Mavericks vs Thunder: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander drops 33 in three quarters as OKC routs Dallas 132–111 for 14th straight win

The Mavericks vs Thunder clash in Oklahoma City tilted decisively toward the league leaders, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander powering a 132–111 victory that pushed the Thunder’s win streak to 14 and their season mark to 22–1. In front of a raucous Paycom Center crowd, Oklahoma City surged before halftime, detonated a massive third-quarter run, and never looked back.

Mavericks vs Thunder: how the game swung

Dallas hung around early behind hot perimeter shooting, trading buckets to a 27–27 first quarter. The tone changed in the final minutes of the second period: Oklahoma City tightened defensively, ran off a 20–8 close to the half, and entered the locker room with control of pace and paint. Coming out of the break, the Thunder blitzed the Mavericks with a 23–7 burst, stretching the margin past 30 and turning the rest of the night into game management.

Two pillars supported the Thunder’s avalanche:

• Efficiency from the star: Gilgeous-Alexander carved up the defense with patient drives, midrange precision, and timely kick-outs. He finished with 33 points in three quarters, adding playmaking and glass work while sitting the fourth with the result secure.

• Interior dominance and care with the ball: Oklahoma City owned the paint and protected possessions, finishing with single-digit turnovers while repeatedly converting at the rim off slips and short-roll reads.

Dallas takeaways: bright spots and setbacks

For the Dallas Mavericks, the Jaden Hardy spark was real—his shooting binge kept Dallas afloat during OKC’s first push and headlined the bench effort. Role wings found pockets of success attacking closeouts, and the Mavericks did generate transition chances off the few live-ball mistakes OKC offered. But the gap at the rim and the inability to stack consecutive stops proved decisive. When Oklahoma City shifted into five-out spacing with decisive cuts, Dallas’ help rotations arrived a beat late, and the Thunder punished switches with downhill attacks.

Thunder supporting cast and scheme notes

While SGA owned the marquee, Jalen Williams’ on-ball strength and Chet Holmgren’s length shaped the middle quarters. Williams toggled between handling and finishing, slipping into empty-side actions that forced Dallas to choose between tagging the roller or surrendering floaters. Holmgren’s rim presence deterred drives and ignited leak-outs; even when he didn’t record a block, his verticality changed shot angles. Second-unit minutes brought energy—Oklahoma City’s reserves sprinted into dribble-handoffs and ghost screens that produced clean pull-ups and backdoor cuts.

Tactically, Mark Daigneault’s group mixed early switches with selective traps on Dallas’ primary initiators, daring the Mavericks to win with secondary creation. The bet paid off: Dallas produced makes, but not the sustained run needed to pressure the Thunder’s rotation.

Box-score texture and key numbers

• Final: Thunder 132, Mavericks 111.

• Run game: OKC’s late-second and early-third bursts (20–8 then 23–7) broke the game.

• Star line: Gilgeous-Alexander 33 in 3 quarters, then sat most of the fourth.

• Dallas spark: Hardy led Dallas’ scoring push off the bench.

• Possession game: Oklahoma City kept turnovers low, maximizing trips and choking off Dallas’ easy points.

• Shot profile: Thunder won the paint and balanced that with timely threes; Dallas needed a supernova arc night and didn’t get it.

What it means now

For Oklahoma City, the Mavericks vs Thunder result reinforces a growing theme: this team stacks blowout windows with ruthless consistency. The schedule will eventually compress, but OKC’s formula—top-end shot creation, two-way wings, rim protection, and turnover avoidance—travels. The win streak at 14 underscores a group that beats opponents in multiple ways, not just with one shooter going nuclear.

Dallas leaves with film that’s equal parts encouraging and instructive. The encouraging: bench shot-making, tempo in spurts, and resilience after early haymakers. The lesson: against elite length and discipline, the Mavericks must manufacture more rim pressure and diversify late-clock options beyond tough jumpers. Defensive connectivity—particularly weak-side tags and early stunts—will be a focal point before the rematch.

Looking ahead

The season series now tilts firmly toward OKC, with the next Mavericks vs Thunder meeting circled as a barometer of adjustments. Expect Dallas to test bigger lineups to compete on the glass and to scheme more rub actions to spring shooters free of Oklahoma City’s long-armed contests. For the Thunder, the challenge is sustaining health and edge while opponents throw new counters at their spread pick-and-roll and dribble-handoff layers.

Bottom line: on a night when Oklahoma City’s star shined and the supporting cast hit its marks, the Thunder looked every bit like a team intent on setting the league’s pace—again.