OKLAHOMA CITY — Grabbing the loose ball, Alex Caruso accelerated past halfcourt before he jumped off one leg to deliver the alley-oop to Cason Wallace. By the time the basketball transferred from Caruso’s to Wallace’s hands, any contingency plans for Las Vegas were solidified.

The Oklahoma City Thunder was on the right side of a thriller with a 118-104 win over the Dallas Mavericks. The 2024 NBA Cup quarterfinals victory punched OKC’s ticket to Las Vegas for the in-season tournament semifinals.

“We’ve played like this for a good stretch of time now, so this didn’t feel different to me at all,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. “I thought we were pretty primed up with our last week, our West Coast help. We’ve been playing hard and together for a sustained stretch of time right now and we were able to draw on that tonight.”

The Thunder might’ve downplayed the matchup through their words, but their actions on the court showed otherwise. The December outing felt closer to a playoff atmosphere. After being booted by Dallas in the postseason last year, OKC flexed its new additions with the exclamatory win.

The Thunder have been plagued with slow offensive starts against Dallas. It looked early on this would be the case once again. The Mavericks scored the first eight points. This time around though, they snapped out of its funk. OKC held a 32-24 lead after the first quarter.

The Mavericks rebounded with a 30-point second frame. OKC entered halftime with a slight 57-54 advantage. That small margin didn’t last much longer. The Thunder avalanched the third quarter against Dallas to blow this game open. A 33-point frame put them up 90-73 after three quarters. This featured a decisive 22-9 run.

The Mavericks threatened in the fourth quarter, but never got closer than eight points. OKC was more than happy to exchange baskets the rest of the way. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams closed the book as Luka Doncic got hot too little, too late.

The Thunder had everything going on offense. They shot 46% from the field and went a hot 20-of-50 (40%) from 3. They had 29 assists on 46 baskets. All five Thunder starters scored double- digit points. They forced 19 turnovers, which helped OKC win the shot-volume battle by a jaw-dropping plus-21.

Gilgeous-Alexander was on one with an efficient 39 points. Williams turned it up in the fourth quarter and tallied 18 points. Isaiah Hartenstein had a 10-point double-double. Lu Dort and Cason Wallace scored 11 points each and tag-teamed to limit Dallas’ superstar backcourt.

Meanwhile, the Mavericks shot 48% from the field and went 15-of-36 (41.7%) from 3. They had 25 assists on 38 baskets. Four Mavericks players scored double-digit points.

Doncic had one of his worst games ever. He was held to 16 points on 5-of-15 shooting, 11 rebounds and five assists. He only had eight points after three quarters. Kyrie Irving had a quiet 17-point outing. Klay Thompson had 19 points as OKC dared him to shoot from outside. “Great collective effort and team defense,” Daigneault said about defending Doncic. “Not only on him but we were aggressive with him tonight and our point-of-attack defenders make it easier to do schematically.”

Entering this contest, many questioned where the energy for the NBA Cup will be generated. Turns out, the league just needed heated rivals to advance past the group stage. OKC and Dallas are two of the hottest teams and played like it. The Thunder had won seven of eight; the Mavericks rode a seven- game win streak. Despite being a double-digit margin, this felt like a heavyweight bout between two titans.

The Thunder have earned another night on the big stage. They will advance to the NBA Cup semifinals against the Houston Rockets or Golden State Warriors. OKC has a deep history with both franchises, so expect another classic in Vegas. “I think it means more to you guys clearly based on the line of questioning,” Daigneault said on if the NBA Cup meant more to the players. “However, we’ve been playing like this all season. If we’re not playing like this, it’s a surprise. We were pretty primed up competitively. We’ve played together. There’s been great intensity all season... I thought we were continuing to build a muscle all season.”

In the NBA Cup quarterfinal, Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 39 points on 15-of-23 shooting, eight rebounds and five assists. He shot 5-of-9 from 3 and went 4-of-4 from the freethrow line. He was dominant throughout the contest. Specifically, in the odd-numbered quarters. He scored 16 points in the first quarter and then duplicated that in OKC’s decisive third frame. The difference between this contest and the previous six matchups against Dallas was his teammates.

Williams finished with 18 points on 8-of-21 shooting, seven rebounds and four assists. He shot 0-of-3 from 3 and went 2-of-2 from the free-throw line.

Held to just eight points after three quarters, it felt like another classic game where Williams struggled against the Mavericks. To his credit, he turned it up a notch in closing time with a 10-point fourth frame. Up next Mavericks: Host the Los Angeles Clippers on Dec. 19.

Thunder: Will play Golden State or Houston in the NBA Cup semifinals Saturday in Las Vegas.

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