Game 58: Dallas Mavericks (33-24) vs. Cleveland Cavaliers (37-19)

[SwisherPrice]

Ben Sheppard and Max Strus looking like Steph Curry from three in the last 2 games. Who will be the Raptor to go off tomorrow? I have a feeling Gradey Dick could be in for a career high!

[ThisIStheYear]

Btw, at least we still have our coaches' challenge saved for the next game. Win!

So many idiotic things about this game. Sure. The Mavs are talented but clueless. WTF walking the ball out of bounds like that.  No pressure on Struss at all on the last possession. Just letting him throw up a quick succession of 3s with no defensive attention. Running the clock down at the end of the game (they lucked out there).  The rotation?  Jeez. It couldn’t get worse.

[BolsDamols]

What I think will be wasted will be Luka's MVP season - there is just no way he will win it if the Mavs stay in the play in range, no matter how gaudy his stats will be at the end. This might be his best chance to get the award. 

And I find it hard to accept that someone like Shai might win an MVP first before Luka, after several seasons of Luka being within striking distance of the award, while this will be the first year Shai is in the MVP conversation. But ultimately OKC's record will get him the edge for MVP, if voter's fatigue with Jokic is real.

Will settle for the scoring title I guess.

[omahen]

Running the clock down at the end of the game (they lucked out there).  

Yeah, that one was also a very strange decision, to put it mildly. Mavs still had a foul to give and they were really lucky they stole the ball with only 9 seconds left. If that wouldn't be the case, they would have to make two fouls in 9 seconds and only a little time would be left for a final shot.

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

Im gonna start counting how many threes we give up each game because THJ doesn’t know how to switch, rotate, or just falls asleep in the paint.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Ben Sheppard and Max Strus looking like Steph Curry from three in the last 2 games. Who will be the Raptor to go off tomorrow? I have a feeling Gradey Dick could be in for a career high!

You're probably being sarcastic, but he's been playing well. Had 18 pts off the bench in a win vs the Pacers last night.

[MarkAguirreWrathofGod]

Yeah, that one was also a very strange decision, to put it mildly. Mavs still had a foul to give and they were really lucky they stole the ball with only 9 seconds left. If that wouldn't be the case, they would have to make two fouls in 9 seconds and only a little time would be left for a final shot.

Actually I think they said they called it a foul on the Mavs and not a timeout for the Cavs. On the Garland fall with Green. That’s what Followill said anyway. If so another example of their inept officiating.

[MrGoat]

Rigged garbage. And Cleveland still needed to hit a BS shot at the end. I'm waiting to see the reffing report on this one. Tim Donaghy clearly wasn't the only one

[omahen]

Actually I think they said they called it a foul on the Mavs and not a timeout for the Cavs. On the Garland fall with Green. That’s what Followill said anyway. If so another example of their inept officiating.

I was listening to the Cleveland crew and they said time-out. Also play-by-play says timeout and no foul.

[KillerLeft]

Big picture, Cleveland is good and we played them even on their home court.

Small picture, gut wrenching loss.

Hopefully Exum is back this week and can stay healthy and we never have to see THJ play another minute in a Mavs jersey.

[ThisIStheYear]

What I think will be wasted will be Luka's MVP season - there is just no way he will win it if the Mavs stay in the play in range, no matter how gaudy his stats will be at the end. This might be his best chance to get the award. 

And I find it hard to accept that someone like Shai might win an MVP first before Luka, after several seasons of Luka being within striking distance of the award, while this will be the first year Shai is in the MVP conversation. But ultimately OKC's record will get him the edge for MVP, if voter's fatigue with Jokic is real.

Will settle for the scoring title I guess.

Luka has no chance at the MVP this season. That ship just sailed.  He may even get edged out by Mitchell for the 5th spot on the first team.  The Mavs just lose too many games. Luka’s career win percentage is above water but nothing to write home about. He needs to win more games to have the legacy he’s capable of. Otherwise, it will be a Carmelo-Bernard King type of career he’ll be remembered for.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Cleveland has won 19 out of their last 23. So they may have been lucky tonight, but they're legit.

[SwisherPrice]

The Cavs have good 1 on 1 scorers too with Mitchell and Garland but they're not relying on it for almost every possession in crunch time. At least 3 Cavs players are usually touching the ball in their half court sets and almost all of those threes were off assists.

