Game 43: Boston Celtics (34-10) vs. Dallas Mavericks (24-19) 119-110 loss

[omahen]

I just want something more.   Luka having the ball is going to get good shots.  We have seen it for years.   He is going to score or create looks.  I just am growing tired of your main offense is him looking for the mismatch and doing his thing.  Next time down, Kyrie does his thing.   Is there a way to build a better mousetrap?   If your #3 is also a guy who can score 15-18 points in the future, will that player ever play to his max level here if this is the offense we are running.  If Luka is off, can he go more into distributer role and not shoot 30 times on a bad shooting night? Mavs are a little limited here with their current team but what happens when they add more talent?  

Not to spill old wounds, but Jalen is a top 5-10 player in the East this year for a good team.   KP is close to an all star if he played more games.  KP wasn't healthy here, so you can't put this all on the Mavs.   But would the Mavs ever have gotten peak play from both while in Dallas?  If not, why not?    It is not just one coach either.  Carlisle thought this was the best way to play as well.  Maybe it is.   Or maybe there is a way to play different and then do the Luka ball for stretches (IE end of games, hot streaks, important possessions).   

Let me add, Boston appears to me be the best team for me.  Even when they were short handed.  Such a benefit having Jrue, White and Brown being able to switch on perimeter players.  Then they have really good long creators on offense.   Just a really nice put together team.   They have been hardened through a lot of playoffs games and some really tough losses.   But they are really mentally tough now.   

For me, I would really look to not go small (especially with long stretches of Luka, KY and Hardaway together).  Hardaway is playing hard, but is limited.   They score plenty but it feels like they give up as much as they get.   I would look to throw some players into the fire and see how they respond.  I don't think Omax is ready, but I wouldn't be against giving him small runs to see how he handles it.

---

Let me add, Green had some tough misses.  I am never going to complain if he looks to be aggressive.  11 shots in 38 minutes is probably a little low.    I thought he looked pretty good.  I still think there are times where his defense is overrated.  He tries and plays hard but there are just a few things that just minimizes his energy.

I think Luka led offense will likely remain what it is. Hunting mismatches and then capitalizing either one on one or 4 vs 3 if they double him. Teams are being successful if they are able to limit Luka one on one. I don't think he was particularly forcing it in this game. Most of his shots were good shots, he just missed a lot. Unusually a lot at the rim. It happens. Took less threes than average and a couple of them were wide open. As I said before - if he would hit 5 of those relatively good shots, Mavs would likely win this one. The positive thing is Mavs are playing much faster and are far less boring than last season. I don't think the positives are mentioned frequently enough, although there are plenty.

I don't think Boston really played any different than Mavs. Their two stars were hunting mismatches and scoring or sharing. Basic difference is, they have far better "other three" players than Mavs. Playoff basketball usually comes to this kind of play. Boston of course also has far better defenders accross the line-up.

Difficult what Brunson would be in Dallas. Are we sure he was capable of this kind of performances 2 years ago? He is really putting in work and developing non stop. He is basically playing like a "poor man Luka" now. Shooting a little bit less at a little bit lower efficiency and passing a bit less. KP obviously plays a lot different role than he wanted to play in Dallas. He accepted he is third to fifth guy on offense and only takes high quality shots. That was not the case in Dallas. He said in the last interview Luka and him were basically "fighting" a bit, who is the alpha. Wanting to prove themselves. On the other hand we have a bunch of role players that really thrive next to Luka. Also some examples (Wright, JRich) that didn't. Still a mistery what is going on with GW, but difficult to point that on Luka. 

I think Luka is capable of changing his game, when he has capable players around him. Once he sees he needs to change it. He is obviously the alpha and will remain such. So, any other "alpha want to be" will need to step back a little bit, just like Kyrie did. Could probably have higher stats being the guy on some other teams, but with lesser chance of success. But, there are still enough touches and shots to be shared. THJ is shooting almost 15 shots per game for 18 ppg. There is the space for that third best guy. He just needs to be a better defender than THJ. I think this is the single biggest improvement Mavs can make. 

Since Mavs had so many injuries, it is really difficult to compare shot distribution among starters. Tatum and Brown take 38 shots on average compared to 43 from Luka and Kyrie. Bostons other 3 starters (KP, JRue and White) take 35 shots combined. Mavs have THJ taking 15 shots, the rest is all flat because of such high fluctuations of roles and minutes played due to injuries. 

I think ideal team around Luka would be: 
Semi star creator, capable to take over when Luka is out. Ideally also good defender.
Three wings that can defend, shoot at least decently and are capable of attacking a close-out. One of them primary guard defender and one of them primary big wing defender. Height is an advantage. Exum has proven to be good enough for that role. Big wing is what is missing, imho.
Rim running center.
Rest of team are just lesser variations of above.