The Oklahoma City Thunder’s season-ending loss to the Dallas Mavericks featured a critical mistake by their MVP finalist in the final moments.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander committed a costly shooting foul on P.J. Washington on a corner 3-point attempt. OKC failed to collect a stop in the final seconds as Chet Holmgren’s alley-oop of the previous possession gave it a 116-115 lead with 20 seconds left.
Washington converted the first two attempts to give the Mavericks the one-point lead. He intentionally missed the last attempt, which forced a last-second heave by Jalen Williams that missed at the buzzer.
The costly miscue gifted Dallas a chance to win Game 6 at the free-throw line. Gilgeous-Alexander — who was the best player in the series — took full accountability.
“It sucks,” Gilgeous-Alexander said on the finish. “You wish you could take the moment back but it’s not the way life works. You can’t. You have to sit and learn from it and I will definitely learn from it.”
The 25-year-old finished with 36 points on 14-of-25 shooting, eight assists and three rebounds. He spoke about how he couldn’t see the replay due to the raw emotions he felt in the immediate aftermath.
“I shouldn’t have fouled him,” Gilgeous-Alexander said on the late foul. “We talked about it all year the little things that go into winning games… It sucks. Obviously, if I had the moment back, I wouldn’t have fouled him. Just let him make or miss the shot.”
It was a heartbreaking finish, but the Thunder concluded their first of likely several playoff runs with this group.
