"It's Tough. Sh*t Happens": Mavericks’ Historic Loss Was A 2-in-10,000 Chance

Over the last 25 years in the NBA there have been 9,976 games in which a team led by 16 or more in the final four minutes. Those teams were 9,975-1. Somehow, the Dallas Mavericks joined the wrong end of that stat Saturday night.

The Mavs managed to blow a 16-point lead in the last 3:57 of regulation and lose in OT to the Thunder. That would qualify as a bad loss.
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) October 30, 2022

After a 117-111 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder in overtime, you can make that 9,975-2 now for teams in that situation.

Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd had an interesting explanation for what might have happened.

Jason Kidd made a point to mention that the Mavs tried a different closing lineup during the clutch meltdown vs. Thunder. “We left C Wood out there with that group and it didn’t go well on either end,” Kidd said.
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) October 30, 2022

Kidd said that they tried a different closing lineup during the meltdown down the stretch: “We left (Christian) Wood out there with that group and it didn’t go well on either end.” Wood has been playing as the sixth man primarily, with the second unit, and has been off to a great start in that role.

But really, the Mavs can always chalk this up to the prime-time performance of Oklahoma City's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. He simply refused to lose.

SGA dropped season-highs of 38 PTS, 9 AST, 6 REB in the OT comeback win vs the Mavs! @shaiglalex is the first OKC player w/ 150 PTS in the first 5 games of the season since Westbrook in 2016. pic.twitter.com/gqUJ8RcfU4
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) October 30, 2022

SGA racked up 38 points, 9 assists and 6 rebounds, and is the first Thunder player to score at least 150 points in the first five games of a season since Russell Westbrook in 2016.

"It's tough. Sh*t happens," was the way that Kidd summed it up.