Game 67: Dallas Mavericks (38-28) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (45-20)

[BigDirk41]

Good effort by the Mavs. I have to say it was nice to watch a full game without a bunch of damn complaining to the refs. Kyrie and SGA do it the right way and don't complain at all.

[MarkAguirreWrathofGod]

Maxi looks like he needs a week off.

[Chicagojk]

Tough fight for shorthanded Mavs. Played hard. Mavs a little sloppy. Not as good as OKC. Should have been a tad closer KD Dallas had some other guys have average games

[KillerLeft]

Mavs fought super hard. They played well.

I'm 100% convinced if we had Luka they win this game by 10+ points.

Do we know anything about how long he’ll be out?

[BolsDamols]

Another 30 for SGA. He’s right with Jokic for MVP. He dominated the Mavs tonight. He’s the best we’ve matched up with this year. Plays great defense too. No whining.  Just plays hard.

not disagreeing, but SGA had the friendliest whistle in this game.

[SleepingHero]

Do we know anything about how long he’ll be out?

Apparently his MRI results came up clean. Which is great news. 

Says he'll be reevaluated before Denver on Sunday.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Maxi is always bad.  Always. PJ just had a bad game. He’s a solid 5th or 6th best player on a quality team.

You got 2 stud centers on the bench, and you put Maxi in crunch time? What am I missing here. Even if OKC went small, have at least one of those guys on the floor instead of Maxi.

[BolsDamols]

okc is also super well coached, on top of having top notch talent.

you can say thar about the top teams - minny, okc, denver

mavs on the other hand…

[BigDirk41]

Didn't change a thing. They were down double digits when Gafford went to the bench. Are down nine right now. At some point you have to risk it. Play more aggressive on defense. Pressure the ball. Go for the three on offense. Maybe they could have waited a little bit longer but the game wasn't decided by big vs small lineups...PJ sucked in all available lineup combinations.

I don't agree. There were rebounds Gafford would have got. He would have altered shots or limited their attacks. Maxi was no good tonight or anytime recently. Not saying they would have won, but Maxi hasn't done anything recently to justify closing a game. Maxi can't even shoot now. He literally is no help right now other than he can guard on the perimeter.

[MarkAguirreWrathofGod]

So Dort unnecessarily ran THJ over and tripped him from behind and then just sprinted off the floor and nowhere to be seen on the bench. PJ looked gassed in the second night off B2B. Letting Jaylen Williams fly in for a dunk with no hard foul, after the way PJ has played tonight offensively? A little soft. He should’ve left the floor with THJ and Maxi and skipped the hugs bro. 

Overall proud of the team effort though.

[dirkfansince1998]

I don't agree. There were rebounds Gafford would have got. He would have altered shots or limited their attacks. Maxi was no good tonight or anytime recently. Not saying they would have won, but Maxi hasn't done anything recently to justify closing a game. Maxi can't even shoot now. He literally is no help right now other than he can guard on the perimeter.

OKC hit two big 3s with Gafford on the floor before he was replaced. One from the top of the key (Holmgren). One from the corner (Dort). Both probably Gafford's rotations.
Gafford was getting attacked in the pick and roll. Just as bad Kleber. SGA went right at him. Maybe he grabs an extra rebound but that's about it.
At least Kidd risked it and tried something different instead of running the same stuff that allowed the Thunder to create a double digit lead in the early 4th.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

So Dort unnecessarily ran THJ over and tripped him from behind and then just sprinted off the floor and nowhere to be seen on the bench. PJ looked gassed in the second night off B2B. Letting Jaylen Williams fly in for a dunk with no hard foul, after the way PJ has played tonight offensively? A little soft. He should’ve left the floor with THJ and Maxi and skipped the hugs bro. 

Overall proud of the team effort though.

PJ got worked over by J Will all game. Hope he plays better because he gets Aaron Gordon and MPJ next.

[The Jom]

Didn't change a thing. They were down double digits when Gafford went to the bench. Are down nine right now. At some point you have to risk it. Play more aggressive on defense. Pressure the ball. Go for the three on offense. Maybe they could have waited a little bit longer but the game wasn't decided by big vs small lineups...PJ sucked in all available lineup combinations.

This is the one thing single-game +/- is good for. Correcting overreactions to a poor shooting night. Mavs absolutely didn’t lose this game because of PJ. Cold shooting night for Washington? Yes. Mavs better with PJ on the court (+1) than off (-8)? For sure.

[dirkfansince1998]

okc is also super well coached, on top of having top notch talent.

you can say thar about the top teams - minny, okc, denver

mavs on the other hand…

Mavs made the same gamble that won them the last game against OKC. Leave Giddey wide open. But Daigneault was prepared for it. Giddey only played 22 minutes and when he played it was more of a 76ers Ben Simmons role. Getting post touches. Setting some screens. Anything to avoid a pure spot up role.

[The Jom]

Tough fight for shorthanded Mavs.  Played hard.  Mavs a little sloppy.  Not as good as OKC.  Should have been a tad closer KD Dallas had some other guys have average games

Not as good? Lost by 7 on the road, second night of back to back, minus our superstar and with a challenging bunch of whistles. This is the playoff matchup I dream of. That Thunder team is very flawed.

[MarkAguirreWrathofGod]

PJ got worked over by J Will all game. Hope he plays better because he gets Aaron Gordon and MPJ next.

That was part of my disappointed about his non-contest of the dunk. And then Willliams got his scream on. You shoot like that I don’t want you smiling and hugging those dudes after the game. A couple more males and a couple less dumb turnovers from him and we maybe win despite the one-sided officiating.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

OKC hit two big 3s with Gafford on the floor before he was replaced. One from the top of the key (Holmgren). One from the corner (Dort). Both probably Gafford's rotations.
Gafford was getting attacked in the pick and roll. Just as bad Kleber. SGA went right at him. Maybe he grabs an extra rebound but that's about it.
At least Kidd risked it and tried something different instead of running the same stuff that allowed the Thunder to create a double digit lead in the early 4th.

Maxi didn't make a difference neither. They worked him on the P&R as well. At least let me die on a hill with a more athletic option than Maxi. Not knocking Maxi he tries, but those injuries have caught up with him.

[dirkfansince1998]

This is the one thing single-game +/- is good for. Correcting overreactions to a poor shooting night. Mavs absolutely didn’t lose this game because of PJ. Cold shooting night for Washington? Yes. Mavs better with PJ on the court (+1) than off (-8)? For sure.

Now I just need to understand why we never used that logic for Powell. Aren't using it for Kleber...

[The Jom]

Mavs made the same gamble that won them the last game against OKC. Leave Giddey wide open. But Daigneault was prepared for it. Giddey only played 22 minutes and when he played it was more of a 76ers Ben Simmons role. Getting post touches. Setting some screens. Anything to avoid a pure spot up role.

He was 2 for 7 from 3 and -1 for the game in his 22 minutes. In my book, that means the Mavs played him off the court.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

He was 2 for 7 from 3 and -1 for the game in his 22 minutes. In my book, that means the Mavs played him off the court.

They lost, so it's all academic.