The Mavs Carry Out a Ridiculous 30-0 Run and Yet Still Lose
Last night against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Dallas Mavericks went on a historic 30-0 run during the fourth quarter, and yet still lost 126-120. Dallas’ run in the fourth was the longest without a basket in the play-by-play era which dates back to the 1996-1997 NBA season. The previous record was held by the Cleveland Cavaliers who in 2009 against the Milwaukee Bucks went on a 29-0 run. Let’s check out how the Mavs made this historic run, and how the Thunder eventually ended up winning this game.
The run started when there was 11:09 remaining in the ballgame and carried on until there was 4:18 left. Dallas went from being in a deficit of 111-87 to a 117-111 lead. The score would eventually be 120-118. Oklahoma City would score the last eight points to defeat Dallas. First, Chet Holmgren dunked the ball to tie the game, then Jalen Williams gave the Thunder the lead for good by making a reverse layup with forty seconds left. Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander stole the ball from Luka Dončić near midcourt and laid the ball in to give Oklahoma City a four-point lead. Williams successfully hit two free throws with eight seconds left to give the Thunder the win. The Thunder now move to 13-6 on the year, while the Mavericks are 11-8. Although they lost, Mavs star Luka Dončić finished with his 59th career triple-double tying him with Larry Bird for ninth place on the all-time list. Dončić had 36 points, 15 rebounds, 18 assists, two steals, and two blocks in a season-high 46 minutes of action.
Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd said, "Yeah I think when you look at the character of team, it was on display there. For the whole game, just understanding with Luka, they're gonna take the ball out of his hands, I thought the guys did a great job there at the end of the third and the fourth to take rhythm shots." The Mavericks need to go on a nice stretch of winning games. They have the opportunity to do so as they play the Utah Jazz, Portland Trail Blazers, and Memphis Grizzlies in their next three games, all three teams sit at the bottom of the Western Conference.
