GAME 1 2024 Playoffs: Dallas Mavericks (0-0) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (0-0)

[Luka77]

Luka on what went into his poor shooting performance? "Who cares" and that is exactly how he was moving and playing.

[Reunion Mav]

Mavs didn’t play well.  Sloppy.  Looked like the much slower team.

Give OKc credit though.  Mavs made a run to bring it to 1.  They called timeout.  Teams will make runs it is how you respond to those runs.  OKC went 5 for 5 from 3 after that timeout with other good things too.  Just took the sails out of the mavs and pretty much ended the game.

4 of those 5 threes were not great shots. Miss them as they should have and we run away with the game. I said that to the TV at the time. But everything went their way.

[BolsDamols]

Luka posted up Dort once and scored...It might be the injury but not sure why they did not go back to that play..

Better than the step back three, but I guess, that's all the movement that Luka's knee can take right now.

[Mavs2021]

Games just don’t go well when multiple guys get into foul trouble. This game every thing went their way. It makes me mad but I’m more worried about Luka. Did you see all the wraps he took off of his knee. I hope he doesn’t need surgery or months of rehab.

Isn´t Slovenia in the pre-qualifying tournament for Paris. So that´s at least another three games, maybe more if they advance into the deciders and then actually qualify for the tournament.

Also that system is so dumb. The main tournament is 4x3 groups with 8 of 12 advancing to the quarters. Why not just play 4x4 with two from each group making it.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Bottom line, Kyrie and Luka have to go nuclear every game for them to win, because they're the only ones that can create they're own shot or for others. Mavs bench isn't as strong as other teams.

[Chicagojk]

Going into the series I though Luka and Ky we’re better than SGA and Jalen. I wouldn’t be surprised if they outplayed our guys though. Looking at it now, if Lukanis not healthy this is a wrap.

I thought the 3-5 remaining starters favored OKc and that played out today. I would be surprised if Dallas outplayed the 3-5 best players.

I thought the bench was a question mark and Dallas had to match OKC. They did not tonight. Pretty one sided.


So in summary, Dallas stars have to outplay OKC, the 3-5 best players need to be within shooting range of OkC 3-5. Lastly, the bench has to provide good minutes. Losing all three of those levels will make this a painless quick series.

[GATA]

Can’t win this series with this ridiculousness from the officials. SGA is not that good. It is very clear what is going on with the NBA

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Can’t win this series with this ridiculousness from the officials.  SGA is not that good.  It is very clear what is going on with the NBA

SGA not very good?  Yeah, ok...

[ThisIStheYear]

What I mean by conditioning is that the season just wears him down, which leads to injuries, because he´s not 100% committed to his diet and workouts. So you need another PG/playmaker during the regular season that can reduce his minutes. I´m not saying his poor performance is the result of poor fitness,. He´s clearly hurt.

This is also the second year in a row he’s broken down during the business end of the season.  Really it’s the third year, but three years ago, the Mavs had Brunson available to save them until Luka got healthy. No such luck this year. Luka prioritizes basketball, but he doesn't 100% prioritize the NBA. I don’t think he can win a title until he does. He’ll never have the best team. The Thunder are already the league’s most talented team, and they have the ammo to do pretty much anything they want with their roster. Unless they cheap out or get hit by injuries, they’ll have the best roster every year of Luka’s prime.  If he wants to win a championship, he’ll have to be the clear best player.

[fifteenth]

Just stopped by to say losing stinks, having a hurt superstar stinks and here's hoping for some game 2 mavs magic.

[Chicagojk]

THJ is rusty, I just hope we realized that small ball with THJ is not Lineup that is going to work. We will need others to step up though. If not, Kidd will default to THJ

[Mavs2021]

THJ is rusty, I just hope we realized that small ball with THJ is not Lineup that is going to work.  We will need others to step up though.  If not, Kidd will default to THJ

He´s been rusty since January.

[omahen]

Bad loss, but it is just game 1. If they take one on the road, the trip has been great success. If not, we can start to be worried

Luka needs to be better or Mavs don't have a chance. OKC was better overall. Their starters were better and their bench considerably outplayed our bench. OKC bench 8-12 from three, Mavs bench 4-14 (not counting garbage time shots for both teams). Mavs played Giddey of the floor but bench covered for him. Need to improve rebounding and reduce turnovers. I wish I will not see THJ again. He is so not what this team needs. Can't buy a bucket and brings nothing on defense. Taking stupid rushed shots. No idea where Mavs lost Exum from the regular season, they need to find him. Still prefer he gets THJ minutes. Gafford was good defensively, but he needs to do better in the paint on the offensive side.

I agree about the refs and the ticky tack fouls they were gifting to OKC.

