GAME 8: DAL (4-4) @ DEN (3-5) | 124-117 OT win

[cow]

Dallas got the win. Good game, Joker is a problem, almost won it for them.

Joker has ice in his veins.  Too bad he doesn't have:

[embellisher]

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Seth with Coronavirus.  You evil wizard!

OMG! I just heard. He'll be out 10 days at least.

[SwisherPrice]

Great game by the roleplayers. Kleber was everywhere down the stretch. JRich took on the task of guarding Murray in crunchtime. This was a classic game that showed how far DFS has come as a player. His shooting was ice cold early on but he kept playing hard on defense, remained active, and eventually settled in on offense.

Anytime Luka attacks in the key over settling for those fadeaway threes is a plus. Shot the floater early in OT and then the mid-range dagger.

[Scott41theMavs]

I'm just so damn happy. Our first back-to-back win, and over the Western Conference Finalists. Without our second-best player.

[embellisher]

I'm just so damn happy. Our first back-to-back win, and over the Western Conference Finalists. Without our second-best player.

And we won it with our defense.

[cow]

And we won it with our defense.

And it's been a few years since we've seen a German take over in the 4th and overtime.

[Tyler]

https://twitter.com/bobbykaralla/status/...5504118784

[luka_skywalker_77]

Not sure what happened--maybe someone can tell me. Luka seemed to have gallons of energy in the 4th for some reason. He was moving with a fluidity that didnt exist ion the first three quarters. Very odd indeed.

[cow]

Not sure what happened--maybe someone can tell me. Luka seemed to have gallons of energy in the 4th for some reason. He was moving with a fluidity that didnt exist ion the first three quarters. Very odd indeed.

Tweaked his ankle early in the game.  Adrenaline is a helluva drug.

[BolsDamols]

Jrich defense on Murray at the end is why we traded for him..Great win!

[ItsGoTime]

Shaping up to be another predictable loss...same script. This team can only win when they come out red hot to surprise the other team. They can't win a close game or come from behind.

This post didn't age well.

[DanSchwartzgan]

A few lineup/rotation thoughts...

We saw more good results from Luka and Brunson sharing the floor together.  The best run of the game was the 10-0 run (15-5) the last 4:19 of the third.  This is the stretch that got us back in the game (down 2 to end the third).  It also included Powell, Maxi and THJ.  We also saw a +4 Luka/Brunson pairing in the first half and a +1 Luka/Brunson pairing in the 4th.  The last two games of this occurring is in stark contrast to last season when the pairing didn't happen often and didn't work well when it did.  The Brunson w/o Luka segments have been hit and miss this season.  But Brunson with KP is killer, so I suspect that will fix itself soon.

The starters played good D again, but the results were mixed to start the game (especially offensively).  The group didn't come back together to end the second and only played a little to start the 3rd as WCS picked up his 4th foul.  The group was +10 for the final 5 minutes of the game and OT.  

We did have brief spurts of Powell as stand alone big or Boban as stand alone big, but they were brief and didn't kill us.

Playing a good opponent on the road probably gave us a glimpse into what will ultimately be a much tighter rotation down the road.  Put KP in instead of Boban and the players who got 10 minutes or more were Luka, JRich, DFS, THJ, Maxi, WCS, Brunson, Powell (and KP).  That ultimately makes Boban, Johnson and Burke specialists who have to "always be ready".  

Green was back in the 2nd quarter developmental slot this game.  This is something Carlisle has done for years (brief minutes in the second and no minutes in the second half).  I suppose the theory is you get the guy in the game for some full speed action at a point in the game that isn't critical.  The spacing of the unit Green plays with is poor, but that should change when KP returns.  The effort to get Green acclimated to the speed of the NBA game is a good sign.  A great sign that they like Green will be the moment you see him play in the second half in a situation not brought on by injury or foul trouble.

[Mavs2019]

A thoroughly enjoyable game. Clutch defense leading to clutch offense. You can see that WCS sometimes falls asleep on defense (like allowing Jokic a wide open three down six) and that´s when Carlisle would throw a hissy-fit, but you have to take the bad with a lot of good.

Oh btw Luka had eight turnovers last night. Anyone care?

And let´s be honest if that was Joe Schmoe PG (and not  the only player on the Mavs that has more power than Carlisle), we´d have another Rondo backcourt escalation.

If Carlisle becomes a little mellow in his old age, it will help the team.

[fifteenth]

And let´s be honest if that was Joe Schmoe PG (and not  the only player on the Mavs that has more power than Carlisle), we´d have another Rondo backcourt escalation.

Love ya M19, but this isn't true. Are you really saying that if Joe Schmoe PG had 8 turnovers while leading the team to an overtime win against a really good team while putting up 38/9/13 while also having a history of working very closely with and partnering with the coach on his development, we would not have another Rondo thing?

