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Oklahoma City Thunder’s Game 4 Win Marked by Epic Phenomenon Not Seen Before in NBA History

Originally posted on Hardwood Heroics | By Rex Villas | Last updated 5/14/24

Among the chief reasons why the Oklahoma City Thunder won Game 4 against the Dallas Mavericks on the road Monday night was their excellent performance from the free-throw line. Conversely, Dallas’ ugly night at the charity stripe was a major culprit to their downfall in the contest.

The Thunder made all but one of their 24 attempts from the free-throw line, the only miss coming from Chet Holmgren, who went 5/6 from the foul line. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Lu Dort each went 6/6. As for the Mavericks, they were just 12/23 on their free throws.

Oklahoma City Thunder, Dallas Mavericks Combine for Unreal Historic NBA Feat

Via OptaSTATS:

“Tonight’s Thunder/Mavericks game was the first playoff game in NBA history where each team attempted at least 20 free throws and one team shot 95% or higher on FTA while the other shot 55% or lower on FTA.”

The Mavs hurt themselves with brutal inconsistency with their freebies. In the fourth quarter, they watched the Thunder go 7/7 at the line, while they made just 6 of 11. That ended up haunting the Mavericks, whose 63.9 percent shooting in the series is the worst among all teams in the league that made the second round of the playoffs.

The Mavs will look to do better (they need to) when the series shifts back to Oklahoma City for a pivotal Game 5 on Wednesday. As for the Thunder, they aim to sustain, if not better, their form. They are shooting 85.2 percent on their free throws in the series.

This article first appeared on Hardwood Heroics and was syndicated with permission.

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