Kyrie Irving reveals key part of Thunder’s game plan Mavericks must expose

Tonight is the biggest game of the Dallas Mavericks’ playoff run thus far as they battle the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 4 of the second round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs.

Dallas has the opportunity to take a critical 3-1 lead at home today after pulling off a decisive Game 3 victory over the Thunder to take a commanding 2-1 lead.

Kyrie Irving took the game by storm in the fourth quarter on Saturday, scoring 22 points, 14 of which came in the second half. When the Mavs needed him most, Irving locked in during the clutch, but P.J. Washington has been the star of the last two games.

Washington was a major contributing element in the victory as he finished the game with 27 points on 11-23 shooting from the field and 5-12 from three. He was making his easy baskets, finishing at the low post, and

Kyrie Irving reveals part of Thunder’s game plan Mavericks must expose

This has been the best two-game stretch of the year for Washington, and the Mavs must continue feeding him the rock and letting him cook.

While Washington arguably outplayed both Luka Doncic and Irving in Game 3, this seems to be all part of the Thunder’s game plan. After the game, Irving dove into the Thunder’s game plan and talked about how leaving Washington open was part of Oklahoma City Thunder’s game plan. He said the Mavs need to “make them pay for that” and continued to harp on how great Washington was in Game 3.

Irving said the team wants to continue to feed Washington confidence, and the Mavericks must destroy this part of the Thunder’s plan if they’re going to keep leaving him open. Oklahoma City’s main focus is clearly stopping Irving and Doncic, and even Mark Daigneault talked about how stopping Washington wasn’t one of their priorities ahead of Game 3.

Daigneault said that Washington has always played better against the Thunder, but that “you have to determine what your priorities are. If you have 10 priorities against a team, then that’s where you really hemorrhage.”

Daigneault’s statement is entirely true given that they must slow down Irving and Doncic first, but the Mavs must take advantage of this and put the Thunder away early by involving Washington frequently.

If the Thunder decide not to try to run him off the 3-point line, they should stick to their current game plan. If they don’t, Washington should keep shooting freely and push the Thunder to change by concentrating on stopping him.

Beyond just being a shooter, Washington has had a significant impact, and his momentum from Games 2 and 3 might continue over into tonight’s Game 4.

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