03-26-2024, 12:30 PM
Tonight's game, and Thursday's, are important tells for this season. Sacramento is a good team. Sabonis, Fox, and Murray are really strong players. But a Luka-led team - especially one with the kind of help Luka gets from Kyrie - is either a contender or a faceplant. IMHO the Nuggets, Clippers, Wolves, Thunder, and Pels - and certainly the Celtics - are all considerably better than the Kings. Moreover, we've noted over and over again that the Mavs must not end up in the play-in, because the league will make sure the Lakers come out of it no matter what. So it's the twin circumstance of 1) two back-to-back, absolute win-or-die games, 2) against the sort of opponent that the Mavs must be able to win a must-win game to be taken seriously.
I won't be ashamed as a Mavs fan if the Mavs lose one or both of these games, but I do think that their outcome says a lot about what our attitude as a fan base ought to be going into the playoffs. If the Mavs don't win both of these games, then we should be pleasantly amazed at anything better than a very meek first round exit. My belief is that this team is better than that and will show out tonight and Thursday.
Oh, and Sabonis is the straw that stirs the drink, and we have Landlord, DLive, PJ, and Maxi to guard him. If the Mavs don't contain him solidly in these games, it's either bad coaching or hangovers.
I won't be ashamed as a Mavs fan if the Mavs lose one or both of these games, but I do think that their outcome says a lot about what our attitude as a fan base ought to be going into the playoffs. If the Mavs don't win both of these games, then we should be pleasantly amazed at anything better than a very meek first round exit. My belief is that this team is better than that and will show out tonight and Thursday.
Oh, and Sabonis is the straw that stirs the drink, and we have Landlord, DLive, PJ, and Maxi to guard him. If the Mavs don't contain him solidly in these games, it's either bad coaching or hangovers.