06-03-2021, 06:53 AM
(06-03-2021, 01:47 AM)embellisher Wrote: I gave it to Powell, although it's hard to overlook Luka having a hand in 73 points.
Props to Carlisle giving the finger to Lue's small ball lineup.
There wasn't a bad choice given. Obviously it would have been nice for THJ to have been more efficient, but it was surprising to see that he played over 45 minutes. It tells you what Carlisle thinks of him as he only sat 2:16 at the end of the first and 30 seconds at the end of the third.
I went with Powell also because it isn't an MVP of the game award. It is a most improved award (elevated) and Powell went from zero to hero. We were +17 in Powell's segment in the third quarter. His energy sparked a 22-3 run. Maybe as important as anything, this marked the only time this year where we were truly successful with KP and DP sharing the floor. Powell and KP were part of the closing lineup also except for the final :39 seconds. But, the lineup wasn't as successful going -5 as LAC came close to wiping out our lead. I don't think Powell/KP should start in this series, but Powell's energy late in the 1st/3rd might be helpful. It was tonight.
A couple other notes while I'm at it:
We lost the rebound war, but won the game. The prior four games went to the team with the most boards
We won the 3% contest .400 to .389. Neither team is letting opponents get much inside the arc. Dallas shot .416 on non-3's and LAC sot .412
We solved Rondo, who was -19 in this game. It might be more accurate to say we continue to crush Zubac (also -19) and since he's not starting, he's getting his minutes next to Rondo, which hurts Rondo's effectiveness.
We have all sorts of zones designated by numbers. There's a 2-3 and a 3-2 and a 1-2-2 and so forth. I nominate the Boban/KP zone be called the 14-7 zone. 14 feet and 7 inches of height patrolling the baseline.