Josh Giddey struggles in Oklahoma City Thunder loss to Dallas Mavericks,

ESPN’s Zach Lowe said earlier in the week that this Western Conference semi-finals series against Dallas would either see Josh Giddey “sink or swim”.

“And the Thunder sink or swim with him,” Lowe added on his podcast.

Well, it seems like Oklahoma City coach Mark Daigneault was wise to that reality on Friday, playing Giddey a season-low 11 minutes as the Australian struggled in a 119-110 loss to the Mavericks.

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Giddey impressed in Oklahoma City’s sweep of New Orleans in the opening round of the playoffs, averaging 12.5 points and shooting 50 per cent from downtown.

But it has been a different story so far in the first two games of the series against Dallas, with the Mavericks hunting Giddey on defence with success early on Friday.

That, along with Giddey’s shortcomings as a shooter, made it tough for Daigneault to commit to too many minutes with the 20-year-old guard on the floor.

Now, with the series tied, the question for the Oklahoma City coach is how he divides up the usual minutes he would give the Australian, with the likes of Aaron Wiggins, Isaiah Joe and rookie Cason Wallace all candidates to see more playing time.

It was a different story for fellow Australian Josh Green, who went 3-for-5 from 3-point land on his way to 11 points in a handy showing off the bench for the Mavericks.

Dante Exum, on the other hand, went scoreless in just six minutes of playing time.

Dallas’ win came despite a rough shooting night for Kyrie Irving, who went 2-for-8 from the field, with Luka Doncic (29 points) and P.J. Washington (29 points) carrying the load.

Tim Hardaway Jr. was also massive off the bench with 17 points while guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (33 points, 12 rebounds, eight assists, two blocks, one steal) led the way for OKC.

The Mavericks made a much better start to Friday’s game, getting clean looks and jumping out to a 7-0 lead as Giddey missed his first 3-point attempt of the night.

The Australian was creating some opportunities with his movement off the ball, scoring OKC’s first points of the game on a layup before later missing a mid-range floater.

However Giddey’s shortcomings on defence, and specifically in this Mavs match-up, saw him taken off the floor after just four minutes as Dallas had success targeting him early on Friday.

At that stage of the game the Mavericks were already leading 16-7, with Doncic going 3-for-3 from the field on his way to seven quick points to go with an assist and rebound.

It prompted Thunder coach Mark Daigneault to go to a two-big line-up, inserting Jaylin Williams into the mix and he found immediate success as OKC went on a 7-0 run.

Not only did the addition of Williams help the Thunder on the defensive…