Oct 14, 2019 1 min read Ball Night

Recap: Mavericks def. Thunder (107-70)

Official Box Score

Diallo denies Doncic. Hamidou Diallo, who earned a spot in tonight’s starting lineup, took on the tall task of guarding Dallas star, Luka Doncic. Surprisingly, Diallo was more than up to the task. Diallo stayed in front of Doncic on drives despite Doncic’s larger size. He also forced Doncic into several contested threes. Diallo looked great defensively throughout the first half until he started racking up personal fouls. Halfway through the 3rd quarter, Diallo already had 5 personal fouls and Coach Donovan was forced to sit him the rest of the game (not that it really mattered though). Here’s Diallo on what he can take away from his defensive matchup tonight:

Hamidou Diallo on guarding Doncic: pic.twitter.com/N4OZc5niiC
— Olivia Panchal (@oliviapanchal) October 15, 2019

Promising defense. Diallo wasn’t the only one who left a lasting defensive impression. Darius Bazely racked up 4 defensive rebounds and 1 steal. Nerlens Noel turned Kristaps Prozingis into merely a stuffed unicorn:

Rim protector… Nerlens Noel! ?#NBAPreseason pic.twitter.com/P9xKpW4373
— NBA (@NBA) October 15, 2019

Shooting slump. The Thunder struggled offensively compared to the first two preseason games. The team shot 32.6% from the field and only 14.7% from three. Gallinari and Gildeous-Alexander were the only Thunder players in double figures.