Mavericks vs. Thunder: OKC rolls 132–111 behind SGA as Dallas’ offense stalls

The latest chapter of Mavericks vs. Thunder delivered a clear statement from the West’s pacesetters. In Oklahoma City on Friday, December 5, the Thunder blitzed Dallas 132–111, riding a three-quarter masterclass from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and a balanced supporting cast. The result punctuated OKC’s scorching start and exposed some troubling offensive wrinkles for the Mavericks.

Mavericks vs Thunder score and player stats

Final: Thunder 132, Mavericks 111
At a glance: OKC shot 56% from the field and 93% at the line (26-of-28), turning a 63–48 halftime edge into a runaway with a 41–26 third quarter.

Thunder leaders

• Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (SGA): 33 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists in 28 minutes (10–12 FG, 11–12 FT). He poured in 16 in the third to break it open.

• Chet Holmgren: 15 points, 8 rebounds, efficient rim finishing and timely weak-side help.

• Jalen Williams: 15 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, steady secondary creation.

• Bench punch: Aaron Wiggins (11-2-3), Kenrich Williams (10-1-3), Ajay Mitchell (9 pts), Branden Carlson (9 pts, 6 reb) kept the pressure high.

Mavericks leaders

• Jaden Hardy: 23 points off the bench (5 threes), Dallas’ most consistent scorer on the night.

• Naji Marshall: 18 points on 8–11 shooting as a downhill outlet.

• Cooper Flagg: 16 points, aggressive at the stripe (6–6 FT).

• Max Christie: 12 points (5–6 FG) in limited minutes.

Notable struggle: Anthony Davis finished with just 2 points on 1–9 shooting but added 8 rebounds and 6 assists. OKC crowded his touches, shrunk driving lanes, and funneled him into help—tactics that stalled several early Dallas possessions and set the tone.

Thunder vs Mavericks: how OKC controlled the game

Oklahoma City’s plan was simple and ruthless: attack early, live at the line, and flood the elbows to choke Dallas’ pet actions. SGA’s cadence—slow to set up, sudden on the first step—forced Dallas into rotations that yielded corner threes and free throws. When the Mavericks tried to toggle into switching, Holmgren’s length punished mismatches with quick seals and touch finishes.

Defensively, OKC mixed at-the-level pressure on ball screens with nail help from both Williamses, trusting their closeouts to chase shooters off the arc. The byproduct: Dallas’ rhythm pass sequences rarely reached a second side without a deflection or a reset.

Mavericks takeaways: bench keeps it respectable, stars must recalibrate

Dallas’ bench won its minutes behind Hardy’s shot-making and D’Angelo Russell’s spacing (12 points, 4 threes). That’s an encouraging sign for depth, but it also underlined the starting unit’s disjointed timing. With Davis fronted and doubled, Dallas needed quicker counters—empty-side pick-and-rolls, early slips, and 45 cuts behind the ball—none of which appeared consistently until garbage time.

There were bright spots: Marshall’s decisive drives and Flagg’s free-throw pressure offer scalable solutions. But the Mavericks won’t hang against elite defenses without cleaner first-action execution and a way to weaponize Davis as a hub when his jumper isn’t falling (think elbow handoffs and short-roll playmaking to punish scram switches).

SGA and the Thunder: context for the streak and what’s next

The Mavericks game marked another high-efficiency night in a season filled with them for SGA. Even more telling, Oklahoma City sustained that standard while leaning on depth pieces. The rotation’s versatility—Wallace spacing, Wiggins’ north-south energy, Kenrich’s connective passing—lets OKC toggle between five-out and rim-pressure lineups without sacrificing defense.

In recent days, the Thunder kept surging, underscoring how bankable their system is even when key names miss time. The identity travels: pace without hurry, advantage passing, and collective length that erases mistakes. For opponents, the margin for error is microscopic once OKC strings together stops.

OKC vs Dallas: numbers that shaped the matchup

• Free throws: OKC +13 at the stripe, a decisive edge that reflected dribble-drive dominance.

• Third quarter: 41–26 Thunder; Dallas’ worst defensive stretch coincided with SGA’s hottest.

• Turnovers: Low overall, but OKC’s live-ball takeaways fueled the runout game.

• Shot diet: Thunder generated high-efficiency looks—paint touches and rhythm threes—while Dallas settled under pressure.

Thunder game tonight? Schedule snapshot and implications

Within the current stretch, Oklahoma City turned around quickly and kept stacking wins, while Dallas faced the task of recalibrating its half-court offense on short rest. For the Mavericks, the Thunder tape is instructive: expect more opponents to front Davis, stunt at Flagg’s drives, and dare secondary creators to beat single coverage. Solving that puzzle—earlier actions, corner relocations, and ghost screens to force switches—will dictate how competitive the next Mavericks–Thunder meeting becomes.