GAME 1 2024 Playoffs: Dallas Mavericks (0-0) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (0-0)

[Luka77]

Bottom line, Kyrie and Luka have to go nuclear every game for them to win, because they're the only ones that can create they're own shot or for others. Mavs bench isn't as strong as other teams.

Yup, and its crazy and worrisome how many people on this board and in the front office think this is such a deep team.

The Mavs bench minus Lively consists of a bunch of end of rotation guys.  

The Mavs need at least two more Gafford and Washington level of players on this roster.

[GATA]

We need to start Green in game two. Need his shooting and defense and energy

[Chicagojk]

Gafford had a good stat line, but OKc will be fine with his 5-12 shooting. They contested a lot of shots at the rim and made them difficult. Gafford will need to finish over smaller players and be aggressive going to the rim.

Chet is really good. He looked like a 10 year veteran last night. Lovely has played well against his rookie big man but he looked a little lost last night. We will need to see the lively we saw against OKC in some of the regular season games. He can’t be the 4th best center in this series.

[Chicagojk]

That second quarter was rough. I liked what Kyrie said that when it happens it gets everyone out of rhythm. Dallas left a very physical series against the clippers and most of the other series have been physical. Maybe most of those calls in the second were fouls, but several of them were questionable.

Just slows the game down and OKc is able to build a lead despite not bing in a flow. On the other hand, Dallas can’t get into a flow and before you know it it is a 10 point game when neither team is shooting well.

Mavs need to be disciplined but I hope we have a game more free flowing and not a free throw fest.

[MavUGA23]

Didn't have good feel early, the turnovers, then 2nd qt.  OK moving the D, then Luka losing man on cuts, etc..  Never felt the D could make it tough long enough---OK got space and shots easily compared to us.  Don't know about knee, but Luka as one comment noted, post up 1 time, scores, then everything else is facing basket with help defenders waiting.  He can post, hit cutters, make skip out pass the shooters, and IMO could make defending  tough on OK.  Game 1 over, gotta stick to our identity as losing game 1's and bounce back Thursday.  Afraid OK is going to pull a Bulls defensive strategy back in the day vs Lakers and Magic in finals----Pippen  locked down Magic full court and just made everything tough----Luka limping around is an invitation to attack him on both ends.  Gotta find a way in Game 2!

[HoosierDaddyKidd]

That second quarter was rough.  I liked what Kyrie said that when it happens it gets everyone out of rhythm.  Dallas left a very physical series against the clippers and most of the other series have been physical.  Maybe most of those calls in the second were fouls, but several of them were questionable.

Just slows the game down and OKc is able to build a lead despite not bing in a flow.  On the other hand, Dallas can’t get into a flow and before you know it it is a 10 point game when neither team is shooting well.

Mavs need to be disciplined but I hope we have a game more free flowing and not a free throw fest.

There's always going to be questionable or missed calls. That's the nature of the beast with the human element involved regarding the refs. The teams that can adjust to the calls or lack thereof, usually win. Case in point. Denver. They lost their composure because of Minnesota's stifling defense.

[HoosierDaddyKidd]

https://clutchpoints.com/mavericks-news-...under-loss


Kyrie reveals what went wrong in the game 1 loss.

[MFFL]

Yes, I would have sat him this game and then reevaluate him and the team after gm1 to potential sit him longer if needed.  I would treat this injury just like they did the Utah series.

Luka in this state will not win them this series.

Sometimes I read your comments and think you are a troll.

Luka is hurt. Nobody is arguing that. But a hurt Luka is better than Exum by a ton. So you play Luka. The ONLY reason you wouldn't play him is if he would magically get better with extra rest (he won't) or Luka is risking long term injury by playing (people with Dr before their name have declared that he's safe).

So please stop banging this drum.

[HoosierDaddyKidd]

https://twitter.com/BrandonRahbar/status...7210438955


Mark Daigneault says the refs were pretty consistent on calls tonight.

[Chicagojk]

There's always going to be questionable or missed calls. That's the nature of the beast with the human element involved regarding the refs. The teams that can adjust to the calls or lack thereof, usually win. Case in point. Denver. They lost their composure because of Minnesota's stifling defense.

I don’t believe your response addresses my pointt.  Maybe you didn’t intend to though.

I didn’t think the Mavs let the refs get in their head….as they were to do in the past.  I also think there are times the Mavs need to resist to urge to reach.  Those are tough for the refs to let go.  But my point in the second half of the second quarter OkC was going to the line on every possession.  Or at least every other possession.  This had an impact on the game.  Gave OKC a 10 point lead while they were struggling too.  Some of the fouls were legit and the mavs deserve some blame too, but these stretches are killer for teams.  You see it in comebacks too.  Games gets slow and ragged and one team just piles up free throws and game changes.

