04-26-2024, 10:13 PM
WOW! What a game! What a home opener in this years playoffs by the Mavs!!!! Mavs came out and were ready to play.
Once again this was a scrappy game. There was basically no offensive rhythm for either team for a good portion of the 1st quarter. It wasn't until the Mavs kept relentlessly attacking the Clips in the drop off a PnR that led to easy lobs and dunks. After that, the Mavs seemed settled and played their game.
Luka had yet another ice-y night from the field. 7-25 and forced a lot of hard shots. Zubac actually contained him basically the whole night. He also had a scary injury moment where he went down in the 1st clutching his knee and unable to walk. Thank God that he was fine and played the rest of the game relatively well. This is weird. Luka has NEVER looked so human before in the playoffs. He's routinely been an easy 35 points a night on 50/40/70 in the playoffs. So far he's been 29 a night on 38/31/81. Crazy. Despite that the Mavs have still looked strong. That has never been a thing before in the Luka era to this level.
And that can really be attributed to Kyrie Irving. Kyrie had a rough first half. Heck you can even say a rough 3 1/2 quarters. He had 2 points on 1-5 shooting and got his 4th foul with 9:36 left in the 3rd. He subbed back in with 5 mins left to go in the 4th after the Clips went a pseudo zone and took Luka out of the game. After that point he scored 19 points on 7-12 shooting and basically made sure the Clippers never could come back into it. Any time the Clippers had some momentum, Kyrie pulled some razzle dazzle wizardry and hit crazy shot after crazy shot to shut the Clippers down. What a game by Kyrie Irving man. Sheesh.
Speaking of great games, Danerek Liveafford combined for 21 points 6 rebounds, 2 steals and 5 blocks! Individually both of them had great games. Gafford finally looked himself again. The Clippers got punished for leaving the lob open and that got Gafford back into his groove. Coming into the game he was questionable with a sore back and ankle, but he stepped up huge this game. He had a couple of moments where Zubac took his lunch money, but Gafford stayed with it and had his own moments. His game was punctuated on an INCREDIBLE block on PG13, denying his attempted poster and riled up the Mavs crowd.
Lively had an equally impressive defensive showing. Again Zubac had his moments, but Dereck made important rotations all night and boxed out equally well (despite the stat sheet not showing it). He finished a host of lobs and just kept the rim pressure up all night long.
Maxi barely got much run this game but still played well in his minutes. The Clippers rarely went small and to be honest, they were leaving the lobs consistently open. Kidd elected to ride the other 2 bigs and it wasn't a bad choice. He hit a solid 3, played great defense in his minutes. Glad Kleber could get a pseudo-night-off.
DJJ had another strong defensive night against Harden. After the 1st game he's really held his ground and has wanted the physicality. He also had several highlight dunks tonight. Great game from DJJ.
Josh Green was my runner up tonight in terms of Dirkie. Offensively he had a so-so game. He got out in transition, drew a strong foul against Westbrook, hit a corner 3. But his hustle tonight!!!!! He was EVERYWHERE! He grabbed 5 rebounds, 2 offensive ones, that just felt like huge momentum shifts. Defensively he swarmed and was physical. He drew at least 2 offensive fouls on the Clippers which again took away their momentum. He hounded PG13 all night. Seriously what a game from the man.
But honestly, I don't see how I could give my Dirkie to anyone else tonight other than PJ. His defense man. What a dog. He has that nasty attitude I've been legit craving for since D-Steve left in 2011. So 13 years. His defensive presence was truly a game changer. It didn't matter who was in front of him, PJ held his ground and forced tough look after tough look. But what really sent me over the moon was just his instigating against Mann and Westbrook. He got ejected, which, to be fair, was the dumbest thing he could've done. BUT he threw the Clippers off their game. He was in their head. He got Westbrook to throw a punch, and if the league deems it, he could be suspended next game. Seriously what a defensive performance by him.
GREAT GAME BY THESE MAVS! KEEP IT UP AND PROTECT HOME COURT NEXT GAME TOO AND GO BACK TO LA UP 3-1 NOW!
