Washington’s 27 points, 17 rebounds help Mavericks edge Thunder 121-119 without injured Luka Doncic

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — P.J. Washington had 27 points and a career-high 17 rebounds, and the Dallas Mavericks held off the Oklahoma City Thunder 121-119 on Sunday night without star guard Luka Doncic.

Washington averaged just over eight points and seven rebounds per game entering Sunday’s game but stepped up in the absence of Doncic, who was out with a bruised right knee.

The Mavericks’ offense purred anyway. Kyrie Irving scored 23 points and helped Dallas shoot 48% from the field.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 36 points and Jalen Williams added 27 for the Thunder, who entered the night with a Western Conference-best 11-2 record. The Thunder are now 3-1 without Chet Holmgren.

After trailing 112-98 with just over six minutes remaining, Oklahoma City rallied and got it to 121-118. Gilgeous-Alexander tied up Irving with 8 seconds remaining and forced a jump ball, which Gilgeous-Alexander won, and Oklahoma City called timeout with 6.6 seconds left.

The Mavericks fouled Gilgeous-Alexander with 4.3 seconds remaining. He made the first free throw but missed the second, and Lu Dort missed an off-balance contested 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Takeaways

Mavericks: Dallas made the most of its size advantage, outrebounding the Thunder 53-29.

Thunder: Oklahoma City had been able to get away with playing small because it could generate extra shot opportunities by forcing turnovers. Dallas, with Irving at the controls, committed 16 turnovers, far fewer than the Thunder had been forcing.

Key moment

Gilgeous-Alexander faked Naji Marshall to the ground, then stepped back and hit a 3-pointer to cut the Dallas lead to 121-118 with 25.2 seconds remaining.

Key stat

Dallas made 30 of 36 free throws while the Thunder made 19 of 25.

Up next

The Mavericks host New Orleans on Tuesday, the same day the Thunder visit San Antonio.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba