Game 6 Pregame Primer: Thunder (2-3) @ Mavericks (3-2)

Game Info

NBA.com preview | Tip-off: 7pm, American Airlines Center | Broadcast: ESPN

3 Big Things

Where there's a Shai, there's a way.

The Thunder have played very good defense this series, holding the Mavericks to 103.8 points per game. Offense has been another story. The non-Shai Thunder players have only scored 72.6 points per game. That leaves a gap of 31.2 points. SGA has upped his scoring average to 31.4 points this series, against a much more crowded halfcourt than he typically faced in the regular season. His scoring was enough to squeak out Game 3, when the MVP runner-up willed the Thunder to victory from the midrange. That can happen again, even if the shots on the perimeter continue to clank and rim out and drive us insane for another 48 minutes. He's that good.

Keep shooting.

I keep thinking the Thunder can't keep missing so many shots, but we are all very aware that they can. Still, a lucky shooting game at normal volume is plausible, let alone an average shooting game from the league's best three-point shooting team. Isaiah Joe, Jalen Williams, Cason Wallace, Lu Dort, and Chet Holmgren are perfectly capable shooters. They must keep shooting, and hope that they start making. That includes Shai, by the way, who went 2-4 in Game 5, the only OKC player who converted over 33% of his three-point attempts. Speaking of...