Thunder drop Game 3, fall behind Mavericks in the series
Dallas leads Oklahoma City 2-1 in the Western Conference Semifinals.
In what started and finished as an ugly, chippy contest (made more grotesque by refereeing), Oklahoma City couldn't mount a comeback to take a game in Dallas. Back-and-forth through the first half, the game finally swung in OKC's favor when they took a 65-55 lead with 8:33 left in the third quarter. But immediately Luka and the Mavs ripped off a 16-0 run to retake the lead for the rest of the game.
Shai and the Thunder clawed to keep it close down to the wire of the losing effort, but Kyrie Irving kept the outcome just out of reach.
OKC will try and even the series again on Monday to stave off an elimination game when they head back home for Game 5.
Double denial 🚫 pic.twitter.com/YCHxsdQ36R
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) May 11, 2024
Corner Jo3 right before the 🚨 pic.twitter.com/6vlpUcGlhI
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) May 11, 2024
Patrick Mahomes says Lu Dort could play linebacker in the NFL 👀
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 11, 2024
(via @NBA) pic.twitter.com/KsGZcgdXuM
Gordon Hayward is a YouTuber doing a “Snuck into an NBA game and PLAYED!” bit.
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) May 11, 2024
SGA and Luka had a nice friendly chat going into the timeout.
— Brandon Rahbar (@BrandonRahbar) May 11, 2024
this call is legitimately stunning. how do you arrive at jump ball? it’s not even a possible outcome here. https://t.co/kVfpDBSKLF
— ryan woods (@ryanwoods_) May 11, 2024
JUST RIDICULOUS.
— NBA (@NBA) May 11, 2024
Kyrie flashed the handles and hit the lefty floater to help seal the game late 😤 https://t.co/U4WZ4D5wnQ pic.twitter.com/97btLNRwrk
Mark Daigneault “We lost the game. The officials didn’t lose the game today.”
— Rylan Stiles (@Rylan_Stiles) May 11, 2024
More from Daigneault:
— Nick Gallo (@NickAGallo) May 11, 2024
"As you get deeper into the playoffs this is what you deal with. The ability to overcome this and rise to this is how you get better. There's no place we'd rather be than playing and competing in this setting. We're getting tested and we'll learn."