where these figures come from

Play: P.J. Washington makes free throw 2 of 3.

I count as the game-winner the basket that puts the winning team ahead for good. Source: the official NBA play-by-play (since 2002-03) and each team's official box scores.

A run here is consecutive points by one team without the opponent scoring. Source: the official NBA play-by-play (since 2002-03) and each team's official box scores.

Source: the game's official box score and play-by-play.

P.J. Washington decided this game: his points put his team ahead with 2.1 seconds left in the fourth quarter, and the opponent never led again.

It is one of the 3 games he has decided this way in the NBA since the 2002-03 season.

His profile shows the games Washington decided

▸See where these figures come from

A game is decided by the last basket that puts a team ahead in the final ten seconds of the fourth quarter or of an overtime, if that team wins.

18 May 2024 · The source is the ESPN play-by-play, play espn:401658194:693; the date is the one on the NBA box score.

Rotations · who was on the floor

Closing lineup · OKC

Gilgeous-Alexander · Williams · Holmgren · Joe · Williams

Closing lineup · DAL

Doncic · Irving · Jones · Washington · Lively

Q1Q2Q3Q4

OKC

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

43′ · 0

Jalen Williams

37′ · -7

Chet Holmgren

35′ · +8

Luguentz Dort

32′ · -6

Isaiah Joe

29′ · -6

Jaylin Williams

18′ · -14

Josh Giddey

10′ · +2

Cason Wallace

24′ · +4

Aaron Wiggins

8′ · +11

Kenrich Williams

4′ · +3

DAL

Luka Doncic

45′ · +7

Kyrie Irving

42′ · +2

Derrick Jones Jr.

40′ · +18

P.J. Washington

30′ · +8

Daniel Gafford

19′ · -25

Josh Green

19′ · -9

Dereck Lively II

30′ · +26

Jaden Hardy

11′ · -15

Tim Hardaway Jr.

6′ · -7

Each bar is a stint on the floor (source: NBA). The number is minutes played and the team's +/− with him on the court. OKC and DAL.

These lineups played the most minutes together.

Oklahoma City Thunder

Gilgeous-Alexander, Dort, Joe, Holmgren, and Williams played 12.1 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 4 points.
Gilgeous-Alexander, Joe, Holmgren, Williams, and Wallace played 7.7 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 9 points.
Gilgeous-Alexander, Joe, Williams, Williams, and Wallace played 4.9 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 7 points.

Dallas Mavericks

Jones, Washington, Doncic, Lively, and Irving played 17.3 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 26 points.
Jones, Washington, Doncic, Gafford, and Irving played 8.5 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 13 points.
Jones, Doncic, Gafford, Green, and Irving played 4.4 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 1 point.

▸See every lineup of the game

Oklahoma City Thunder

Gilgeous-Alexander, Dort, Holmgren, Williams, and Williams played 4.9 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 5 points.
Gilgeous-Alexander, Dort, Giddey, Wiggins, and Holmgren played 2.7 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 4 points.
Gilgeous-Alexander, Dort, Holmgren, Williams, and Wallace played 2.1 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 1 point.
Gilgeous-Alexander, Giddey, Wiggins, Williams, and Wallace played 1.9 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 3 points.
Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams, Dort, Joe, and Holmgren played 1.8 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 1 point.
Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams, Dort, Holmgren, and Wallace played 1.7 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 4 points.
Dort, Joe, Giddey, Williams, and Williams played 1.7 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 1 point.
Dort, Wiggins, Williams, Williams, and Wallace played 1.5 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 2 points.
Gilgeous-Alexander, Dort, Giddey, Holmgren, and Wallace played 1.3 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 2 points.
Gilgeous-Alexander, Dort, Giddey, Williams, and Wallace played 1.3 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 4 points.
Giddey, Wiggins, Williams, Williams, and Wallace played 1.1 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 2 points.

