Game 8: Toronto Raptors (4-4) vs. Dallas Mavericks (6-2) | 127-116 loss

[Chicagojk]

Jones jr has had some bad box out possessions this half.

[donzingis38]

It´s the game that shows we are the same team as last year without him defensively. Completely hopeless protecting the rim and rebounding.

yup. im having ptsd right now with the lack of rim protection again.

[dirkfansince1998]

Maxi at least battling on the boards. But he looks completly exhausted.

[Mavs2021]

Grant Wiliiams, the round mound of no rebound.

All our bigs are stuck in molasses. Lively might be the answer, but we could really do with another rebounding big. Next time the Knicks have a Randle meltdown offer them Maxi + Holmes + pick.

[dirkfansince1998]

Grant Wiliiams, the round mound of no rebound.

With all the offseason talk about him guarding Giannis, Embiid and Jokic it is a little bit disappointing to see how "small" he has played for the Mavs.

[Chicagojk]

Let’s see if Josh can provide some energy in the 4th. Outside of a couple of spurts this year he has been disappointing. I think his defense has not been great either.

[dirkfansince1998]

Let’s see if Josh can provide some energy in the 4th.  Outside of a couple of spurts this year he has been disappointing.  I think his defense has not been great either.

It's interesting that even with mediocre individual numbers he is leading the Mavs in +/-.

[Chicagojk]

Really concerning what it looks like when Lively hits the rookie wall. none of the options look like they can fill in full time if/when that happens.

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Luka may be exhausted but his defense tonight has not been good.

[BigDirk41]

Dwight is so soft at the rim.

[KillerLeft]

Luka seems to be mailing the end of this one in on the defensive end.

[Mavs2021]

They have 19 more shot attempts. Don´t the Dallas Wings have some nice bigs. Maybe the girls could defend the paint and grab some rebounds. This is honestly pathetic. Also 63% from the line.

[dirkfansince1998]

Not my favorite term but this is the kind of game where "soft" is a fitting description for the Mavs. Like they are trying to avoid contact. Lose balls where Mavs try to tip the ball only to be beat by Raptors players that are diving to the floor or throwing their body into the opposing player.

[BolsDamols]

Luka has been terrible defensively - gambling for steals, giving up wide open drives/dunks

Also, this group of referees has not been good today.

[Chicagojk]

Raptors have been pretty sloppy too. This game was there for the taking imo. Just not with our defensive effort, sloppiness and giving up offensive rebounds.

[dirkfansince1998]

Raptors have been pretty sloppy too.  This game was there for the taking imo.  Just not with our defensive effort, sloppiness and giving up offensive rebounds.

Raptors half court offense sucks. But against the Mavs all they need to do is get the ball in the paint. Like a worse version of the grit&grind Grizzlies.

[Chicagojk]

These refs are bad…both teams bad.

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Raptors half court offense sucks. But against the Mavs all they need to do is get the ball in the paint. Like a worse version of the grit&grind Grizzlies.

Mavs are going to need to find an answer to points in the post.  Teams are going to try to attack that until,Mavs have an answer.

[BolsDamols]

Toronto's wings have really stifled Luka in this game - best I've seen OG defend him.
He eviscerated Toronto coverages last year

[KillerLeft]

Interesting that Exum got a shot to close. Kind of seems like he got Green’s minutes. Grill at 5, DJJ at 4?

[HoosierDaddyKid]

im so done with kleber, man.

1st, he's on the wrong side of 30, and that torn hammy he suffered last year was a killer, now he's got a bad toe. You can expect him to start suffering nagging injuries on the regular now. Can't depend on him playing major minutes anymore.

[BolsDamols]

Whole team besides Kai has to stay back to shoot free throws - 61% for the game leaving 12 points on the table is not acceptable