Oklahoma City Thunder at Dallas Mavericks

Mavericks beat Thunder 106-98 as OKC All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander sits with wrist injury

Gilgeous-Alexander, the NBA’s leading scorer with a 31.6 average, was sidelined by a sprained wrist, one night after scoring 40 points in a dominating 134-114 victory over Cleveland in a matchup of the Western and Eastern Conference leaders.

The Mavericks (23-19) snapped a three-game losing streak.

Dallas outscored Oklahoma City 41-17 in the second period, including 16-3 in points off turnovers, and led 63-43 at halftime. The Thunder cut their deficit to a point (77-76) by outscoring the Mavericks 33-14 in the third. The Mavericks closed out the win by outscoring the Thunder 29-22 in the fourth.

Jalen Williams scored 19 points and Lu Dort added 18 for the Thunder (34-7).

Takeaways Thunder: It was the first time this season OKC hasn’t had a 20-point scorer.

Mavericks: Dereck Lively II missed his second straight game with a sprained ankle. Reserves Jaden Hardy and Dwight Powell joined the injury list. Hardy sprained an ankle, playing only 1:19 in the first half. Powell injured a hip in the third period.

Key moment After the Thunder successfully challenged to win possession trailing 98-93 with 1:20 left, Kyrie Irving rebounded Williams’ missed floater and Dinwiddie hit his second 3-pointer of the final three minutes for an eight-point lead.

Key stat The Mavericks became the first team to beat the Thunder twice this season. Both wins came without All-Star Luka Doncic, who has missed 20 games with multiple injuries and has been sidelined since Christmas with a calf strain.

Up next The Thunder begin a three-game homestand Sunday against Brooklyn. The Mavericks are at Charlotte on Monday.

Regular Season Series

DAL leads series 2-1

Matchup Prediction