Dallas Mavericks and Oklahoma City Thunder squared off in Game 5 of their second-round playoff series on Wednesday night in Oklahoma. With a 104-92 victory, the Mavs took a 3-2 series lead. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, a fellow MVP contender, had a fantastic game with 30 points, 8 assists, 6 rebounds, and 2 steals, but it wasn't enough to win.
In 41 minutes of action, Luka Doncic scored 31 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, dished out 11 assists, and blocked one shot while shooting 12/22 from the field and 5/11 from three-pointers.
With averages of 33.9 points, 9.2 rebounds, 9.8 assists, and 1.4 steals per game in 70 games while shooting 48.7% from the field and 38.2% from three-point range, he is coming off of another incredible season.
Doncic, clearly delighted by Barkley's comments, initially declared his love and appreciation for all four Inside The NBA co-hosts. This is what the Mavericks star had to say about Sir Charles' assurance. As per SPORTSRUSH he stated, “Maybe next time he can say it again in the next game so maybe we’ll win again.”
Watch here the full video:
"Maybe next time he can say it again in the next game so maybe we'll win again." 😂
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) May 16, 2024
Luka responds to Chuck saying OKC was going to blowout the Mavs pic.twitter.com/Chgf86fWgI
Series heads to its final game
This series has been back and forth, but going into this game, the Thunder had the momentum after Shai Gilgeous-Alexander seized over in the closing moments of Game 4 on the road to reclaim home-court advantage.
Doncic heard about Charles Barkley's guarantee that the Oklahoma City Thunder would thrash the Dallas Mavericks in the series' fifth game soon after the Thunder suffered a road defeat.
Dallas Mavericks, who have a 50-32 record, are ranked fifth in the Western Conference. The series' sixth game is scheduled for this Saturday night in Oklahoma City. The Western Conference Finals are where the victorious team plays either the Denver Nuggets or the Minnesota Timberwolves.