Nico Harrison's reconstruction has the Mavericks back in the conference finals

Nico Harrison was nowhere to be seen Friday night in the Dallas Mavericks' American Airlines Center. His handiwork? That you couldn't miss. And the Mavericks are headed to the Western Conference finals for the second time in three years because of it.

While Luka Dončić posted his third consecutive triple-double and fellow star Kyrie Irving had his moments, three players added by Harrison through a variety of means — and for a variety of reasons — were the difference in a 117-116 win to complete their upset of the No. 1 seeded Oklahoma City Thunder.

PJ Washington (acquired in a trade deadline deal), Dereck Lively II (the Mavs' 2023 first-round draft pick) and Derrick Jones, Jr. (free-agent signing) all made one crucial play after another in the final minutes to secure the comeback from a 17-point third-quarter deficit.

"(PJ) and DJones, those are our dogs," said Dončić. "They never complain, just play hard. Those are the kind of people you need on your team. (And) we don't win the series without DLive. For a rookie, not being scared, it's insane the way he played."

Dončić and Irving are known for being clutch, but this time it was their supporting cast coming through for them. Lively II collected eight of his 12 points and six of his 15 rebounds down the stretch, repeatedly out-jumping and scoring over Holmgren, who finished with 21 points but only three rebounds in 34 minutes.

Washington, who came into the game with a postseason free-throw shooting percentage of 52.4 (11 for 21), stepped to the line with the Mavs trailing by one and 2.5 seconds left. To make matters worse, he'd missed his previous free throw about five minutes earlier.

Unfazed by the pressure of the moment — heightened by having to wait through a