The odds may have been stacked against them, but it was a demoralizing finish to a game that started competitive.
The Dallas Mavericks carried a three-game win streak into the Paycom Center on Friday night, but awaiting them in the national spotlight was a team on a historic pace. The Oklahoma City Thunder made quick work of the Mavs, 132-111, to improve the their league-best record to 22-1. Dallas fell to 8-16 on the season.
The Mavs carried the momentum from this week of exciting two-man play between rookies Ryan Nembhard and Cooper Flagg into the first quarter against the defending champs; the score was knotted at a modest 27-27 after the first 12 minutes.
From that point forward, the Thunder roared.
Dallas trailed by 30 at the end of the next two quarters, sitting reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander down onto the bench for another restful fourth quarter where his team coasted to a win. As excruciating as it is to watch at times, Gilgeous-Alexander worked his magic to lead all scorers with 33 points on an efficient 10-of-12 shooting and 11-of-12 mark from the free-throw line.
Might the Mavs have turned to their former All-NBA star to counter that showing? Yes, but there wasn't anything to counter with.
Mavericks forward Anthony Davis was hounded by strong interior pressure by the NBA's best defense and limited to just two points scored. He went 1-9 from the field, missed two free throws, and chipped in eight rebounds and six assists.
Davis was guarded mostly by active Thunder big man Jaylin Williams ... no, not the Jalen Williams who displays All-NBA potential as a second scorer next to SGA, but Jaylin Williams who should have no business giving Davis the fits that he did on Friday. Except, he did.
Williams and the Thunder held Davis scoreless for three and a half quarters until he finally got on the board with a reverse layup, at which point the Mavs were already down an insurmountable amount. Why the oft-injured Davis was racking up extra minutes at that time anyway is besides the point.
It was the most amount of minutes (23) Davis had played in a game before scoring at least one point in his NBA career. For there being rumors about his trade potential as the lowly Mavs turn the page from the Nico Harrison era, games like this do not help any type of cause.
Naji Marshall scored 18 points on 8-11 and Jaden Hardy made the most of his garbage time minutes by filling up 23 points in 20 minutes, including five made three-pointers.
Up next for the Mavericks is a quick turnaround to a date with their in-state rival Houston Rockets, who at 15-5 are surging in an opposite direction as Dallas as we get the third month of the season underway.
It's the second game of a back-to-back as the Mavs return home to American Airlines Center to host Houston at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 6.
At one point in the second half, Davis collided knees with OKC's Chet Holmgren. He gingerly walked to the sidelines and had his knee wrapped, but spoke postgame about not being worried about his status to play on Saturday against the Rockets.