The Oklahoma City Thunder are on the precipice of elimination from the playoffs after losing Game 5 at home against the Dallas Mavericks. They now face a do-or-die situation in Game 6 in Dallas and Skip Bayless believes they can beat the Mavericks on the road for the second straight time and force a winner-takes-all Game 7 in OKC.
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While the veteran analyst is still backing the Thunder to win the series, he was gutted about their performance in Game 5. On Wednesday’s episode of Undisputed, he said,
“It tore my guts out to watch them not show up at home. There are times when a very young team, and [the Thunder] are still very young, is at home with everything in your lap, where now you’ve got it. And the pressure mounts on you to do what is finally expected of you to take control of the series and you start [to shiver] when you shoot your threes. Because I don’t know how many wide open threes they missed.”
Bayless suggested that the young Thunder team is feeling playoff pressure as it’s the only logical explanation for their stunning dip in three-point shooting percentage. During the regular season, OKC led the league in that category with a 39% conversion rate, however, in their last two home games, they’ve shot only 20-of-70 from beyond the arc, a dismal conversion rate of 28.5%.
“It tore my guts out to watch them not show up at home.”@RealSkipBayless is stunned over OKC’s Game 5 loss vs. Mavs pic.twitter.com/FEpFOcjyoL
— UNDISPUTED (@undisputed) May 16, 2024
Bayless’ assessment is apt. A home-court advantage in the playoffs could work against a young team like the Thunder due to the immense pressure accompanying it. OKC’s young stars, outside of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, have had back-to-back dismal outings at home and now face an elimination game on the road, the sternest test of their careers.
They’ll draw inspiration from their Game 4 win in Dallas and hope to replicate it to push the series to the limit. But if they continue to fail from beyond the arc, as they did in Game 5, their playoff run will meet its end.
Stephen A. Smith calls a time of death on OKC’s playoff run
While Skip Bayless is still backing the Thunder to win Games 6 and 7 and advance to the Western Conference Finals, Stephen A. Smith believes Luka Doncic and the Mavericks will finish the job in Dallas on Saturday.
Explaining why, the analyst claimed that Dallas is following their superstar guard’s lead while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is struggling to lift his supporting cast’s spirits and performances. On Wednesday’s episode of First Take, Smith said,
“Look at the effect Luka’s greatness has on the rest of the Dallas Mavericks. When we talk about greatness, it’s not just about what you do, it’s about how you serve to galvanize the troops around you to get the most out of them.”
.@stephenasmith is rolling with Luka in Game 6 over Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 👀
"Look at the effect Luka's greatness has on the rest of the Dallas Mavericks." pic.twitter.com/1OOrGDiDGh
— First Take (@FirstTake) May 16, 2024
Smith noted that multiple Mavericks stars, like P.J. Washington and Derrick Jones Jr., have stepped up and played well in this series, and on the flip side, outside of SGA, none of OKC’s players have had a massive game.
The analyst added that every player on the Dallas roster has rallied around Doncic and played their role to perfection, but the same can’t be said for SGA’s supporting cast. The Thunder have a chance to prove Smith wrong in Game 6 and extend the series, but if they fail, it’s curtains on their season.
