Mavs 110, Celtics 107

[meistermatze]

I do just want to say that Brunson did everything in his power to put the Mavs in a position to win for 99% of his time on the court. But the last 2 minutes from him were as follows: 

2:58- Fouls Kemba that results in a 4 point play

1:58- Offensive foul on a 3pt attempt after Luka throws it to him with less than 2 seconds left on the shot clock.

55 seconds left- Brunson bad pass-turnover. 

46.4 seconds left- Brunson missed 3pt shot. 

Then Luka takes over and hits back to back threes to win the game.

I don't want to take away from Brunson's spectacular night, because without him the Mavs lose in a blowout, but I feel this is a constant theme with Brunson. He might have a spectacular night, but when the game is close he always comes up short possession after possession, especially if he's given primary guard duties.

Agreed.

I like Brunson and have called him the single most skilled player after Luka on this roster, considering moves and classic basketball talent.

However: I recall a game where Luka was out and Harp, who's a big fan of Brunson (I think he just likes undersized guards since he called JJ his favorite player), statet at crunch time that he is not worried at all, since Brunson is experienced in those kind of moments and will know what to do (I guess he meant his experience in highschool or college...) - Brunson, after a great overall game, completely collapsed and we lost the game. I don't rememberl which game it was but history was repeating itself yesterday, with the small exception that Luka was on the court and could save all our asses.

That being said I am not here to bash Jalen. He's a good player, having a great year so far and as a 6th or 7th man, he's great and still has potential to grow. Key piece in our rotation going forward, no doubt. But he is just horrific in the clutch and should not be put in this situation (except as a spot-up-shooter). He just does not have it (yet). Rather have Timmy out there in those situations. I mean it's rare that people know how to close out a game, especially early in their career so I am just advocating for him not to be pushed in this situation. He was locked in and hit every shot automatically before causing that 4-point-play and after that, his confidence was crushed in a second and he finished with 5 or 6 straight mistakes.

I liked how Luka tried to get him involved because he was doubled hard, especially in the end. Thats why I did not understand how Rick could play a lineup of Luka, JB, MCS, DFS and James Johnson in the clutch, especially the Celtics playing "anybody beat us but Luka". That's essentially 3 black holes on offense on the court (Rick adjusted accordingly and put in Timmy for JJ).

Long story short:

Don't put too much responsiibility on Brunson late in games.

Good news: We won

Bad news: We collapsed in an almost comically fashion again and needed some outer space stuff from Luka.