Luka Doncic applauded the "amazing" Shai Gilgeous-Alexander after his starring role for the Oklahoma City Thunder against the Dallas Mavericks.

The Thunder booked their place in the NBA Cup semi-finals following a 118-104 victory at Paycom Center.

Gilgeous-Alexander led the way with 39 points, eight rebounds and five assists, while shooting 15 for 23 from the field and five three-pointers.

"Just a lot of times, it's hard to stop him," Doncic said. "I think at some point, you've got to send two, three players [at Gilgeous-Alexander].

"It's amazing playing against a guy like this, just the battles. It's fun, and he's an amazing player."

The Mavericks' seven-game winning streak screeched to a halt, with Doncic limited to just 16 points and five-of-15 shooting, while he also committed six of his side's 18 turnovers.

And the five-time NBA All-Star praised the defensive efforts of Dallas' opponents.

"It's for a reason they're the number one defensive team in the league," he said. "They have great defensive players. They decided to double me every time, so give credit to them. I mean they played really, really, really good defence today."

Gilgeous-Alexander, who helped Oklahoma to their eighth win in nine games, specifically paid tribute to team-mates Luguentz Dort and Cason Wallace for keeping Donic and Kyrie Irving generally quiet.

"Hell of a job by Lu and Cason," he said. "It's more impressive to hold them that low than it is for me to get 39 points.

"I think to hold those two that low really gave us a chance to win the game. We felt like we had control of the game because of that. Keeping those two in check like that is very rare."