The Dallas Mavericks completed one of their best wins of the season on Sunday night as they defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder on the road. Dallas was able to pull this win without Luka Doncic, and P.J. Washington showed once again why he still owns the Thunder.
Washington erupted for 27 points and 17 rebounds and was dominant inside as well as downtown, and his hot start helped get the Mavericks offense humming quickly. Kyrie Irving followed suit as he finished with 23 points and six assists, but even with these dominant performances, this game against the Thunder was way too close for comfort.
Dallas ended up defeating Oklahoma City 121-119, and the ending was unbelievably stressful for Mavs fans. Dallas led by 10 points with less than a minute and a half remaining, but Oklahoma City stormed all the way back and nearly won the game barring a Lu Dort buzzer-beating three that ended up falling short.
NBA admits to missed call down the stretch that hurt the Mavericks
Even though Dallas left Oklahoma City with a win, their avenue to winning should have been much easier.
According to the NBA's Last Two Minute Report from this wild game, Jaden Hardy should have been heading to the free throw line with 24.3 seconds remaining in the game due to Lu Dort fouling him, but the referees didn't call anything.
"Hardy (DAL) establishes himself in a screening position in Dort's (OKC) path and Dort dislodges him from his legally obtained position."
Dallas didn't score for the remainder of the game after this happened, and Mavs fans had to go through way too much stress in this game. The Mavericks' clutch-time woes would have got even worse if they somehow found a way to lose this game and the vibes from Mavs fans would have been way worse.
Dallas had lost four of the previous five games heading into last night's game against Oklahoma City, and the Mavs were playing with fire at the end of this game as some poor decisions and careless mistakes down the stretch nearly cost them the game.
In the end, though, Dallas got this narrow win, and they are now 7-7 on the year heading into tomorrow night's game against the New Orleans Pelicans. Hardy will look to build off of his great performance in Oklahoma City in this game, and he is slowly proving to Jason Kidd that he deserves a guaranteed role moving forward.
Hardy's finishing was excellent against the Thunder, and him continuing to improve in that area will be important moving forward. His finishing has been one of the more critiqued parts of his game since he entered the league, and it could be the final piece of his offensive game that he needs to refine. His 3-point shooting and mid-range jumper are there, and him becoming a three-level scorer would help him turn into a much more complete offensive player.
Hardy playing in clutch time against the Thunder shows how much he has grown as a player, and if the NBA would have made the right call, he would have had the chance to put the game away due to Dort fouling him.
