06-04-2021, 02:51 PM
Three observations:
First, 2 of our 5 bigs were on the court at all times, none playing more than 30 minutes. To me, that was the big change in game 5. With the exception of 43-minute Luka, I thought the Mavs looked fresher than the Clips much of the second half.
The traditional wisdom is you shorten your rotation in the playoffs, especially on the road. Coach did that with our 3 best players, Luka, Tim, and Dorian. But the rest (the bigs) he platooned.
Second, for the first time in the series, we made free throws.
Excluding the last 8.8 seconds of intentional fouling, the Clips got 25 freebies to our 15. That’s a major disparity. And it’s a joke that the team playing the more physical brand of defense, and defending bigs with mediums, was the recipient of that advantage. (Only in the NBA.) But we made the best of the opportunities we got.
Third, and this is certainly related, the non-Luka-generated scoring attempts shriveled to a bare minimum. None of our other would-be creators (Jalen, Josh, Trey) got minutes. Tim and Dorian attempted drives almost never. If the defense is super-physical (and it was), and you can’t get free throws (and we couldn’t), then driving into the lane is a recipe for catastrophe.
8 total turnovers in the game (4 of em Luka’s) is no happenstance. It’s the result of a deliberate coaching decision not to let the silence of the refs dictate the game’s outcome. If there’s a game 7, expect the same strategy. Here’s to hoping game 6 makes that irrelevant.
First, 2 of our 5 bigs were on the court at all times, none playing more than 30 minutes. To me, that was the big change in game 5. With the exception of 43-minute Luka, I thought the Mavs looked fresher than the Clips much of the second half.
The traditional wisdom is you shorten your rotation in the playoffs, especially on the road. Coach did that with our 3 best players, Luka, Tim, and Dorian. But the rest (the bigs) he platooned.
Second, for the first time in the series, we made free throws.
Excluding the last 8.8 seconds of intentional fouling, the Clips got 25 freebies to our 15. That’s a major disparity. And it’s a joke that the team playing the more physical brand of defense, and defending bigs with mediums, was the recipient of that advantage. (Only in the NBA.) But we made the best of the opportunities we got.
Third, and this is certainly related, the non-Luka-generated scoring attempts shriveled to a bare minimum. None of our other would-be creators (Jalen, Josh, Trey) got minutes. Tim and Dorian attempted drives almost never. If the defense is super-physical (and it was), and you can’t get free throws (and we couldn’t), then driving into the lane is a recipe for catastrophe.
8 total turnovers in the game (4 of em Luka’s) is no happenstance. It’s the result of a deliberate coaching decision not to let the silence of the refs dictate the game’s outcome. If there’s a game 7, expect the same strategy. Here’s to hoping game 6 makes that irrelevant.