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How has OKC Thunder's imaginative offense collapsed vs. Dallas Mavericks in NBA playoffs?

joel lorenzi, the oklahoman
·4 min read
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So many hands have tried and failed, hoisting endless shots up. Putting their heads down, attempting to lift their dribble and create advantages, instead mostly struggling as if the ball was the Excalibur.

The Thunder’s players have earned and were seemingly owed driving lanes after a season of healthy drive-and-kicks. No one drove more. Nearly no one saw as many benefits, either. That was until the Western Conference semifinals against the Mavericks.

During the regular season, the Thunder’s 62.1 drives per game led the league. It shot 53.6% on those possessions, good for the second-best mark in the league. In the postseason, OKC’s 59.8 drives per game lead the field. Its 47.7% on drives ranks eighth among the 16 teams that entered the field.

In the second round, no one has sniffed OKC’s volume of drives. The Thunder is averaging 68 drives in the series — 70.3 since its Game 1 win. Its 45.7% shooting on those drives is the third worst among the eight second-round squads.

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Oklahoma City head coach Mark Daigneault walks on the court in the first quarter during Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals between the Oklahoma Thunder and the Dallas Mavericks at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, on Wednesday, May 15, 2024.
Oklahoma City head coach Mark Daigneault walks on the court in the first quarter during Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals between the Oklahoma Thunder and the Dallas Mavericks at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, on Wednesday, May 15, 2024.

Dealing with Dallas, OKC’s specialty hasn’t bore as many fruit. With Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford cemented near the rim, with rangy wings swirling the perimeter, with the way the Mavs have rotated until the Thunder took preferable 3s.

So many of the things that blew the hinges off teams in the regular season have been minimized by the Mavericks. The Thunder made guard-to-guard screens an art, ending with frequent pick-and-pops or runways for stars like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams. It did things to keep helpless bigs in rotation.

Now, Dallas has pushed OKC further back. Its rim protection — which has been a revolving door of bullish 7-foot athletes — has remained firm in its positioning, spooking the Thunder out of consistency near the rim. The only team worse inside five feet this round than the Thunder has been the Mavericks (though the Mavs have compensated with almost double the makes on less than double the volume).

Part of the excessive number of drives comes from the lack of advantages, both once the ball is on the floor and once it reaches the perimeter again. Dallas has run OKC off the line and still packed the paint. It’s lived with someone like Dort — who’s down to 32.4% from 3 this round — being the next pass. Or Josh Giddey. Or Aaron Wiggins. And when the Mavs have felt like pushing someone like Dort off the 3-point line, they’ve guided him along the baseline to greet one of their freakishly large body guards.

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Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander holds the ball after being knocked to the court in the third quarter of a 104-92 loss to the Mavericks on Wednesday at Paycom Center.
Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander holds the ball after being knocked to the court in the third quarter of a 104-92 loss to the Mavericks on Wednesday at Paycom Center.

From there, the Thunder’s best advantages on any given possession have come from Gilgeous-Alexander defying the odds. With mid-range mastery, by clawing for his spots against a stingy Mavs defense. By being the rhythm to OKC’s stretches of silence.

The next best advantage has been the open 3-pointers. Some spoon fed, some simple open looks, some faltered opportunities. For the series, the Thunder is shooting 24.7% on open 3s, which NBA.com considers to be shots with four-to-six feet of space. In Game 5, OKC earned 21 such attempts. It made four of them.

The Thunder offense has been suffocated from all sides. Gilgeous-Alexander is swimming through perhaps the toughest paint defense he’s dealt with. Williams has been limited as a secondary creator. Chet Holmgren has enjoyed less clean looks from 3. Dallas has rotated toward everyone else, showing indifference toward a select few.

It’s a tough ask for OKC to suddenly resurrect its offense, to outrun the Mavs’ adjustments. With the load he’s carried for several games, it’s asking Gilgeous-Alexander to be King Arthur.

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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC Thunder's imaginative offense has collapsed vs. Dallas Mavericks