12-12-2024, 01:30 PM
(12-12-2024, 11:06 AM)SleepingHero Wrote: I wonder if the Mavs are going to look back at this game and think "we just had one bad 3rd quarter"
Mavs outscored the Thunder by 5 and 3 in the 2nd and 4th quarters. They were outscored by 8 in the 1st quarter. Dead even 3 out of 4 quarters.
The 3rd quarter was a disaster. They only scored 19 points and got outscored by 14. Slow defensive rotations. Thunder hitting anything and everything. Just as bad as it could be.
Coming out flat at the start of long breaks has been a big issue for this team. And I wonder how much starting with Gafford in the 3rd could be blamed for that.
Even still, how much do you think the Mavs chalk up this loss to a bad 3rd quarter and some different rotations?
I don't think they will look at it as one bad quarter. They were handily beaten by a better team. It is what it is. They are currently better than the Mavs. SGA is currently better than Luka. If Luke is better than SGA by the playoffs, we can be the better team. They locked Luka up. That shouldn't just be brushed off and that 3rd quarter was total domination. This wasn't a game where one or two plays makes a difference. The Warriors used to bury teams in the 3rd quarter when they were dominant. That's what it reminded me of. I don't think any of it is anything to be scared of, but it's the current situation and the Mavs have to get better to beat them.