Game 2: Mavs (1-0) at Suns (1-1) 9:00 pm

[Chicagojk]

Ouch. Ugly game by mavs. Phx kicking their but. Defense has been bad and no easy baskets on offense.

[Mavs2021]

Do we have our pick? Cause they all play like they Flopping for Flagg. Just all around horrible effort and play.

[Chicagojk]

Pj is frustrating player when he isnt making shots

[KillerLeft]

Well, they got it to 6 a couple of times in the second half, but the Suns are determined not to give up a lead two nights in a row and it shows.

I think certain Mavs (not Luka, for a change) got punished by the refs early for playing physically and let it affect their focus. If these two teams played 100 times, I doubt Nurkic would outplay BOTH Gafford AND Lively more than thrice. Just one of those nights.

The offense is off to a slow start for the third season in a row. I don’t love that.

[Jym]

Do we have our pick? Cause they all play like they Flopping for Flagg. Just all around horrible effort and play.

yeah this season and next season we have them

[Chicagojk]

We will see if the Mavs get a chance for one more run. Last years finishing team could turn up the heat and make it very difficult to score for 3-4 minutes. Time will tell if this team can do that.

[Chicagojk]

I will say Dunn’s shot looks much smoother. We will see if it is real. But if he was even an average shooter, he probably would have gone in the lottery.

[KillerLeft]

I didn’t love the decision to go to Kyrie before this timeout. Kinda felt like Luka had it going.

[Chicagojk]

Game by game thing, but not crazy with three guys with the majority of the shots. Need to find a way to get more than 2 shots for lively. Although, others have not stepped up, but just not crazy with so much dependency on 3 guys

[KillerLeft]

Game by game thing, but not crazy with three guys with the majority of the shots.  Need to find a way to get more than 2 shots for lively.  Although, others have not stepped up, but just not crazy with so much dependency on 3 guys

I agree. I need to watch this one again to make sure, but it feels like PHX is somehow controlling who ends up getting the shots for the Mavs. Luka and Kyrie didn’t make them pay tonight.

[KillerLeft]

Possible silver lining about Kleber’s injury, if at all significant: it probably means increased opportunity for Marshall to get it going, and man does THAT need to happen.

[Chicagojk]

Dissapinting. Phx was better but that game was there for the taking. Just made it too easy for Phx and Mavs didn’t capitalize when they had the opportunity.

[Chicagojk]

Possible silver lining about Kleber’s injury, if at all significant: it probably means increased opportunity for Marshall to get it going, and man does THAT need to happen.

He hasn’t been great so far.  Sort of a weird fit.  Will probably take time for the new guys.  Hopefully not too long.

[ThisIStheYear]

Yep. I’m out on Naji. He’s like Grant. Nice player. Bad fit. They need a player with a little more of a defensive presence. His ball handling and passing skills (good for a role player but actually not that good) don’t matter in the Mavs scheme. They need defense, defense, defense, and shooting and maybe a little rebounding.

[KillerLeft]

Yep. I’m out on Naji. He’s like Grant. Nice player. Bad fit. They need a player with a little more of a defensive presence.  His ball handling and passing skills (good for a role player but actually not that good) don’t matter in the Mavs scheme. They need defense, defense, defense, and shooting and maybe a little rebounding.

I think this assessment is premature, but I hope we see something positive soon.

[Chicagojk]

I am personally not a fan of Luka ( and Kyrie) starting games shot hunting on iso. No one else stepped up. My favorite Luka is when he gets everyone involved early.

[Scott41theMavs]

I am personally not a fan of Luka ( and Kyrie) starting games shot hunting on iso.  No one else stepped up.  My favorite Luka is when he gets everyone involved early.

That's what made opening night so pretty. Looked like they had an offense. Guess not. Also not a fan of the Suns "taking away the lob." When you have Gafford and Lively, you have to run your offense in such a way as to make it so they can't take the lob away every play, at all.

[LukaMVP]

kidd just got out coached one more time, nothing new tbh.

[Scott41theMavs]

Moreover, they aren't going to win many games with the bench scoring 9 points. Good grief. Get well soon, Exum.

[Chicagojk]

Suns are better than last year. They improved their team. We will see if KD can stay healthy.

In a playoff series, I think I would favor the Mavs because of the center. Suns were better at center today though. It would be a crazy series though.

Mavs just looked like they were a step off all night.