LAS VEGAS – The Oklahoma City Thunder overcame an 11-point deficit and went on defeat the Dallas Mavericks, 88-79,
Saturday night at the Thomas & Mack Center in the NBA 2K25 Summer League.
For the Mavs, the summer league ended with them posting a 1-4 record after going 4-1 during summer league play last summer. In summing up the loss to the Thunder, summer league coach Jared Dudley said:
“We played well in that first half and in the second they went on a run. I thought our defense was good.
“I know Oklahoma likes to do the peels – come, fake the screen and peel out. They got us early in that first quarter.”
The Thunder started getting some separation between themselves and the Mavs in the third quarter, which they finished on a 12-3 run, enabling them to carry a 63-54 lead into the fourth quarter. The Mavs hung around, but never established anything consistently down the stretch as OKC built as much as a 15-point lead.
“I could have been better with my shooting,” said Mavs guard AJ Lawson, who finished with 19 points and six rebounds. “(I needed to be) better defensively to help my teammates. I’ve got to be a better communicator to help my team win.”
Lawson was 8-of-15 from the field. But he was upset that he was only 1-of-6 from three-point territory.
“We had a chance all the way up to the fourth,” Lawson said. “That’s when they started blowing the lead out.”
Besides Lawson, the Mavs got 14 points and nine assists from Jazian Gortman, while Isaiah Whaley contributed 14 points in just 17 minutes. Also, Olivier-Maxence Prosper finished with 14 points, eight rebounds and was 4-of-12 from the field, and Jamarion Sharp added five points, 10 rebounds and five blocks.
“I think I did pretty good,” said Whaley, who was an impressive 6-of-8 from the floor. “Throughout the whole summer league it all came together tonight.
“I’m really happy that Dallas gave me this opportunity. It was fun.”
The Mavs raced out to a 17-6 lead with 2:45 remaining in the first quarter on the strength of a 13-2 run. Whatley was right smack in
the middle of the run, scoring seven of those 13 points.
First, Prosper executed a nifty spin move in the paint and dropped the ball off to Whatley for a basket. Following a three-pointer by Jarod Lucas, Whatley scored again, then completed a three-point play after another foray to the basket.
The Mavs went on to assume a 20-16 lead after the first quarter, despite converting just 7-of-22 shots, including 2-of-12 from beyond the three-point arc.
OKC was just 4-of-23 from the field, including only 1-of-8 from behind the three-point line, in the quarter.
“We kind of let our foot off the gas,” Whaley said. “We probably got a little complacent. That’s what happens during these games. But it’s a game of runs. There’s a lot of NBA players out there, so runs are bound to happen.”
The second quarter took on a similar flavor as the first, as the Mavs used a 10-0 run to shake loose from a 32-32 tie and forge ahead 42-32 with 1:28 left before intermission. Lawson scored five points in the rally, Gortman drained a three-pointer, and Sharp punctuated the run with a vicious slam dunk.
“I thought, especially in the first half, (we had) tons of open threes,” Dudley said. “We had some airballs, we had some switches — a little bit of 
everything. In the second half we just got stalled out.”
Dudley praised the performance from Sharp, who consistently clogged up the middle and denied OKC of several opportunities to score near the paint. Dudley said: “Sharp was phenomenal blocking shots.”
However, the Mavs were just 30-of-74 from the field for 40.5 percent, and also were only 9-of-34 from three-point land. Meanwhile, OKC made 27 of its 76 attempts for 35.5 percent, and also was 10-of-31 from beyond the three-point arc.
“I just thought that we got stalled out offensively and wasn’t making the necessary passes,” Dudley said. “Any type of drives, they trapped the box with the big man there. We forced a lot of shots.”
And in the end, the Mavs couldn’t sustain that 11-point lead they built early in the game.
X: @DwainPrice
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