In the second half, everything that could go wrong did for Mavs

The second half of Monday’s game was a Murphy’s law type of game for the Dallas Mavericks. Everything that could go wrong went wrong for the Mavs after halftime against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

In all, the Mavs blew a 14-point lead. They missed 10 of 19 free throws. They only scored 15 points in the third quarter. And they gave up 35 points in the fourth quarter.

Add all of that up and it equaled to the Thunder upsetting the Mavs, 100-96, to square this best-of-seven Western Conference semifinals series at 2-2.

As shocking as Monday’s loss was, the Mavs know it shouldn’t have turned out that way. They know if they simply would have taken care of business, they would have been ahead 3-1 in this series with a chance to close it out on Wednesday in Oklahoma City.

“We had the game pretty much in our hands and in control,” guard Kyrie Irving said. “We just didn’t make enough of the clutch plays down the stretch.

“I feel like we played well enough to get the W the majority of the game. But we just didn’t finish the job.”

The Thunder did another solid job of pushing up on and getting physical with Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving and getting them out of their comfort zone. Irving had nine points and nine assists, but was only 4-of-11 from the floor, while Doncic contributed 18 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists, and also had seven turnovers and was 6-of-20 from the floor.

“I think they’re so focus on us,” Dončić said, referring to himself and Irving. “They collapse the paint very well.

“And when we drive it they collapse the paint – almost five guys. I think that’s been difficult for us. We just got to find the open teammates.”

OKC did a credible job of crowding Dončić and Irving and making someone else other than the two Mavs’ superstars beat them. But forward P.J. Washington doesn’t believe that strategy will work going forward.

“I mean, they’re superstars,” Washington said. “They’re going to figure it out. I’m not worried about them at all. OKC’s done a great job just throwing different things at them — doubles, forcing them to take contested shots,

trying to make everything tough for them.

“Like I said, they’re superstars, so they are going to figure it out. I’m not worried about them.”

Here are the three takeaways from the Mavs’ four-point loss to the Thunder.

FREE THROW WOES: If the Mavs would have been able to master the only shot in the game where no one is allowed to guard them, they would be up in this series, 3-1. All they had to do was shoot a solid 73.9 percent – 17-of-23 — from the charity stripe in Game 4 and they would be only one win away from closing out this series. Instead, the Mavs were only able to convert 52.2 percent of their free throws – 12-of-23 – and that, along with a few other mishaps, turned out to be their undoing. “You’re going to make some (free throws), you’re going to miss some,” coach Jason Kidd said. “No one’s shot 100 percent from the free throw line, so it’s just a matter of being able to simulate late game. We practice them during practice, they practice them when they shoot individually. We just got to hope that they make them at the right time if they’re not shooting a high percentage.”

SHAI HAD HIS WAY: For the fourth time in this series, OKC guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander put his imprint on a game. On Monday, Gilgeous-Alexander scored 10 of his game-high 34 points in the fourth quarter as the Thunder rallied from a 14-point second-half deficit. Gilgeous-Alexander, who was 14-of-27 from the floor, is averaging 31.8 ppg and shooting 48.4 percent from the field (45-of-93) in this series. “We’ve just got to make somebody else beat us,” Mavs forward P.J. Washington said. “Obviously, Shai’s a great player. They’re a great team. They were No. 1 in the West, so they were obviously going to come back with everything they got. We have to figure out a way for someone else (other than Gilgeous-Alexander) to try to beat us.”

HOLMGREN WAS VERY EFFICIENT: OKC center Chet Holmgren had his best game of the series Monday as he was very effective on both ends of the court. On offense, Holmgren was 6-of-9 from the floor and finished with 18 points. He also was 2-of-5 from behind the three-point line. In addition, Holmgren grabbed nine rebounds and made things tough for the Mavs on the defensive end of the floor when he blocked four shots and altered many others. In the first three games of this series, Holmgren averaged 14.3 points and seven rebounds and shot just 45.9 percent from the field (17-of-37) and only 23.1 percent from downtown (3-of-13). He exceeded all of those numbers in Game 4.

X: @DwainPrice