Once again this was a scrappy game. There was basically no offensive rhythm for either team for a good portion of the 1st quarter. It wasn't until the Mavs kept relentlessly attacking the Clips in the drop off a PnR that led to easy lobs and dunks. After that, the Mavs seemed settled and played their game.
Luka had yet another ice-y night from the field. 7-25 and forced a lot of hard shots. Zubac actually contained him basically the whole night. He also had a scary injury moment where he went down in the 1st clutching his knee and unable to walk. Thank God that he was fine and played the rest of the game relatively well. This is weird. Luka has NEVER looked so human before in the playoffs. He's routinely been an easy 35 points a night on 50/40/70 in the playoffs. So far he's been 29 a night on 38/31/81. Crazy. Despite that the Mavs have still looked strong. That has never been a thing before in the Luka era to this level.
And that can really be attributed to Kyrie Irving. Kyrie had a rough first half. Heck you can even say a rough 3 1/2 quarters. He had 2 points on 1-5 shooting and got his 4th foul with 9:36 left in the 3rd. He subbed back in with 5 mins left to go in the 4th after the Clips went a pseudo zone and took Luka out of the game. After that point he scored 19 points on 7-12 shooting and basically made sure the Clippers never could come back into it. Any time the Clippers had some momentum, Kyrie pulled some razzle dazzle wizardry and hit crazy shot after crazy shot to shut the Clippers down. What a game by Kyrie Irving man. Sheesh.
Speaking of great games, Danerek Liveafford combined for 21 points 6 rebounds, 2 steals and 5 blocks! Individually both of them had great games. Gafford finally looked himself again. The Clippers got punished for leaving the lob open and that got Gafford back into his groove. Coming into the game he was questionable with a sore back and ankle, but he stepped up huge this game. He had a couple of moments where Zubac took his lunch money, but Gafford stayed with it and had his own moments. His game was punctuated on an INCREDIBLE block on PG13, denying his attempted poster and riled up the Mavs crowd.
Lively had an equally impressive defensive showing. Again Zubac had his moments, but Dereck made important rotations all night and boxed out equally well (despite the stat sheet not showing it). He finished a host of lobs and just kept the rim pressure up all night long.
Maxi barely got much run this game but still played well in his minutes. The Clippers rarely went small and to be honest, they were leaving the lobs consistently open. Kidd elected to ride the other 2 bigs and it wasn't a bad choice. He hit a solid 3, played great defense in his minutes. Glad Kleber could get a pseudo-night-off.
DJJ had another strong defensive night against Harden. After the 1st game he's really held his ground and has wanted the physicality. He also had several highlight dunks tonight. Great game from DJJ.
Josh Green was my runner up tonight in terms of Dirkie. Offensively he had a so-so game. He got out in transition, drew a strong foul against Westbrook, hit a corner 3. But his hustle tonight!!!!! He was EVERYWHERE! He grabbed 5 rebounds, 2 offensive ones, that just felt like huge momentum shifts. Defensively he swarmed and was physical. He drew at least 2 offensive fouls on the Clippers which again took away their momentum. He hounded PG13 all night. Seriously what a game from the man.
But honestly, I don't see how I could give my Dirkie to anyone else tonight other than PJ. His defense man. What a dog. He has that nasty attitude I've been legit craving for since D-Steve left in 2011. So 13 years. His defensive presence was truly a game changer. It didn't matter who was in front of him, PJ held his ground and forced tough look after tough look. But what really sent me over the moon was just his instigating against Mann and Westbrook. He got ejected, which, to be fair, was the dumbest thing he could've done. BUT he threw the Clippers off their game. He was in their head. He got Westbrook to throw a punch, and if the league deems it, he could be suspended next game. Seriously what a defensive performance by him.
GREAT GAME BY THESE MAVS! KEEP IT UP AND PROTECT HOME COURT NEXT GAME TOO AND GO BACK TO LA UP 3-1 NOW!
14x All-Star, 12x all-NBA, 1x MVP, 1x Finals MVP, 1 NBA Championship: Dirk Nowitzki, the man, the myth, the legend.
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