[Luka77]

Bad loss, but it is just game 1. If they take one on the road, the trip has been great success. If not, we can start to be worried

Luka needs to be better or Mavs don't have a chance. OKC was better overall. Their starters were better and their bench considerably outplayed our bench. OKC bench 8-12 from three, Mavs bench 4-14 (not counting garbage time shots for both teams). Mavs played Giddey of the floor but bench covered for him. Need to improve rebounding and reduce turnovers. I wish I will not see THJ again. He is so not what this team needs. Can't buy a bucket and brings nothing on defense. Taking stupid rushed shots.  No idea where Mavs lost Exum from the regular season, they need to find him. Still prefer he gets THJ minutes. Gafford was good defensively, but he needs to do better in the paint on the offensive side.

I agree about the refs and the ticky tack fouls they were gifting to OKC.

I thought it was the playoffs and you can't afford to lose games like the regular season?

[BolsDamols]

Luka “too fucking small” where art thou?

[omahen]

I thought it was the playoffs and you can't afford to lose games like the regular season?

Who said anything about intentionally losing game 1. Mavs tried their best and didn't deliver. Every game is a story on its own, a new beginning. While everyone said that 2 days of rest means nothing for that knee, you keep maintaining your stance that things would look magically different with extra two days rest. The injury is a fact that will not go away. If Luka is not able to be at MVP level, Mavs don't have a chance in the series. Sitting Luka is not a solution, I don't understand how you refuse to accept that. The only solution is if Luka can play at MVP level with that injury being a fact. Luka is not using the injury as his excuse, he understands that.

[Luka77]

If Luka continues to play the way he has been in the playoffs this will be a short series.

[Luka77]

Who said anything about intentionally losing game 1. Mavs tried their best and didn't deliver. Every game is a story on its own, a new beginning. While everyone said that 2 days of rest means nothing for that knee, you keep maintaining your stance that things would look magically different with extra two days rest. The injury is a fact that will not go away. If Luka is not able to be at MVP level, Mavs don't have a chance in the series. Sitting Luka is not a solution, I don't understand how you refuse to accept that. The only solution is if Luka can play at MVP level with that injury being a fact. Luka is not using the injury as his excuse, he understands that.

Luka shooting 40% from the floor, 20% from three and 60% from the free throw line is not helping the team win games.  He hardly takes it the rim and is just looking to jack threes in his current state.  Moreover him not even attempting to defend and ending the game with O fouls is not helping the Mavs win.

If Luka continues to play like he has I consider sitting him the rest of the series and let the chips fall where they may.

Yes, I would have sat him this game and then reevaluate him and the team after gm1 to potential sit him longer if needed.  I would treat this injury just like they did the Utah series.

Luka in this state will not win them this series.

[LifeAquatic]

Luka is clearly not right. He's not even decelerating like he could before, which goes back to the knee. I don't like that the coaching staff keeps saying he's fine, but then Luka himself will say its not good.  Also, the loss of Maxi hurts the bench and takes away 6 more big man fouls on defense. Could use Dante stepping up at some point, where has he gone in the playoffs?

Just may be a bad luck postseason, as Mavs are going nowhere without a healthy Luka no matter if he plays hobbled or sits. And, I don't see a sprained knee magically getting better with games every other day moving forward. Hope I'm wrong...

[omahen]

Luka shooting 40% from the floor, 20% from three and 60% from the free throw line is not helping the team win games.  He hardly takes it the rim and is just looking to jack threes in his current state.  Moreover him not even attempting to defend and ending the game with O fouls is not helping the Mavs win.

If Luka continues to play like he has I consider sitting him the rest of the series and let the chips fall where they may.

Yes, I would have sat him this game and then reevaluate him and the team after gm1 to potential sit him longer if needed.  I would treat this injury just like they did the Utah series.

Luka in this state will not win them this series.

Not sure why I am responding, because you are just saying things that are simply not true. Luka shot 8 threes and 11 two pointers. He had 10 free throws. So, he is not just jacking up threes. You are also completely ignoring the way Thunder played defense. You are speaking as if it was like a walk in the park getting to the rim at will whenever they wanted. The paint was packed throughout the game. Did Kyrie do any better than Luka getting to the rim? it simply gets to making shots, because defenses are not giving up layups. Mavs had a ton of wide open three pointers because of what defense was protecting and what was giving up. 

Mavs shooters (no Luka and Kyrie and no garbage time) were 7 of 20 from three (35 %). OKC shooters (no Shai or JDub and no garbage time) were 12 of 27 (44 %). 

I will just repeat again - it gets down to making shots. First from the stars and then from the other guys as well.

As for Mavs not playing or playing Luka dilemma, you can just look at Clippers and Kawhi. Perhaps they looked a bit better without him but they had zero chance without him. Mavs also have a zero chance in the series without Luka. The only chance is if Luka can deliver. And just for the millionth time - sitting Luka for two more days would make zero difference in regards to whatever is troubling him.