GAME 3 PLAYOFFS DIRKIE: PJ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[SleepingHero]

[KillerLeft]

Who elevated their game to bring this one home for the Mavs?

[KillerLeft]

You dick!

I just spent 10 minutes typing up the best poll ever!!!!!

[KillerLeft]

I'm not kidding - the comedy impact of my poll was gonna hit like a ton of bricks.

[KillerLeft]

Anyway, I vote Washington.

[dirkfansince1998]

Kyrie was big in the clutch but I cannot ignore that he basically didn't participate for three quarters. Luka had an off night. A role player game. Collective effort and hustle from the supporting cast was on another level.
If I have to pick one. Probably PJ. But if he continues like this I am just going to assume that it is the new normal and he will have to do even more to earn the Dirkie. Lively 2nd. DJJ, Green and Gafford shared 3rd.

[ballsrchr]

Haa...I'm glad you guys are fast with keyboard. It's always a downer when typing for so long only to be shot down by another poster. Keep it up!

In my first comb through for the player who elevated himself, I have:
PJW
DJJ
D. Gafford
K. Irving
Luka!
Kleber
Lively
Green
Exum

So...I guess I need to cut that down...a bit.

Now I'm left with:
Kleber
Lively
Green

This is not to the best player on the floor...but the one who elevated his play and contributed to the win.

Josh Green!...come on down. You have won my Dirkie.

[Jym]

Kyrie made some huge shots when we needed them
this could have easily slipped away

[ThisIStheYear]

Nice game from nearly everyone. Luka was very inefficient but did the dirty work tonight. Kyrie played an excellent second half and really led the team.

[SleepingHero]

WOW! What a game! What a home opener in this years playoffs by the Mavs!!!! Mavs came out and were ready to play.

Once again this was a scrappy game. There was basically no offensive rhythm for either team for a good portion of the 1st quarter. It wasn't until the Mavs kept relentlessly attacking the Clips in the drop off a PnR that led to easy lobs and dunks. After that, the Mavs seemed settled and played their game.

Luka had yet another ice-y night from the field. 7-25 and forced a lot of hard shots. Zubac actually contained him basically the whole night. He also had a scary injury moment where he went down in the 1st clutching his knee and unable to walk. Thank God that he was fine and played the rest of the game relatively well. This is weird. Luka has NEVER looked so human before in the playoffs. He's routinely been an easy 35 points a night on 50/40/70 in the playoffs. So far he's been 29 a night on 38/31/81. Crazy. Despite that the Mavs have still looked strong. That has never been a thing before in the Luka era to this level.

And that can really be attributed to Kyrie Irving. Kyrie had a rough first half. Heck you can even say a rough 3 1/2 quarters. He had 2 points on 1-5 shooting and got his 4th foul with 9:36 left in the 3rd. He subbed back in with 5 mins left to go in the 4th after the Clips went a pseudo zone and took Luka out of the game. After that point he scored 19 points on 7-12 shooting and basically made sure the Clippers never could come back into it. Any time the Clippers had some momentum, Kyrie pulled some razzle dazzle wizardry and hit crazy shot after crazy shot to shut the Clippers down. What a game by Kyrie Irving man. Sheesh.

Speaking of great games, Danerek Liveafford combined for 21 points 6 rebounds, 2 steals and 5 blocks! Individually both of them had great games. Gafford finally looked himself again. The Clippers got punished for leaving the lob open and that got Gafford back into his groove. Coming into the game he was questionable with a sore back and ankle, but he stepped up huge this game. He had a couple of moments where Zubac took his lunch money, but Gafford stayed with it and had his own moments. His game was punctuated on an INCREDIBLE block on PG13, denying his attempted poster and riled up the Mavs crowd.

Lively had an equally impressive defensive showing. Again Zubac had his moments, but Dereck made important rotations all night and boxed out equally well (despite the stat sheet not showing it). He finished a host of lobs and just kept the rim pressure up all night long.

Maxi barely got much run this game but still played well in his minutes. The Clippers rarely went small and to be honest, they were leaving the lobs consistently open. Kidd elected to ride the other 2 bigs and it wasn't a bad choice. He hit a solid 3, played great defense in his minutes. Glad Kleber could get a pseudo-night-off.

DJJ had another strong defensive night against Harden. After the 1st game he's really held his ground and has wanted the physicality. He also had several highlight dunks tonight. Great game from DJJ.

Josh Green was my runner up tonight in terms of Dirkie. Offensively he had a so-so game. He got out in transition, drew a strong foul against Westbrook, hit a corner 3. But his hustle tonight!!!!! He was EVERYWHERE! He grabbed 5 rebounds, 2 offensive ones, that just felt like huge momentum shifts. Defensively he swarmed and was physical. He drew at least 2 offensive fouls on the Clippers which again took away their momentum. He hounded PG13 all night. Seriously what a game from the man.

But honestly, I don't see how I could give my Dirkie to anyone else tonight other than PJ. His defense man. What a dog. He has that nasty attitude I've been legit craving for since D-Steve left in 2011. So 13 years. His defensive presence was truly a game changer. It didn't matter who was in front of him, PJ held his ground and forced tough look after tough look. But what really sent me over the moon was just his instigating against Mann and Westbrook. He got ejected, which, to be fair, was the dumbest thing he could've done. BUT he threw the Clippers off their game. He was in their head. He got Westbrook to throw a punch, and if the league deems it, he could be suspended next game. Seriously what a defensive performance by him.

GREAT GAME BY THESE MAVS! KEEP IT UP AND PROTECT HOME COURT NEXT GAME TOO AND GO BACK TO LA UP 3-1 NOW!

[SleepingHero]

I'm not kidding - the comedy impact of my poll was gonna hit like a ton of bricks.

The site chose which thread lived and which one died. It appears it preferred my poll 

(but actually though still post your poll I wanna see it)

[Tyler]

PJ all the way. He set the tone and created a new iconic playoff moment.

[Hypermav]

PJ on this alone.

[SleepingHero]

Tweet time

https://twitter.com/noahweber00/status/1...8619793671

Noah Weber (@noahweber00)
Tim Hardaway Jr. imitating P.J. Washington from after the scuffle with Russell Westbrook is everything.

[SleepingHero]

StatMuse (@statmuse)
PG13, Kawhi and Russ tonight:

8 fouls (+2 technicals)
7 turnovers
7 buckets


Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds)
Per SportRadar, Russell Westbrook had the first 1-flagrant, 2-technical, 1-point-or-less game in the NBA since Kendrick Perkins in 2005.

[SleepingHero]

Noah Weber (@noahweber00)
Jason Kidd on his team in tonight’s chippy game:

“I thought the guys did a great job of protecting one another.”

Brad Townsend (@townbrad)
Kidd speaks, after I asked about Washington’s presence tonight: “He’s not afraid of anything.”

[SleepingHero]

https://x.com/pandahank41/status/1784045975910383786

Best video of PJ standing on business.

[SleepingHero]

https://x.com/MavsHighlights/status/1784044272640995786

Gafford denying PG13's existence here.

[Scott41theMavs]

I hope Westbrick doesn't get suspended. We need him.

[SleepingHero]

Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon)
P.J. Washington told me that Terrance Mann “was mad that I was looking at their bench, so I decided to look at it again.”

On holding the pose: “I wanted to get my flicks right for after the game.”