Game 59: Dallas Mavericks (33-25) vs Toronto Raptors (22-36)

[Smitty]

Good stretch for Tim!

[KillerLeft]

Nice roll by Gafford!

[youzigizag]

Liked what I saw from PJ on defense.

[Jason Terry]

PJ is a good player. I think we’ve just scratched the surface with his fit. Once we get going this will be a tough team to beat

[The Jom]

THJ gets so much grief here it’s turning me into a fan. Now, if we could just get that Luka guy to pull his weight.

[Smitty]

Entertaining first half. Mavs keeping pace with the Raptors. Hope b2b doesn’t bite em late. Need to build a nice lead in the 3rd

[KillerLeft]

Hardaway with some nice shots created for others tonight.

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Great closeout from Gafford to the corner there. Credit where credit is due.

[GATA]

Luka is having a ridiculous game even without the 3 ball falling. Dominating

[speedkilz88]

The other night the mavs couldn't get that foul call that Gafford just got.

[Mavs2021]

Just like that THJ is back to 40% shooting, cause he takes so many dumb shots.  

I get his need to be a 3rd offensive presence, but that does not mean you need to shoot the ball literally every time you touch it. Once he passed it and Exum made a wide open three immediately.

[speedkilz88]

40 pts in the 3rd qtr

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25 for the raptors

[Chicagojk]

So good to have Exum back. He can play with either Luka or Kyrie. Playing with Kyrie he can let Kyrie be aggressive. Mavs are missing that other wing though. They will need to make due this year with what they have.

Mavs made the investment to go big. Play the big guys. The teams rotations as a whole leave a lot to be desired. But if they could chase players off the three point line and funnel players to their big guys, that could be a good strategy.

I am not going to rip Hardaway. He continues to play hard. But even with some nice makes tonight he is stilll 5-13 with several that I would rate really tough shots.

[KillerLeft]

Good, calm vertical D from Gafford against Olynyk there, not falling for the pass fake. Credit where credit is due.

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Mavs made the investment to go big.  Play the big guys.  The teams rotations as a whole leave a lot to be desired.  But if they could chase players off the three point line and funnel players to their big guys, that could be a good strategy.

Was it that, or does Kleber just not play back to backs this year (thank goodness)?

[KillerLeft]

Good, calm vertical D from Gafford against Olynyk there, not falling for the pass fake.

…as opposed to this last one, when he foolishly left his feet for no reason and gave a cheap foul.

[KillerLeft]

Man, Toronto is going to make them play until the end, huh?

[GATA]

Great bounce back

[KillerLeft]

What’d we think about Exum? Other than a couple of nice 3’s I don’t remember much, but that might be a good thing.

[GATA]

Just really don’t understand why Hardy doesn’t get minutes.

[Chicagojk]

59 foot shot away from feeling real good about this road trip. The Boston game would be house money. Ugh!

[KillerLeft]

Just really don’t understand why Hardy doesn’t get minutes.

I do. I think he is close, and kudos to you for being one of the first to declare he is ready, but he definitely makes a lot of mistakes. I thought he had a really bad defensive game the other night. I can’t remember if it was against Indiana or last night, but I thought he was a key contributor to several very bad stretches.

I think it is absolutely time to finally move Hardaway and get Hardy’s path clear going into training camp next year, and I think he will be ready for it at that time. But, I think it’s very likely that all of the coaches and all of the veteran players believe in Hardaway more than they believe in Hardy right now. You have to remember that up until a couple of weeks ago he was having one of his best years.