This is the most frustrating aspect of the Mavs, even worse than their defense - the way they resort to Kidd's Luka/Kyrie (or previously Dinwiddie) ISO offense allows the opposing defense to get plenty of rest when the other 4 players are just standing there for 24 seconds. Strus barely had to break a sweat on defense in the last 5 minutes so it's not a surprise he was fresh to make as many threes as he wanted to.

Even if your offense is designed to get Luka/Kyrie as many shots as possible, how about using sets to exploit the opposing team's weakest defender on the floor? Find ways to get the weak link in a favorable matchup for you and then attack them. Instead, the Mavs do the opposite - it's like they are obsessed with making the highlight plays by trying to challenge the opposing team's best defenders every time.

PJ Washington was guarded by the smaller Donovan Mitchell on almost every possession in the last 5 minutes and it didn't matter because the Mavs offense is so predictable. PJ just ended up buried in the corner to "stretch the floor" and never touched the ball. You have a decently-skilled 6'7" player with a 6'2" guard on him and you don't even take advantage of it. Just doesn't make sense but that's Kidd Ball for you.

[ThisIStheYear]

RC would have this offense at #1 in the league, easily.

[SleepingHero]

I cannot believe they lost on a 3 quarter heave buzzer beater.

Im at a loss for words.

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As others have said, I dont think the your turn - my turn Kyrie and Luka does will be sustainable against very good teams.

If Luka did not went nuclear in the 2nd, its probably a blowout.

Hate to blame Luka because he was the one carrying the Mavs, but those early Strus's 3s where due to his defense, he keeps losing Struss on screens. But I give him a pass because of what he had to do just for the Mavs to be in this game.

Mitchell bank 3, struss 60 footer - Mavs were never meant to win this game, I guess.

One poster said it but I think its time to accept Mavs fortunes will be decided in the play in.

Combo of Luka and THJ not communicating well.

Luka can be forgiven. THJ can not.

[SleepingHero]

https://twitter.com/IsoHeavy/status/1762670394874490968

Say what you want, and it's easy to disregard this, but the refs tipped the scales and let the Cavs even have a shot. That 4th quarter was horrible. Still needed the 2nd longest buzzer beater of all time for the Cavs to win.

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https://x.com/MavsHighlights/status/1762...79151?s=20


What's insane to me is that this move is literally what James Harden built his entire career off of and got rewarded for doing. Strus is clearly blocking Kyrie's path. I don't understand how this could be an offensive foul unless they're calling the hook? But the only reason why Kyrie is able to hook Strus is cause he's blocking his path.

Insanity.

[omahen]

https://twitter.com/IsoHeavy/status/1762670394874490968

Say what you want, and it's easy to disregard this, but the refs tipped the scales and let the Cavs even have a shot. That 4th quarter was horrible. Still needed the 2nd longest buzzer beater of all time for the Cavs to win.

---

https://x.com/MavsHighlights/status/1762...79151?s=20


What's insane to me is that this move is literally what James Harden built his entire career off of and got rewarded for doing. Strus is clearly blocking Kyrie's path. I don't understand how this could be an offensive foul unless they're calling the hook? But the only reason why Kyrie is able to hook Strus is cause he's blocking his path.

Insanity.

They called the hook, Cleveland crew immediately pointed it out

Edit: I agree it was a very soft call. There was a little bit of a hook, but not that strong to call it in such a critical stretch, imho

[omahen]

Well then Luka might have caught my stray bullet. Somebody messed up badly. In 2.6 seconds full court the inbounds player is useless so in a 5 on 4 defensive situation, you cannot give up such a shot.

Strus was the inbounding player...

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Gotta get over a tough loss tonight in Toronto, who's won 3 straight.

[Chicagojk]

That was a fun game. I am going to forget about the last few minutes.

I think Dallas needs to get their rotations better. The lineup with just Luka, very little shooting and no shot creation is DOA for me. I would like to see that fixed quickly.

The non luka minutes is something we need to look at as well. A hidden factor of the WCF run is how Jalen was really great when Luka sat. Their is no reason Kyrie can't do the same (he has done it in the past already). It just feels there is a lot of standing and very little offense is run. I would like to see faster pace, more ball movement and cutting. Hopefully we can get a group who can play together for the rest of the season to grow some familiarity together.

Do we have a shooting problem moving forward? Kyrie is great. Josh is a very efficient top 20 in the league. But it feels like a lot of the guys we are moving to are either streaky shooters or not shooters at all. Just something to consider as we move to next year.