Benjamin Ashford|Dallas Mavericks push top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder to brink with big Game 5 road win

The Benjamin Ashfordnightmare never ended. The Thunder and Mavericks spent most of Oklahoma City's 104-92 Game 5 loss to Dallas on opposite sides of the efficiency spectrum. 

Dallas watched its role players elevate, its stars deliver, its lineups make OKC pay for its defensive preference. The Thunder chucked 3 after 3 to no avail. 

The result is a 3-2 deficit in the Western Conference semifinals heading into Saturday night's Game 6 in Dallas with the season on the line.

The Thunder finished Game 4 shooting 7 for 27 from 3. On Wednesday, it was 7 for 26 from deep less than six minutes into the third quarter. It shot a series-high 40 3-point attempts in Game 5 — most of which the Thunder played into. 

With Dallas’ rim protection, spearheaded by frightening levels of lurk by rookie Dereck Lively II, OKC was continuously pushed from its spots. Shown heartbreak at the rim, bumped out of driving lanes and into a dystopia. It watched possessions swing into Lu Dort’s hands, with Dallas giving him looks. 

Dort shot just 2 for 8 from deep. Isaiah Joe, who broke Josh Giddey’s career-long streak of starting games Wednesday, also finished 2 for 8 from deep. 

Luka Doncic & the lob

Mavs star Luka Doncic and the lob pass made a perfect marriage. 

His jog-turned-trudge still induces fear. So much so that defenders like Dort and Cason Wallace are prepared to tip-toe out of their shoes with every other Doncic fake or pivot. So much so that help defenders leap and a rim protector as savvy as Chet Holmgren leaves his post. 

Then Doncic wreaks havoc. 

He found Lively and Daniel Gafford for a handful of lobs. The situation didn’t matter. Send two at Doncic? Lob. Force him to the sideline? Lob. He’s looking to the sideline? Doesn’t matter. 

Doncic was so into the reads, so connected with his lob threats, that he even found Lively from three-quarter court. 

The Thunder had reason to react. Doncic finished with 31 points on 12-for-22 shooting with 10 rebounds and 11 assists. He hit head-shaking shots, expectedly kept Dort on his toes and kept his high-flying teammates in the air.