OKLAHOMA CITY —
Luka Doncic limped onto the court, wincing in pain. He continued to suffer from a sprained right knee.
His other knee was bleeding. But his accuracy in the shot was not affected.
Doncic rebounded with 29 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists to lead the Dallas Mavericks to a 119-110 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday, tying the Western Conference semifinal at one win per team. .
“I think this was one of the toughest games I’ve ever played,” Doncic said. “I am fighting to do the best I can to help the team win.”
The Thunder limited Doncic to 19 points in the first game, during which the Slovenian shot 6 of 19.
The Slovenian hit 11 of 21 field goals in the second duel. During this, he frequently chatted with the referees, which upset Thunder fans.
There were boos and chants against Doncic.
“That’s a big thing for me,” he said. “I love it”.
PJ Washington added 29 points and 11 rebounds for the Mavericks. He averaged 12.9 points in the regular season.
“I think PJ set the tone,” Dallas coach Jason Kidd said. “We played through him a little bit in the post, and I think that turned him on. “That was a really good thing for us tonight.”
Kyrie Irving added nine points and 11 assists for fifth-seeded Dallas, which will host Game 3, scheduled for Saturday. For now, they have taken home advantage with the victory over the Thunder, first seeded in the West.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 33 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists, while Jalen Williams added 20 points for the Thunder, who lost for the first time in the postseason and allowed more than 100 points for the first time in their six playoff games.