The Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Dallas Mavericks 126-120 on Saturday. The biggest story of the matchup was the resiliency of OKC. The Mavericks set a NBA record during the game by scoring 30 consecutive points only to see the Thunder come back themselves, and win by six points.
Oklahoma City was leading Dallas 111-87 with 51 seconds into the fourth quarter. You would think a 24-point lead with 11 minutes and nine seconds left in the game would be safe. Not in today’s NBA, where big comebacks recently have been the norm. Over the next six minutes and 51 seconds, the Mavericks went on a historic run. They scored 30 consecutive points, the most consecutive points by one team in NBA history, to take a 117-111 lead with four minutes and 18 seconds left. But wait. The Mavericks could not hold on to their six point lead, and ending up losing by six points, as the Thunder finished the game with a 15-3 run themselves.
The Thunder deserved high praise for their resiliency and perseverance. It would have been easy for Oklahoma City to fold, but they showed a great sense of maturity and poise.
Eight Thunder players had double digits in points. They displayed the depth on the Thunder roster at the moment. Forward Jalen Williams of Denver, Colorado led the way with 26 points. He was followed by guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of Toronto, Ontario, Canada (17 points), point guard Cason Wallace of Dallas, Texas (15 points), forward Davis Bertans of Valmiera, Latvia (15 points), forward Jaylin Williams of Fort Smith, Arkansas (14 points), center Chet Holmgren of Minneapolis, Minnesota (11 points), forward Luguentz Dort of Montreal, Quebec, Canada (10 points), and guard Josh Giddey of Melbourne, Australia (10 points). Holmgren had the double-double as he had 11 rebounds.
The previous record was set on December 6, 2009. In that contest, the Cleveland Cavaliers went on a 29-0 run en route to a 101-86 win over the Milwaukee Bucks.
With the win on Saturday, the Thunder improved to a record of 13 wins and six losses. They are second in the Western Conference and only two games back of the conference leading Minnesota Timberwolves.
