At 108-93 with 6:45 remaining, Oklahoma City had finally found the sort of opening that can make a comfortable Dallas night unnecessarily complicated. Ajay Mitchell had just made two free throws, and his 29-point performance gave the Thunder a credible source of offense even as the scoreboard leaned heavily toward the Mavericks.
P.J. Washington shut down the possibility of a messy finish. He scored seven points between 5:26 and 3:27 of the fourth quarter, and Dallas beat Oklahoma City 120-96 on Wednesday at American Airlines Center. The Mavericks did not need a dramatic rescue. They needed a few clean possessions after Mitchell’s free throws suggested the margin might become negotiable.
Washington’s response arrived in three distinct steps. With 5:26 left, he made a 3-pointer from Max Christie to restore a 111-93 Dallas lead. At 4:41, Washington scored on a layup assisted by Daniel Gafford, making it 113-93. Then, at 3:27, Christie found him for a two-point pull-up jumper and a 115-93 advantage.
Those seven points came across 1:59 of game time. The middle basket was important precisely because it kept the sequence from depending on outside shooting: after Washington’s 3-pointer, Dallas added a finish at the rim and then another pull-up. Oklahoma City had no immediate scoring answer in that stretch, and the game moved from potentially uncomfortable to functionally settled.
Washington finished with 18 points and nine rebounds. His shooting line—7-for-16 overall and 2-for-7 from 3-point range—was useful rather than pristine, which makes the late burst more revealing than his total alone. He missed enough shots to leave room for criticism, but Dallas received his best offensive timing when the Thunder had one scorer still operating effectively.
Mitchell was that scorer. He made 12 of 20 shots, added four rebounds and three assists, and reached 29 points without needing an absurd volume of attempts. Oklahoma City scored 30 points in the first quarter and 29 in the second, then produced 22 in the third and 15 in the fourth.
Mitchell’s individual offense helped prevent the game from disappearing earlier, particularly with Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams, Alex Caruso and Cason Wallace among the Thunder players listed inactive.
That depleted Oklahoma City group also explains why Dallas’ victory should be described carefully. The Thunder shot 36-for-87 overall and 5-for-32 from 3-point range, a 15.6% performance that made every Dallas cushion easier to enlarge. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 21 but went 7-for-19, while Jared McCain missed all six of his 3-point attempts and Josh Dix did the same.
Mitchell’s 12-for-20 line stood apart from that perimeter struggle.
Dallas had built its lead through shared creation well before Washington’s closing work. Cooper Flagg scored 26 points and supplied eight assists without a turnover. His first-quarter passes helped produce Daniel Gafford’s 3-pointer and two Kyrie Irving 3s, while his third-quarter delivery set up Gafford’s alley-oop dunk and Caleb Martin’s jumper.
