OKC Thunder vets key winning effort over Mavericks: 3 takeaways

Dallas got up a mind boggling 51 perimeter attempts but were held under 30 percent connecting on 15. Two attempts taken by Maxi Kleber and Doncic in the dying seconds were of the hold your breathe variety, particularly after Doncic had nailed a step back 28 foot 3-pointer at 2:57 to give the Mavericks a seven-point lead.

Most teams would view that as the dagger shot with less than three minutes to play but not the Thunder. If there is one clear delineation about this club it’s their ability to stay within striking distance and if the opponent can’t put a healthy distance between themselves prior to this critical phase they are in trouble. Two teams this season have demonstrated killer instincts when clutch time arrives and games are close – the Thunder and the Heat.

It’s as if the Thunder thrive under the added pressure of clutch time offense and they bolster that by tightening the screws of their already stellar defense.

Experience does breed success and in that regard 25 of the 33 games in the books have reached clutch time situations. At the start of the season, the Thunder lost more of those games than they won. But, that’s not the case anymore. The last clutch time loss occurred versus the Kings — a one-point loss on December 11th.

Prior to that, you have to go all the way back to November 22nd and a three-point loss to the Lakers! In fact, OKC has won the last six games that reached clutch time dynamics (five-point differential in the final five minutes of a game).