Jalen Brunson

On the other side, the Mavericks turned around and launched their next possession.

Doncic looked for another pick-and-roll at the top of the key. After Chen Xi brought help defense, Doncic kicked the ball back out to Hardaway.

Tim Hardaway Jr. took his second shot of the game.

Once again, he fired a three without hesitation.

But this time, the ball rattled out.

He couldn't make them pay for leaving him open again.

That was the Thunder's choice—the choice Donovan had made.

"I refuse to believe that Tim Hardaway Jr. or Kleber can shoot me out of the game!"

After all, what coach didn't have to take a gamble now and then~~

Or rather, this was what you called making a trade-off.

There was no such thing as a perfect defensive strategy on this planet.

After weighing the pros and cons, choosing a strategy that minimized the drawbacks and gave you the best chance to win was the way to go. That was what a qualified head coach should do.

As it turned out, Tim Hardaway Jr. alone—or Kleber alone—couldn't shoot the Thunder out of the game.

But if you added Tim Hardaway Jr., Kleber, and Kleber to the mix, that might be a different story...

For the next five minutes, the Thunder stuck to their defensive strategy of doubling Doncic, giving the Mavericks' role players plenty of quality opportunities to shoot.

The Mavericks responded by making five of their nine three-point attempts: two from Tim Hardaway Jr., two from Kleber, and one from Kleber.

It wasn't an especially high percentage, but they still provided a sizable scoring punch.

Fortunately, although the Thunder had struggled on defense, their offense was still firing on all cylinders.

Or rather, Chen was still firing on all cylinders.

After realizing that the Mavericks had