(05-29-2024, 12:14 AM)EGrant23 Wrote: Well, that was much more fun than the first three coming from a Wolves fan. It's amazing what happens when your better players can make some shots (and what happens when they don't). With just an hour or so to reflect on game 4, a couple things that I'll be interested to see going into game 5.

1) Minnesota hasn't been a good home team in the last few series. I think there is a letdown when they come back home and probably some additional distractions. Doesn't make sense but that's the way it's been.
2) Kyle Anderson has been a surprise this series. Getting us some needed buckets, but also playing some solid defense on Luka. It's amazing to me that Luka hasn't figure out a way to beat him consistently yet. He also didn't look like his aggressive self tonight and I was super happy to see him pass up a bunch of easy looks to pass it out to teammates. I'd anticipate this was just a mirage and will be change moving forward.
3) I would honesty expect a Mavs game 5 win, but I've learned to not count out this Wolves team. Their play on the court is sometimes mind boggling, immature, and dumb but those some attributes help because they're just too young and inexperienced to know when to give up.
4) There is nothing more that I wanted to see than the Wolves getting some physicality back and playing with aggressiveness. Yes, they're going to take some ridiculously dumb fouls, but if they play that physical over the course of 48, I'll take some of those fouls.

(05-29-2024, 06:00 AM)dirkfansince1998 Wrote: Called into work 30 minutes before tip off. I guess I didn't miss much. How did the center rotation look without Lively?

(05-29-2024, 08:13 AM)HoosierDaddyKid Wrote: They better close them out Thursday. If Minnesota wins, it's a series. Not that it never was one despite the 3-0 lead. All the games have been close. Minnesota has had the lead going into the 4th qtr every game. Dallas has just been better down the stretch.

(05-29-2024, 08:19 AM)KillerLeft Wrote: I actually don’t think the games have been very close. The SCORES have been close.

I think Dallas significantly outplayed Minnesota in the first three games, and not even in the same way every time, and I think Dallas kind of got their butts kicked in this one.

If Dereck Lively doesn’t play again, there is a chance they will lose game 6, but I kind of doubt it. Luka and Kyrie are both killers, and this will piss them off.

(05-29-2024, 08:24 AM)KillerLeft Wrote: There were two adjustments on Minnesota’s part that seemed significant:

1) McDaniels on Kyrie is a problem.

2) they made the “just play better” adjustment for KAT. Him not being the worst player on the court for either team is a problem.

Since they know about both of those things coming into game six, my guess is that Kyrie looks a little bit better, but that really, we will see Luka have a much better game (Edwards guarding him is NOT a problem). Knowing they have to worry about Towns a little bit more will help wake up the defense a little, too, and to be honest, even though he is clearly capable of great things, offensively, he is just as likely to be absolute crap again.

I thought Gobert/s physicality was difference making in this one, but again, that is just a matter of getting Dereck Lively back on the court, imo.

(05-29-2024, 08:28 AM)Smitty Wrote: Already talking about Game 6. I like your style. But in all seriousness, there will be a ton of pressure on the Mavs if there is a Game 6.

I’ve been pretty consistent that I thought the Mavs would split at home and the Wolves would win Game 5 at home, after getting a tiny bit of momentum… but then LuKai would shut it down, again, at home. A potential Game 6 would make all of us very nervous though.

(05-29-2024, 08:42 AM)KillerLeft Wrote: In the previous post I meant game five, lol. Six instead of five was just an error, but even then I wouldn’t be panicking. The most significant thing that happened in game four is that lively did not play. Since he is seemingly on his way back soon, I don’t see any sense in worrying.

One of the things I think we just learned is how difficult it is to beat the same team four times in a row. When you think about this from Minnesota’s perspective, it’s really hard to imagine them doing that to the Mavericks, and four in a row is what it would take for them to win the series.

(05-29-2024, 08:19 AM)KillerLeft Wrote: I actually don’t think the games have been very close. The SCORES have been close.

I think Dallas significantly outplayed Minnesota in the first three games, and not even in the same way every time, and I think Dallas kind of got their butts kicked in this one.

If Dereck Lively doesn’t play again, there is a chance they will lose game 6, but I kind of doubt it. Luka and Kyrie are both killers, and this will piss them off.

(05-29-2024, 08:55 AM)HoosierDaddyKid Wrote: Ok, the scores have been close. To me if the ending scores are close, then despite being throughly outplayed statistically, the only thing that will be remembered is how tight the series was. No casual fan will remember or be concerned about the stats.