It’s remarkable how much this injury-riddled, Luka-less version of the Dallas Mavericks (24-21) bothers the Oklahoma City Thunder (36-8). Dallas pulled out one of its gutsiest wins of the season so far in Thursday’s 121-115 upset over Oklahoma City at the Paycom Center.

Spencer Dinwiddie had one of the most efficient games of his life and provided some of the game’s biggest clutch moments on his way to 28 points on 11-of-14 shooting from the field in the win. Kyrie Irving scored 24 points and dished four assists. PJ Washington did the dirty work and then some on his way to 22 points and a new career-high 19 rebounds to go along with three steals and two blocked shots. The trio combined to hit 9-of-17 from 3-point range as well.

Dallas overcame 20 turnovers and 64 combined points from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams to fend the Thunder off on Oklahoma City’s home court. With the win, Dallas takes the season series with the Thunder, 3-1.

The shorthanded Mavericks lineup battled hard to keep their heads above water against one of the premiere offenses in the NBA in the first quarter. Two-way forward Kessler Edwards hit his first 3-pointer of the year with 1:49 left in the first to give the Mavs a 29-24 lead, but some gorgeous offense from Gilgeous-Alexander pulled Oklahoma City in front in the quarter’s final seconds. He found Jaylin Williams (the other one) for his third 3-pointer of the opener, scored four points of his own, then found an open Alex Caruso for another 3-ball with two ticks left on the clock to give the Thunder a 34-33 lead at the end of one.

Gilgeous-Alexander scored 10 points and dished five assists to pace the universe through one. Jaylin Williams notched nine points and three dimes, leaving the weary Mavericks searching for answers.

Dallas wasn’t going anywhere in the second quarter, either. Gilgeous-Alexander hit his first 3-pointer of the game late in the quarter to give OKC a 62-54 lead with 1:29 left before half, but Irving and Washington answered with back-to-back 3-pointers on Dallas’ last two possessions of the half to pull within two, down just 62-60 at the break.

The Mavs were once again staring down the barrel of the sawed-off injury shotgun a few minutes earlier, though. With 5:18 left in the first half, Thunder forward Brandon Carlson pushed Daniel Gafford, Dallas’ last remaining legitimate big-man option, in the back and landed on top of him as both tumbled to the ground. Cason Wallace inadvertently kicked Gafford in the head while he was down in an effort to stay in front of Olivier-Maxence Prosper, causing a four-car pileup about 10 feet from the basket. Gafford stayed on the ground for an extended period after receiving the blow to the head, with Mavericks trainers seemingly in no great rush to render aid.

One thing that won’t do anything to quiet the chatter surrounding this Mavs training staff as injuries and illnesses pile up throughout the roster is having a key cog go down, stay down, and having no one from the team there for him promptly. The announcement that Gafford would be available to re-enter the game came with about 20 seconds left in the second quarter, so crisis averted, at least in this case.

Washington came out hot to start the third quarter. His second 3-pointer of the game, this time from the left wing, pulled Dallas ahead, up 65-62, less than two minutes into the third. Irving hit a contested 3-ball over the outstretched arm of Lugentz Dort less than three minutes later as part of a little 9-2 Mavs run to extend the Dallas lead to eight, up 74-66.

Dort tried to grab himself a handful of Gafford Brand® Walnuts while trying to get past Gafford on a screen on Dallas’ next offensive possession, earning himself a flagrant foul-2 and an early exit from the game with 6:50 left in the third. Jalen Williams got called for a technical foul on the same play, another clear indication of how frustrating it must have been for a team with one of the league’s best records to be trailing this beleaguered version of the Mavs. Irving hit two more free throws on the ensuing Dallas possession to complete the five-point trip down the floor and give the Mavs their first double-digit lead of the game, up 79-68 with 6:44 left in the third.

Irving scored 10 in the third and Washington had nine more, but the play of the quarter came on the defensive end, when Washington chased down Jaylin Williams after getting beaten off the dribble. He recovered quickly and swatted Williams’ dunk attempt into Gafford’s waiting hands to preserve the Mavs’ 88-80 lead with 1:39 left in the frame. Spencer Dinwiddie knocked in his second 3-point attempt of the game on the ensuing Dallas possession to push the lead to 11, up 91-80.

The Mavs took a 91-83 lead into the fourth after Gilgeous-Alexander’s leaning, banking floater as time expired in the third.

4th Quarter Kai Crew

The Thunder looked poised to squash the Mavs’ hopes in the fourth quarter, but Irving made them fight for every inch of gained ground. He hit a rhythm jumper on Dallas’ first possession of the fourth quarter, then followed it up with a fading corner 3-pointer the next time down to keep the Mavs in front, 96-87, with 10:26 left to play.

Gafford provided the defensive prowess, blocking one Gilgeous-Alexander driving attempt and then disrupting another early in the fourth. Dinwiddie recognized the poor defensive positioning of Aaron Wiggins in front of him with just less than nine minutes left and served up a little mid-range pull-up jumper to extend the Mavs’ lead to 11, up 99-88, forcing an Oklahoma City timeout.

But a missed bunny by Edwards and an ill-advised step-back 3-point attempt from Irving was all it took for the Thunder to reclaim the momentum late. Gilgeous-Alexander drove for a finger roll, then found Jalen Williams for his third 3-pointer of the game to make it a 99-94 game with 7:38 left to play. The next time down, Gafford’s fifth foul of the game put OKC in the bonus with more than seven minutes to go.

Dinwiddie and Quentin Grimes hit timely 3-pointers with the Mavs’ lead deteriorating midway through the fourth to preserve Dallas’ 105-100 lead. Dinwiddie knifed through the lane with 4:10 remaining for an off-balance lay-in to keep the lead at five, up 107-102, and force another OKC timeout.

Even Maxi Kleber, bless his heart, put his fingerprints on the fourth quarter. After tipping an offensive board out to Dinwiddie to preserve possession with about 3:20 left to play, he ran to the corner with no one in Oklahoma City blue in pursuit. Dinwiddie looked his way and he made his first and only shot of the game, a 3-ball that put the Mavericks up 110-102 with 3:17 to play. Dinwiddie followed that up with a huge driving jam on Dallas’ next trip down to keep the Thunder three possessions down.

Dallas had just enough left in the tank to get out of town with the improbable win on the second night of a back-to-back set. Grimes scored all nine of his points down the stretch in the fourth quarter.

Effort from the end of the bench

O-Max set a new season-high scoring output with 13 points on 4-of-5 shooting in 14 first-half minutes. He came off the bench on Thursday after making his first start of the season in Wednesday’s 115-114 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Late in the second quarter, Irving took away his first steal of the game and found Prosper streaking down the sideline for a nice transition hoop to keep Dallas within two, down 56-54, with 2:13 left in the half. Earlier in the second, O-max hit his first 3-ball of the game from the right wing to keep the Mavs within a handful.

Prosper scored just one point in the second half and finished with 14 points, three boards and three assists in the win. Kessler Edwards made his first start in a Mavs’ uniform on Thursday but ceded playing time to Prosper as the game wore on. Edwards finished with seven points and four rebounds in 23 minutes on the floor.