01-19-2020, 12:48 AM
This was an odd game for me. On the one hand, it was an offensive explosion. Luka orchestrated quite the offensive performance and the Mavs at times seemed unstoppable. Yet there were also long stretches where they couldn't put the ball in the hoop. It was really a tale of two extremes, at random times, throughout the game, which for me gave it an odd pacing. Sometimes they played blistering fast, other times it droned on. Overall though it was wildly entertaining.
The defense was atrocious however. Blazers got anything and everything they wanted. There was zero interior defense most importantly. The Blazers were running a layup line to the rim and Whiteside was getting free shots left and right. Powell came crashing down to Earth this game after his 2 great performances. He barely produced on offense, and his interior defense was non-existent. Whiteside just destroyed Powell every which way. Thankfully while Whiteside was having his way, he also made an innumerable amount of small mistakes. How many 3-second calls can a dude get before he understands he can't camp out in the paint??
But I don't want to make it seem like I'm just signaling out Powell. Make no mistake everyone besides Maxi was bad on D. Some players had some great runs like THJ in the 4th, who was in the passing lanes and was locked in. DFS tried to stay in front of Lillard but failed multiple accounts.
All in all, seeing Luka hit the 2 game sealing shots in the final minute gave me such a high. Dude is one of the most entertaining players to see play that I've seen in a long time.
The defense was atrocious however. Blazers got anything and everything they wanted. There was zero interior defense most importantly. The Blazers were running a layup line to the rim and Whiteside was getting free shots left and right. Powell came crashing down to Earth this game after his 2 great performances. He barely produced on offense, and his interior defense was non-existent. Whiteside just destroyed Powell every which way. Thankfully while Whiteside was having his way, he also made an innumerable amount of small mistakes. How many 3-second calls can a dude get before he understands he can't camp out in the paint??
But I don't want to make it seem like I'm just signaling out Powell. Make no mistake everyone besides Maxi was bad on D. Some players had some great runs like THJ in the 4th, who was in the passing lanes and was locked in. DFS tried to stay in front of Lillard but failed multiple accounts.
All in all, seeing Luka hit the 2 game sealing shots in the final minute gave me such a high. Dude is one of the most entertaining players to see play that I've seen in a long time.
14x All-Star, 12x all-NBA, 1x MVP, 1x Finals MVP, 1 NBA Championship: Dirk Nowitzki, the man, the myth, the legend.