MAVS NEWS:

[mvossman]

None taken. Dallas' defense won that series last year. Defensively Dallas is better now. I'll totally agree that AD and to that extent Lively are both injury prone. That's why I said IF Dallas is healthy. I don't think OKC has improved much outside of the young guys just having a little more experience. Sure they brought in Hartenstein and Caruso that will help out on the bench. But, they are good role players. That's it.

It comes down to matchups and schemes in the playoffs. Dallas' scheme is tough for OKC. OKC relies heavily on touching the paint to get the outside to open up. That's why they struggled against Dallas after the trade for PJ and Gaff. With PJ, Gaff, Lively, (and now AD) the paint touches are going to be hard to come by. They will struggle to shoot from outside as a result. That's the reason the games in that series as a whole were lower scoring games. OKC had 92 in one game. You will never get hot from outside if you don't see the ball go in with some easy shots.

That's the same reason why Denver struggled against Minnesota last year. If you don't touch the paint you won't hit from outside. Rim protection is the key to winning. Things tighten up in the playoffs and the only teams remaining can keep you out of the paint. If not they don't last long.

You will hear that from nearly every past player. It's just the nature of how we think. You stop the paint touches and teams will struggle. That's why you'll see Curry go in for a couple of easy layups before he starts jacking 3s. If he misses some 3s he runs in for a transition layup to get going.

So, I don't think I'm being a homer looking at it that way. If the Mavs aren't full strength they are done. If full strength they are a contender.

If you are worried about how Lively and AD will look just go back to the bubble run. Kidd was coaching the Lakers then as an assistant. AD was at the 4 with a 5 not near as good as Lively. For the most part they kept Miami in check. Lively and Gaff are considerably better than the 5 they had at the time. (Javale McGee and a 34 year old Dwight Howard)

AD and LeBron were heavily relied on for scoring then they had Kuzma off the bench. Dallas has Kyrie and AD who can pretty much get shots at will. Klay is one of the best 3 point shooters of all time, PJ has proven himself to be a good shooter this year. Max is a good shooter and defender. Naji can shoot, pass and rebound. Dallas is much better than last year. As long as AD is healthy.

It all depends on the team being healthy. If they aren't healthy they will be scrappy but that's about it.

I'm not sure I would use Gaff as an example of how we beat them defensively.  He had by far the worst defensive rating on the team and he was a net -20 for that series.  They put him in space and completely abused him.

A big part of that defense was DJJ.  He played over 31 minutes a game in that series.  We don't really have anyone who can do what he did anymore.  

Hartenstein is more than just help from the bench.  He is a legit starter playing nearly 30 minutes a game.  He brings a completely different aspect to that team that did not exist last year.

I would be much more worried about Mavs scoring than the other way around.  They have guys that can handle AD and they are going to suffocate Kyrie.  They will probably hunt him on the other end as well.  They would make his life miserable in a playoff series.  

I agree playoffs are about matchups and schemes.  But the matchups would be very different this time around.  Hard to make predictions about how this defense will matchup since we have barely seen it yet.  It is really hard for me to see a path where the offense does not really struggle against that defense.