The Oklahoma City Thunder quite literally took the least possible amount of time to handle business against the New Orleans Pelicans, sending them home with far more questions than wins in the series (0).
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the rest of the team were warmly reminded of that fact as they drove away from the Oklahoma City airport at 1:30 a.m. just a few hours after taking Game 4 from the Pelicans. In that moment, the energy was almost unfathomable. The Thunder had won its first playoff series since 2016 and not only did it break a long-standing drought, but did so in dominant fashion.
But it wasn't long before the team mindset shifted from celebratory to anticipating. Next on the docket was a second-round series against another MVP candidate, Luka Doncic, and the rest of the Dallas Mavericks. It wasn't going to be easy.
But Gilgeous-Alexander knew that.
“It'll be a full-team effort for sure,” the Thunder star said of facing Doncic and the Mavericks, via reuters.com. “He is who he is for a reason. Not one guy slows him down. We have one of the best, if not the best perimeter defender in the NBA [in Lu Dort] and we'll lean on him a little bit — he knows that every night. But we know it's a full team effort and it's going to take a lot of us to slow him down and get the job done.”
Since entering the league, Doncic has terrorized defenses with statlines beyond comprehension. “Luka Magic” is the name he's adopted by trade, though even with his individual talent, he hasn't willed his team to a title. But he's going to try again this season.
On the other side of him stands the second-youngest team in the NBA. It's surpassed any and all expectations, and also believes it has what it takes to make a deep playoff run. The Pelicans were the first step, and now the Mavericks will be the second.
So, how can it knock off the Mavericks? What is the “secret weapon” it can lean on?
Let's take a look.
Thunder's dominant defense
The Thunder played four games against the Mavericks in the regular season.
Of those four games, it won three of them and dropped one. Nothing out of the ordinary — it just seemed as if it had Dallas' number. And while that might be true, perhaps the most interesting part of the two teams' matchups was that the winning side scored a minimum of 126 points. Oklahoma City reached that mark exactly in two of its victories, 135 points in the other and the Mavericks hit a mark of 146 points to land the game in its top-10 in history.
So, offense is clearly a strength in these matchups.
Oklahoma City has the higher seed, so it will begin at home, which could help it gain some offensive momentum, but there are two pieces to this puzzle. Not only will it have to find a rhythm on offense, it'll also have to prevent the Mavericks from doing so.
Now, the NBA has been airing a commercial lately featuring some of the league's top stars denying allegations of there being a “playoff mode” that shifts into gear when April rolls around. Doncic isn't in the commercial, which — to play along with the league's advertising campaign — might suggest that he does perform at another level in the postseason. His stats back that up, too.
In the six-game series against the LA Clippers, Doncic averaged 29.8 points, 8.8 rebounds, 9.5 assists and an 83 percent shooting percentage from the free-throw line. All of those figures are comparable to his regular season stats, which were also impressive, but were accomplished in five more minutes per game. Doncic is sitting — on average — less than six minutes per game and been crucial to the Mavericks' success, which isn't even factoring in Kyrie Irving.
If Oklahoma City wants to slow down Doncic, it has to rely on its defense. So far this season, that's come in the form of a 3-headed dragon.
Chet Holmgren is first on that list. This season, despite finishing second-place in Rookie of the Year voting, he put up incredible numbers by not only playing all 82 games, but anchoring the Thunder's defense at the rim. Then comes Luguentz Dort.
Here's a quote from Thunder coach Mark Daigneault when asked about his team's defensive gameplan for Dallas and Doncic:
“(We) just have to make sure that Lu is on time for the game.”
Dort has established himself as an unfaltering perimeter presence. Between him at the arc and Holmgren backing him up down low, the Thunder are already in a good place defensively. And then comes Cason Wallace.
Wallace may not have earned any votes for the Rookie of the Year this season, but he's certainly played a large role in Oklahoma City's well-rounded efforts. In his first season, he averaged just under one steal per game and 0.5 blocks to go along with his 6.8 points. Again, not incredible, but an underrated addition to the Thunder this season.
In games against the Mavericks where Wallace posted a positive plus-minus, the Thunder came away victorious. Part of it is likely due to the general performance of the team, but the rookie certainly played a role in it, which is why he rounds out Oklahoma City's defensive dragon.
Even with strong defenders on-ball, at the rim and by the perimeter, slowing down Luka Doncic is no easy task. As Gilgeous-Alexander put it, beating Dallas will be a team effort — and the Thunder are prepared for that.
It will just have to lean on its defense.
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