Dallas Mavericks

Jones, Doncic, Green, Lively, and Irving played 4.0 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 7 points.
Doncic, Gafford, Green, Hardy, and Irving played 3.1 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 10 points.
Jones, Washington, Doncic, Gafford, and Hardaway played 2.2 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 1 point.
Green, Hardy, Lively, Irving, and Hardaway played 1.9 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 3 points.
Doncic, Green, Hardy, Lively, and Hardaway played 1.5 minutes together.
Their team tied that stretch.
Jones, Doncic, Hardy, Lively, and Irving played 1.4 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 4 points.
Jones, Doncic, Green, Hardy, and Lively played 1.2 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 5 points.
Jones, Green, Hardy, Lively, and Irving played 1.1 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 2 points.

▸See where these figures come from

The lineups come from the NBA's official rotation: who was on the floor and when. Each lineup's plus-minus is worked out from every player's stints and is only shown when they all add up with each other and with the final score.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander covered 5.04 km, more than anyone in the game.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander touched the ball 100 times, a game high.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander defended 9 shots at the rim, a game high, and opponents made 7.
Dereck Lively II had 27 rebound chances, a game high.

▸See what was measured for each player

Oklahoma City Thunder

Player	km	km/h	Touches	Passes
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	5.04	6.6	100	68
Jalen Williams	4.60	7.0	87	68
Chet Holmgren	4.14	6.7	66	47
Isaiah Joe	3.75	7.2	29	21
Luguentz Dort	3.65	6.3	33	20
Cason Wallace	3.06	7.1	35	25
Jaylin Williams	2.25	6.8	41	34
Josh Giddey	1.30	7.0	18	14
Aaron Wiggins	0.97	6.9	10	7
Kenrich Williams	0.45	7.0	9	7

Dallas Mavericks

Player	km	km/h	Touches	Passes
Derrick Jones Jr.	4.92	6.8	39	23
Kyrie Irving	4.55	6.1	64	34
Luka Dončić	4.41	5.5	94	64
Dereck Lively II	3.73	7.0	47	38
P.J. Washington	3.62	6.9	47

The figures come from the NBA's optical tracking (NBA.com) for this game; speed is each player's average while on the floor.

Who stood out on defense during the season

These figures cover the whole 2023-24 regular season, not this game.

Oklahoma City Thunder

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander deflected 3.5 passes per game over his 75 games.
He ranks 3 of 373 in the league.
Chet Holmgren contested 11.6 shots per game over his 82 games.
He ranks 4 of 373 in the league.
Jaylin Williams drew 0.28 charges per game over his 69 games.
He ranks 6 of 373 in the league.

Dallas Mavericks

Kyrie Irving recovered 1.2 loose balls per game over his 58 games.
He ranks 1 of 373 in the league.
Luka Dončić recovered 1.1 loose balls per game over his 70 games.
He ranks 3 of 373 in the league.
Tim Hardaway Jr. drew 0.27 charges per game over his 79 games.
He ranks 7 of 373 in the league.

Hustle figures come from the hustle stats the NBA publishes (NBA.com) and rim defense comes from its tracking; both cover the regular season. For each player in this game we show the figure that ranks him highest in the league, and for each team, the three best ranked. Ranks count players with at least 30 games and, at the rim, at least 4 defended shots per game.

The Dallas Mavericks have won 38 of their 83 games against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

38-45record of the Dallas Mavericks · NBA 2008-09 – 2025-26, regular season and playoffs

0-3in 2025-26

See the full head-to-head in the Analyst

See where it comes from

Official NBA box scores, regular season and playoffs, 2008-09 – 2025-26. It counts every game between the two teams that the house holds, this one included.

SportiveWorld knows much more about this game

Game context

Attendance

20.555

107.1% of capacity

American Airlines Center · Dallas

Series

Game 6

Conference semifinals

DAL 4-2

Scoring

233

combined points

21.8 above the season average (211.2)

⚖️ The last two minutes

Official NBA L2M report: every call in the endgame, reviewed by the league.

13 calls reviewed2 errors admitted by the NBA

Stoppage: Out-of-Bounds · 01:45.2

P.J. Washington → Jalen Williams

Williams' (OKC) shot attempt makes contact with the bottom of the backboard and goes out of bounds. Washington (DAL) never makes contact with the ball and possession should be given to Dallas.

Foul: Shooting · 01:46.3

P.J. Washington → Jalen Williams

Washington (DAL) holds down Williams' (OKC) shoulder as he jumps to contest and the illegal contact affects Williams' driving shot attempt.