[meistermatze]

No reason to expect Luka to fall off a cliff just because. I think it is a combination of a real shooting-slump combined with an obvious problem with his knee. I did not think it would be this bad though and I also feel like he could be attacking more, but maybe he should not even be out there with his knee, who knows. Obviously, four days of rest were not enough for him to recover. If this is his current level, we will get swept.

Not to blame Luka but just stating the obvious fact that this kind of production from him will not result in wins for us. He was the only relevant player CLEARLY underperforming in this blowout.

I liked our defense and if we cut the TOs and shoot a little better, we have a chance. Rebounds were a concern as well as referees... but that might change in Dallas. But Luka needs to be the best player in this series and it does not look like this is going to happen... damn. I really hoped he would look better with a couple of days off.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

I don’t believe your response addresses my pointt.  Maybe you didn’t intend to though.

I didn’t think the Mavs let the refs get in their head….as they were to do in the past.  I also think there are times the Mavs need to resist to urge to reach.  Those are tough for the refs to let go.  But my point in the second half of the second quarter OkC was going to the line on every possession.  Or at least every other possession.  This had an impact on the game.  Gave OKC a 10 point lead while they were struggling too.  Some of the fouls were legit and the mavs deserve some blame too, but these stretches are killer for teams.  You see it in comebacks too.  Games gets slow and ragged and one team just piles up free throws and game changes.

If you read my post, no where did I  suggest Dallas let the refs get in their heads. I referred specifically to Denver. I was simply addressing that you have to play though and adjust to how the game is being called.

[omahen]

Sometimes I read your comments and think you are a troll.

Luka is hurt. Nobody is arguing that. But a hurt Luka is better than Exum by a ton. So you play Luka. The ONLY reason you wouldn't play him is if he would magically get better with extra rest (he won't) or Luka is risking long term injury by playing (people with Dr before their name have declared that he's safe).

So please stop banging this drum.

Great post. He is not even mentioning Mavs actually lost that game 1 against Utah without Luka. OKC is of course a much different animal than that Utah team that was on a verge of collapse.

[Mavs2021]

https://twitter.com/BrandonRahbar/status...7210438955


Mark Daigneault says the refs were pretty consistent on calls tonight.

I´ll be so pissed, we are going to lose to these bums, and all the SGA > Luka talk to follow, because of ref bias and Luka being hurt. I hope they let Minny play their normal D and sh*t in his mouth. The refs killed that game, when young OKC could not throw it in an ocean, by buying them a 10 point HT lead on the FT line, to settle them down. And all that while Luka plays like Westbrook. So annoying.

[Mavs2021]

If you read my post, no where did I  suggest Dallas let the refs get in their heads. I referred specifically to Denver. I was simply addressing that you have to play though and adjust to how the game is being called.

So how do we adjust to the fact that we are fouled and don´t get the same calls? How does Jokic or Murray adjust to that? One team can murder people, the other can´t breathe at the other team. You adjust to it. LOL. Why is Donaghy getting banned from the NBA for life, when according to you refs can´t influence the outcome of a game as long as you adjust to it.

[surfpuckmd]

There's a lot of discussion of the refs and Luka's knee but there's not a lot of acknowledgement of the main reason we lost-  The Thunder are an excellent basketball team.

The pundits have speculated that the Thunder are too young to be an actual contender.  They won 57 games though in the loaded Western Conference and finished first in the West.  They had a top-5 offense and a top-5 defense.  There isn't a lot of precedent to young teams succeeding in the playoffs because there isn't much history of such young teams being so successful in the regular season.  The Thunder are the favorites in this series because they were a better team than the Mavs in the regular season.

Their top 3 players-  SGA, J-Dub and Holmgren are all outstanding defenders.  They have elite shooters off the bench with Isaiah Joe, Aaron Wiggins and Cason Wallace.  Even Kenrich Williams hits almost 40 percent from 3.  Our two superstars are not good defensive players and our top bench shooter, Hardaway Jr, no longer hits his 3s. 

The Thunder may be young but they play very high-IQ basketball both on offense and defense.  They have smart players and very importantly, one of the league's best coaches with Mark Daigneault.  He had his team prepared last night.  JKidd did not.  
 
