Game 25: Dallas Mavericks (16-8) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (18-5) | 8:30pm CST

[Chicagojk]

Thunder guards did a good job limited the centers in the minutes that Hartenstein was off the floor.  Need to be able to capitalize on those.  Lots of strips and turnovers trying to feed the ball inside.

Yeah, they did a good job.  The empty possessions due to turnovers certainly didn't help.  But OKC deserves credit there too.

I remember last year, Kidd and Luka challenged Lively not to always look for the pass and to go to the rim hard.  In that big OKC game comeback (which we lost) he was awesome.    Lively is an excellent passer when he gets the ball in the lane.  I would like to see him try to score more often though.     The little touch shot he has shown a few times is another shot I want in his arsenal.  

It is all a learning process.

[Knutsen]

Yeah I mean PJ mitigates that alot. He is also in some ways our best defensive rebounder and an important rim protector, so while it’s more important to have point of attack defense I would say it’s slightly less than ideal having him using all of his energy defending SGA. 

I think DJJ was our first choice on SGA followed by PJ last post season. So now it’s PJ + committee approach. Grimes, Naji, Klay (who actually had some really nice moments last night.)

Grimes did not look ready for that atmosphere last night, which is concerning. Only one game, but still, a tad concerning.

PJ Washington has a 15-4 record this season. 
That means without him we‘re 1-5. Do we have a PJ problem?

[SleepingHero]

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?

[KillerLeft]

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 mean, it's only one game, and the sky isn't falling, but I don't believe this line of thinking adequately encompasses the severity of what this game might have shown us. 

Just like the playoff series last year, SGA was forced to make some tough shots, but they're shots he can make (clearly), and he ALSO got a lot of good, easier shots. Meanwhile, Dort, with the help he received from the rest of their defense, was able to (once again) make Luka's life a living hell for basically the entire game. I have seldom seen ball pressure (not just on Luka, but on the whole team, the whole time) this aggressive, and I'm not sure I've EVER seen ball pressure like that go for an entire game without the other team figuring out how to exploit it. 

The most obvious solution when your main offensive engine is wearing a defender inside of his shorts is to simply make the defense pay by getting AROUND that defender to force other defenders to help, but for whatever reason, evidence is growing that Luka can't do that in this matchup. I'm getting a touch worried about that.

[BigDirk41]

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.

[Chicagojk]

Mavs will be fine. OKC is just really good. Mavs can be at that level though. Although just getting back to the WCF will be challenging.

Seeing Kyrie struggle the other day and then seeing his struggles against OKC and Boston in the playoffs makes me wonder if we need to attack those teams differently. He had no problem with tall defenders with Minny, but OKC and Boston just did a good job on him. Luckily for us in that series, J-Dub also struggled scoring. Whoever can play to their normal level may be one of the big keys if we play together in a series.

I was wondering, what about experiencing with sitting both Luka and Kyrie together and have a super charged bench mode? The current model is probably the best, but I am just curious looking at different options. Can you tread water for 5 minutes if both were out of the game? Much deeper team now. Also, if I am Luka I am looking for ways to get Kyrie going against these teams.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Mavs will be fine.  OKC is just really good.  Mavs can be at that level though.  Although just getting back to the WCF will be challenging.   

Seeing Kyrie struggle the other day and then seeing his struggles against OKC and Boston in the playoffs makes me wonder if we need to attack those teams differently.    He had no problem with tall defenders with Minny, but OKC and Boston just did a good job on him.  Luckily for us in that series, J-Dub also struggled scoring.  Whoever can play to their normal level may be one of the big keys if we play together in a series. 

I was wondering, what about experiencing with sitting both Luka and Kyrie together and have a super charged bench mode?  The current model is probably the best, but I am just curious looking at different options.  Can you tread water for 5 minutes if both were out of the game?  Much deeper team now.  Also, if I am Luka I am looking for ways to get Kyrie going against these teams.

I don't think Kidd trusts the reserves enough to sit both at the same time. Naji, Hardy, and Grimes have played well at times, but I'd be willing to bet Kidd wants Luka or Kyrie on the floor at all times unless it's an injury or foul trouble. JMO.