The Thunder have struggled to make shots due to Dallas' improved defense, bottoming out in Game 5
The Dallas Mavericks came away with a 104-92 Game 5 victory over the OKC Thunder Wednesday night, pushing the Mavs ahead 3-2 in the series. With superstar offensive talents like Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, many expected them to carry the load on the offensive end, but Dallas' defense is the reason they've taken a lead and largely been the better team outside of Game 1.
According to NBA.com, Lu Dort and Cason Wallace each had more than 70% of their looks open in Game 5 , but each shot poorly in this game. More than half of Chet Holmgren's and Jalen Williams' looks were tightly contested shedding some light on Dallas' gameplan. Derrick Jones Jr. and P.J. Washington have been spectacular on the perimeter for Dallas, while rookie Dereck Lively II has been impressive down low. According to the, players guarded by Jones or Lively shot just 8/25 from the field in Game 5, with 3 forced turnovers and 2 blocks. The impact Lively is making on the defensive end as a rookie cannot be understated, he's become a massive deterrent for the Mavs.
Dallas' closeouts, rotations, and peel switches on the perimeter are good, but OKC can't get anything because they're not moving Lively away from the rim.Dallas has trusted Jones to make SGA work for his shots and he has. 39.1% of SGA's shots have been tightly contested in this second round, while 84.3% of his shot attempts have come after he's dribbled three or more times.
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