MAVS NEWS:

[Ghost of Podkolzin]

My point about what Kidd wants from his closing lineup and why is shown by the very example you use. 

Having an "unstoppable offense" gains you nothing if that lineup can't get stops on the other end, and the offense feels even more pressure (which adversely effects shooting choices and efficiency). As you say, BOS got repeated stops in crunch time (making it easy for the offense to relax) and DAL did not.

You are correct that Luka and Kyrie didn't get the scoring done in the 4th vs BOS. That's a problem. But neither did the D. That's also a problem. (But until BOS, they had enough.)

If you can't get stops, there's no way to gain ground, nor to put the other team away.

If we are thinking that Luka and Kyrie aren't efficient enough on offense to carry the load in the playoffs, that might actually be a correct analysis. Luka's free throws and willingness to take terrible low-percentage shots (and awful FT shooting for a PG), and Kyrie's lack of size, those can be exploited with the right defenders and a good defensive game plan. Both tend to wear down because of the way they play. Some of the solutions involve those 2 simply getting better, or fitter, or more focused, but whether that's possible is a good question.

But if that's a problem, then that's a HUGE problem. If they are NOT good enough to carry the offense, then having to cover for their weaknesses on offense too is going to put a real ceiling on the team.

The solution of course is in having more and better TWO-WAY players to make things better on both ends at the same time, rather than being limited by one-way players. 

But in the meantime, I think Kidd will skew toward "stops" when he's figuring how to play in crunch time. Ultimately there is a path of having (or creating) a team full of good two-way players that's the place to go, but they have what they have for now.

It's a tale of the have's and have not's.  Boston's starting 5 has 2 defensive studs (Jrue, White), 1 exceptional help-side defender (KP), and 2 good defenders (Tatum, Brown).

We have Lively and PJ as good defenders and Klay as diminished (maybe plus) defender.  That's it.

BOS can put on the floor their best offensive AND defensive lineup; they're one in the same.  While we can kinda match that offense, we can't stop them like they can stop us.  We simply don't have the 2-way players that we need.  Most noticing is at SF.  We really need Klay of 3 years ago.