The Mavs defeated the Thunder 117-116 to advance to the West final

DALLAS – PJ Washington Jr. made two free throws before missing an intentional miss with 2.5 seconds left, leading the Dallas Mavericks to a 117-116 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday night for the second time in three seasons to the Western Conference finals.

Washington was fouled by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on a 3-point attempt after Chet Holmgren gave the Thunder a 116-115 lead with a dunk from his star guard with 20 seconds left.

Luka Doncic, who had 29 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, fought his way to the basket in the final seconds before passing to Washington in the corner. Washington faked a pump to put Gilgeous-Alexander in the air, and the whistle blew as the shot fell short.

Oklahoma City challenged for the ball, but replay showed Gilgeous-Alexander made contact with Washington's arm as he went to shoot.

After making the first two free throws to give Dallas the lead, Washington intentionally missed and Holmgren passed to Jalen Williams, whose desperation shot from well beyond half of the court wasn't nearly enough.

The Mavericks closed out the series in Game 6 at home against the top-seeded Thunder, just as they did in the first round against the Los Angeles Clippers. Dallas trailed by 17 points in the third quarter.

The final sequence capped a riveting fourth quarter that featured five lead changes and two ties in the final five minutes after the Thunder had led for all but a minute up to that point.

Gilgeous-Alexander scored 36 points, his most in the playoffs this season, while Jalen Williams had 22 points, nine rebounds and eight assists and Holmgren scored 21.

Kyrie Irving and Derrick Jones Jr. each scored 22 points for Dallas. It was the second straight game with a playoff career-high for Jones.