I think we're clearly the underdog at this point.  The Thunder are faster than us, more coordinated as a team and shoot much better from 3.  For us to have a chance to win this series, we'll obviously need better performances from our superstars.  We'll also need to take advantage of our superior size on the court.  It's absolutely pathetic that the Thunder dominated on the boards.  

I'm pessimistic about this series though.  That Jason Kidd extension may look unfortunate in a couple of weeks.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

There's a lot of discussion of the refs and Luka's knee but there's not a lot of acknowledgement of the main reason we lost-  The Thunder are an excellent basketball team.

The pundits have speculated that the Thunder are too young to be an actual contender.  They won 57 games though in the loaded Western Conference and finished first in the West.  They had a top-5 offense and a top-5 defense.  There isn't a lot of precedent to young teams succeeding in the playoffs because there isn't much history of such young teams being so successful in the regular season.  The Thunder are the favorites in this series because they were a better team than the Mavs in the regular season.

Their top 3 players-  SGA, J-Dub and Holmgren are all outstanding defenders.  They have elite shooters off the bench with Isaiah Joe, Aaron Wiggins and Cason Wallace.  Even Kenrich Williams hits almost 40 percent from 3.  Our two superstars are not good defensive players and our top bench shooter, Hardaway Jr, no longer hits his 3s. 

The Thunder may be young but they play very high-IQ basketball both on offense and defense.  They have smart players and very importantly, one of the league's best coaches with Mark Daigneault.  He had his team prepared last night.  JKidd did not.  
 
I think we're clearly the underdog at this point.  The Thunder are faster than us, more coordinated as a team and shoot much better from 3.  For us to have a chance to win this series, we'll obviously need better performances from our superstars.  We'll also need to take advantage of our superior size on the court.  It's absolutely pathetic that the Thunder dominated on the boards.  

I'm pessimistic about this series though.  That Jason Kidd extension may look unfortunate in a couple of weeks.

Great post. I've been beating the same drum for weeks that OKC is not your average, young, inexperienced team. SGA is the head of the snake, just like Luka. They're well coached, and they were at or near the top of the West all year with Minnesota. They have a better bench, and although they don't have bigs with girth, they all are good defensively, fast, and athletic and surprisingly they won the rebound battle. It doesn't help that Luka is hobbled for sure. Dallas is still in this thing, but if they don't get more help from other than Ky and Luka, this could be a short series.

[HoosierDaddyKidd]

https://www.dallasnews.com/sports/maveri...er-game-1/


Kyrie has words with an OKC fan.

[surfpuckmd]

Great post. I've been beating the same drum for weeks that OKC is not your average, young, inexperienced team. SGA is the head of the snake, just like Luka. They're well coached, and they were at or near the top of the West all year with Minnesota. They have a better bench, and although they don't have bigs with girth, they all are good defensively, fast, and athletic and surprisingly they won the rebound battle. It doesn't help that Luka is hobbled for sure. Dallas is still in this thing, but if they don't get more help from other than Ky and Luka, this could be a short series.

I think they're also fortunate to have Lu Dort to matchup on Luka.  Luka is almost always stronger than the guy guarding him and can usually bully his way to the rim.  Lu Dort is built like an NFL linebacker though and can hold his own against Luka.  Luka has a nice height advantage against Dort and should be able to shoot over him but Dort is a really awesome defensive player.  

Everyone is high on the Timberwolves right now and rightfully so.  I think the Thunder look just as talented though.  It's fascinating to see the shift in power in the playoffs this season.  It feels like Game of Thrones.

[Luka77]

Sometimes I read your comments and think you are a troll.

Luka is hurt. Nobody is arguing that. But a hurt Luka is better than Exum by a ton. So you play Luka. The ONLY reason you wouldn't play him is if he would magically get better with extra rest (he won't) or Luka is risking long term injury by playing (people with Dr before their name have declared that he's safe).

So please stop banging this drum.

It's hard to know exactly how long Luka would need to be out for him completely heal from his injury without knowing the severity of his injury.  That was what OBX was saying, not that extra rest would not help Luka heal.

Moreover, the treatment plan for a knee sprain (partial ligament tear) is rest and knee imbolization (to heal the ligament).  And yes I have medical training as well.

Derek Lively sprained his knee at the end of the season and that was his exact treatment.  His treatment plan was two to three weeks without basketball (ie. rest and imbolization).

His sprain was likely a grade one, which Iam guessing is similar to Lukas.  Otherwise, Luka wouldn't be playing on it, if it  more severe.  

Do you see Lively out there moving like your grandpa? No, you know why bc the Mavs allowed him the time for it to heal properly.