The Oklahoma City Thunder could not hold a 17-point lead in the third quarter, and the Dallas Mavericks beat OKC 117-116 in Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinals, winning the series four games to two.
P.J. Washington was fouled by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander while shooting a three-pointer with 2.5 seconds to go, then hit two free throws and intentionally missed the final attempt, putting Dallas up one.
Jalen Williams' desperation 3-point attempt from three-quarters court was no good at the buzzer and Dallas had completed the rally to win the game and series.
OKC had taken the lead with 20 seconds left on an alley-oop dunk by Chet Holmgren on a feed from SGA.
Gilgeous-Alexander led all scorers with 36 points and Holmgren had 21 points.
In game of big runs, the Thunder used a 24-6 run to end the first half and led at halftime 64-48.
They built the lead to 17 at 77-60 with 8:25 to play in the third quarter.
The Mavericks responded with a 13-0 run to trim the OKC lead to four at 77-73.
The Thunder answered back with a 13-5 run to get the lead to 12 late in the third quarter.
Dallas whittled away at the lead and used a 6-0 run to take the lead on a Luka Doncic jumper with 3:39 to play to go up 107-105.
Doncic led the Mavericks with 29 points.
A Jalen Williams three-pointer gave OKC the lead right back at 108-107.
Williams had 22 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists.
Dallas responded immediately, with Kyrie Irving making a fallaway 3-pointer that bounced high off the rim and in with 3:02 left to make it 110-108 Mavericks.
With 2:00 to play, Washington made a three-pointer to put the Mavs up 113-110, then a Derrick Jones jumper gave Dallas a 115-110 lead with 1:11 to play.
The Thunder answered with six straight points, capped by Holmgren's alley oop, to take their last lead at 116-115.
Dallas outshot OKC 51 percent to 48 percent overall from the field, and made 16 three-pointers to the Thunder's 15.
Two other statistical categories had big gaps.
The Mavericks outrebounded the Thunder 47-31, but they turned the ball over 17 times compared to OKC's 8.
All five Thunder starters scored in double figures, with both Isaiah Joe and Luguentz Dort scoring 11 points each.
Dort and Holmgren dealt with foul trouble, both finishing with five fouls each.
Derrick Jones and Kyrie Irving both had 22 points to join Doncic with 20+ points.
The Thunder fall to 1-6 all-time in elimination games on the road.
OKC's all-time playoff series record is 11-11.
