Game 74: Dallas Mavericks (44-29) vs. Houston Rockets (38-35)

[BigDirk41]

I don't know if the numbers reflect this, but it seems like Luka doesn't have the ball in his hands near as much these days. The ball seems to be moving around finding the open man and Luka has no issues with letting Kyrie carry the load at times. It's still a lot of iso ball, but the ball movement seems way better imo.

[meistermatze]

Wow. Lost for words with the team right now. They are so confident and in a groove, it is scary.

I actually have the feeling that WHEN they want to defend, they can get stops. The last time I had that was in '11. They have 3 plus defenders on the court at all times (almost, but even Kidd will not experiment in the playoffs) and even Ky and Luka are playing good defense. This is soooo promising. Luka and Ky can beat any team by themselves ona ny given night, no wonder we have the best clutch record, because we have the league's best player (even injured) in Luka and one of the best scorers (at least top 10 if you count efficiency) in Kyrie. Also love me some Exum on D and O and the physicality and rebounding ability of Gafford and PJ are great. If he shoots 35+ on 3 in the playoffs, we are in good shape. And if they play Gafford off the court, we still have Lively or Maxi for a big but mobile lineup.

Also: Who else loves the new way those games are reffereed? The league will never admit to it but it is so much more leeway for the defense. No more BS calls in every offenses way, less interruptions, more real basketball. The physicality even favours us, because Luka is strong, unlike other Superstars he does not rely on his FTs coming. He will smoke you on the court.

Hell yeah, this time is fun to be a MFFL!