Stats Rundown: 3 stats to know from the Mavericks 105-101 win over the Thunder

The Dallas Mavericks defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder 105-101 in the pivotal third game. The Mavericks finally showed up on time for an afternoon game after being sluggish in each of the afternoon games in the first round.

The Thunder fought their way back as all great teams do, but the Mavericks persevered to grab a lead in the series.

Here are the stats to know.

27: Points scored by PJ Washington

The Mavericks paid a hefty price for Washington when you consider the draft capital sent away for first Grant Williams and then Washington. He is proving he is worth every bit and more. He has been the best Maverick in this series, and the Thunder are going to have to adjust to him. That is a huge victory for the Mavericks.

8: Free Throws made by Dereck Lively II

Lively was once again the Maverick with the highest plus/minus as he was plus 16. His combination of length, mobility and effort make him a terror on the boards and defensively.

Unfortunately, he has been dreadful offensively. The Thunder made the understandable, but cowardly decision to foul him in the middle of the fourth quarter. The young big man made 8-of-12 free throws including four consecutive and punished the Thunder for this decision. Making those free throws, kept Mavericks’ coach Jason Kidd from having to make a tough decision of his own.

15: Rebounds for Luka Doncic

The Mavericks won this game on the boards. They had a massive rebound advantage despite missing eight more field goal attempts than the Thunder. The rightful most valuable player was a big part of that rebounding advantage.

The Thunder attacked Doncic’s box outs in the first game but he has cleaned this area up nicely over the last two games.

Overall, this was far from a pretty game, but there are no videos in the history books. This will go down as a big playoff win that gave the Mavericks control of this second-round series.

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