[KillerLeft]

We saw more good results from Luka and Brunson sharing the floor together.  The best run of the game was the 10-0 run (15-5) the last 4:19 of the third.  This is the stretch that got us back in the game (down 2 to end the third).  It also included Powell, Maxi and THJ.  We also saw a +4 Luka/Brunson pairing in the first half and a +1 Luka/Brunson pairing in the 4th.  The last two games of this occurring is in stark contrast to last season when the pairing didn't happen often and didn't work well when it did.  The Brunson w/o Luka segments have been hit and miss this season.  But Brunson with KP is killer, so I suspect that will fix itself soon.

Totally agree. That Powell/THJ end of the 3rd was an important stretch. Maybe the most important. Still, I'm glad Carlisle went back to the starting group to close the game. The way they played the end of the 4th and overtime was tough, gritty and super effective, imo. 

Also, Brunson playing well with Luka would be huge, since it basically opens the door for Brunson to have a future on this team.

Oh btw Luka had eight turnovers last night. Anyone care?

I cared quite a lot while they were happening, yes. I actually don't think this was one of Luka's better games. Obviously, he won. Obviously, he was good enough, and against a good team in a tight game, so obviously, he's great. 

But, yes, I want him to cut down on the turnovers, especially the really bad ones.

[Mavs2019]

Love ya M19, but this isn't true. Are you really saying that if Joe Schmoe PG had 8 turnovers while leading the team to an overtime win against a really good team while putting up 38/9/13 while also having a history of working very closely with and partnering with the coach on his development, we would not have another Rondo thing?

Carlisle just has this low TO mindset that is just based on old school halfcourt basketball with one on one defense. Okay that meant less turnovers, but it also meant a lot of difficult halfcourt offense. Today is all about making quick decisions (against more legal defensive schemes) to create open looks and with that simply come more turnovers. That´s just what you have to accept.

If Luka played slower and more conservative, he´d only have two turnovers, but his lesser talented teammates would face a lot of lower quality shots. That´s what I mean, when I say Carlisle needs to leave Luka some creative freedom and he has to accept some of the flaws of players like WCS, too.

It´s better WCS contests eights shots defensively and has two defensive mistake in between, than having Jokic treat Powell like he doesn´t exist for 10 plays, while Powell does everything fundamentally correct. That´s the reason Powell started so long, when WCS is clearly the better option, even with the still existing flaws.

That´s the biggest challenge for Carlisle imho.

[Hypermav]

https://twitter.com/IsaacLHarris/status/...94049?s=20

I loved this sequence.  WCS and Kleber getting it done.

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I should also mention DSF with help defense/rebound and pass.

[DallasMaverick]

Carlisle just has this low TO mindset that is just based on old school halfcourt basketball with one on one defense. Okay that meant less turnovers, but it also meant a lot of difficult halfcourt offense. Today is all about making quick decisions (against more legal defensive schemes) to create open looks and with that simply come more turnovers. That´s just what you have to accept.

If Luka played slower and more conservative, he´d only have two turnovers, but his lesser talented teammates would face a lot of lower quality shots. That´s what I mean, when I say Carlisle needs to leave Luka some creative freedom and he has to accept some of the flaws of players like WCS, too.

It´s better WCS contests eights shots defensively and has two defensive mistake in between, than having Jokic treat Powell like he doesn´t exist for 10 plays, while Powell does everything fundamentally correct. That´s the reason Powell started so long, when WCS is clearly the better option, even with the still existing flaws.

That´s the biggest challenge for Carlisle imho.

It turns out that turnovers are really costly:

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the...nba-steal/

[Benskix2]

Carlisle just has this low TO mindset that is just based on old school halfcourt basketball with one on one defense. Okay that meant less turnovers, but it also meant a lot of difficult halfcourt offense. Today is all about making quick decisions (against more legal defensive schemes) to create open looks and with that simply come more turnovers. That´s just what you have to accept.

If Luka played slower and more conservative, he´d only have two turnovers, but his lesser talented teammates would face a lot of lower quality shots. That´s what I mean, when I say Carlisle needs to leave Luka some creative freedom and he has to accept some of the flaws of players like WCS, too.

The Rondo thing was because Rondo wanted to walk the ball up the court and burn a bunch of shot clock dribbling around and Rick wanted him to get the ball out of his hands early in the possession.  Luka isn't doing anything that he's being coached not to do, and he isn't screaming fuck you at the side line when Rick tells him what to do.

[Scott41theMavs]

Also, Brunson playing well with Luka would be huge, since it basically opens the door for Brunson to have a future on this team.

This was one of the most exciting things to me last night. If Brunson can take what was supposed to be Burke's role, and run the team (with KP still on the floor for spacing) in Luka's absence, that could mean we don't have to make a backcourt trade.