DALLAS (AP) — Kyrie Irving may have thought his career undefeated streak was finally coming to an end.
The streak lives on, and the Dallas Mavericks reach the Western Conference Finals for the second time in three seasons.
PJ Washington Jr. made two free throws before intentionally missing a layup with 2.5 seconds left as the Mavs rallied from 17 points down in the second half to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 117-116 in the second-round series Saturday night.
The Mavericks wrapped up the series against the top-seeded Thunder, as they did at home in Game 6. First round against the Los Angeles Clippers.
Dallas — which trailed by 17 early in the third quarter and by nine early in the fourth — will open the Western Conference finals against the Denver-Minnesota winner on Wednesday night.
“To be down in Game 17 lately is not where you want to be,” said Irving, who is 14-0 in such games and will play Cleveland in the conference finals for the first time since 2017. But that’s where we find ourselves. We had to react the way we react all season.
Washington broke through on a 3-point attempt by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Chet Homgren put the Thunder in front 116-115 with an assist from the star guard with 20 seconds left.
Luka Doncic, who had 29 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for his fourth triple-double of the postseason, drove to the basket in the final seconds before passing to Washington in the corner. The whistle blew when Washington pump-faked Gilgeous-Alexander in the air and the shot fell short.
Oklahoma City contested the call, but replays showed Gilgeous-Alexander making contact with Washington’s arm.
Gilgeous-Alexander, who had a career-high 36 points in the playoffs, said, “If I really had the answer, I wouldn’t have missed it.” “I was letting him miss the shot. I wish they could take back time. I just have to learn from him. I will too.
After Washington made the first two free throws in front of Dallas, the Thunder called timeout after the challenge. Holmgren passed to Jalen Williams, whose desperation wasn’t close behind half court.
“If it was a clear-as-day foul, I wouldn’t have objected to it outright,” Oklahoma City coach Mark Dynewalt said. Very low.”
The final sequence saw the Thunder lead for just one minute, ending the fourth quarter with five lead changes and two turnovers in the final five minutes.
Dallas Irving and Derrick Jones Jr. scored 22 points. It was the second straight game for Jones with a career high.
“It wasn’t Luka or Kai who made the game-winner,” Dallas coach Jason Kidd said. “It was Luca’s belief and the ball touched the paint, they failed, PJ believed we found a way to win.”
Washington – Dallas’ second lead in this series, before Irving – didn’t have a point until the fourth quarter. He scored 3 points with nine points before the winning penalty shootout.
“I think we’ll stay together,” Doncic said. “We always talk on the bench, stay together, positive energy. And today was a good example of that.
In the year In 2022, when Dallas lost in five games to defending champion Golden State, Irvin was without Doncic in leading the Mavs to the West Finals.
The Doncic-Irving first two months after last year’s blockbuster deal were a dud for the players, with 13 All-Star appearances between them. More trade deadline deals this year from general manager Nico Harrison this time around.
The Mavericks finished 24-9 and moved up to fifth in the Western Conference and eliminated the Clippers in the first round with the same win and loss against Oklahoma City.
The Thunder have lost four of five games following a 5-0 start.
Led by MVP runner-up Gilgeous-Alexander and two more key young core pieces in Williams and Holmgren, Oklahoma City tied Denver for the best record in the West at 57-25.
Williams had 22 points, nine rebounds and eight assists when the Thunder were fired. Holmgren scored 21.
Just two seasons ago, the Thunder finished 24-58 for the second straight year with fewer than 25 wins.
Dinewalt’s playoff win came in his fourth of the season, and the franchise’s first straight win since New Orleans’ first-round elimination in 2016.
“You wouldn’t have accomplished what we did without our great resilience and ability to throw punches,” Dynell said. “And we took a lot of punches tonight, and we did … and we took the lead in the last 20 seconds of that game.”
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This story has been corrected to indicate that the Mavericks originally advanced to the Western Conference rather than the semifinals.
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