GAME 75: DAL (43-32) @ PHX (34-39) | 102-128 loss

[Jannemann2]

OK; maybe MKG would be allowed to rest

[ClutchDirk]

After watching this game I'm predicting a sweep of the Clippers...

[Mavs2019]

MKG towers over the other Mavs. Tiny ball is back.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Looks like Phoenix wins, goes 8-0 in the restart, and still misses the play in game. Memphis is blowing out the Bucks, and if Portland wins, Suns are eliminated. Crazy....

[Scott41theMavs]

I know I'm being a crabass, but I propose this exercise. Pick whoever you think are the 3rd and 4th best players on the Mavs. Then rank the players on the other 29 teams, and compare those 3rd and 4th best Mavs players with the 3rd and 4th best players on all of those other teams, ranking the results. I would bet big time money that the Mavs would be bottom 3 in the league, absolutely no kidding or trolling. That sh!t is infuriating.

[Hypermav]

I don't blame the Mavs.  The Celtics, Lakers and Bucks had no pride...

[ThisIStheYear]

Phoenix is a huge threat to the Mavs in the West going forward. The Mavs will soon have the clear best player in the conference, but the Phoenix roster looks deep, athletic, and imposing. They’re going to be a handful next year and beyond.

[omahen]

This is just too difficult to watch. Absolutely zero defense. Mavs taking it easy the whole bubble time. You are wrong if you think they will show a different face against Clippers. I said Clippers win in five but I am affraid that was wishful thinking. 

We better not start Curry because he will be just exploited badly. I wish Mavs find their PnR and transition defense in the summer, because they sure forgot to bring it to Orlando.

[Hypermav]

lets do at least 100

[dirkfansince1998]

Usually I am not one for bodyshaming or weight talk but most of our guys are looking a little bit chubby. Well...at least for pro athlets.  Doesn´t mean that they cannot play (see Jokic) but it might explain the lack of stamina and sharpness at the end of games.
Even the younger and better athlets like Reaves and Cleveland are not in the best shape. Others like Jackson have a terrible body posture.
Wonder what´s going on. Maybe it´s just really obvious today because the Mavs are playing a young and athletic Suns team.

[SleepingHero]

I know I'm being a crabass, but I propose this exercise. Pick whoever you think are the 3rd and 4th best players on the Mavs. Then rank the players on the other 29 teams, and compare those 3rd and 4th best Mavs players with the 3rd and 4th best players on all of those other teams, ranking the results. I would bet big time money that the Mavs would be bottom 3 in the league, absolutely no kidding or trolling. That sh!t is infuriating.

I'll just compare against the top 5 against the West. I think in terms of raw talent the 3rd and 4th best players on the Mavs are THJ and Curry (or Maxi its a push between all 3 for me.). 

LAL-Kuzma/Howard/Mcgee/Green? I honestly don't know who's the Lakers 3rd and 4th best player is. I'd lean on Howard and Kuzma in terms of role and importance. Kuzma has been as streaky as they come and I'd take Curry or THJ over them. Laker fans have been trying to fidn ways to get rid of Kuzma all year. Howard has had a resurgence of a year, but it's debatable to say he's better than either THJ or Curry. 

LAC- Lou Will/Harrell. First team that up and down have more talent at the Mavs at almost every position I think. If the Mavs had both Lou Will and Harrell they'd be set. Both are 6 MOY candidates. You can even include Beverly and he'd be better suited on this team over THJ and Curry. 


DEN- Paul Milsap/MPJ- Milsap historically has been a great player but this year he's been underwhelming. I wouldn't think he's that much better than Maxi, especially cause Maxi shot lights out from 3 and provided incredible defense all year. MPJ broke out in the bubble, and is oozing with talent. But is he that much better than THJ? Both are streaky shooters, both can light it up. But 1 is injury prone.

HOU- PJ Tucker and RoCo. Again better than both THJ and Curry. Mavs would love to have both on this team. 

OKC- Gallo/Adams- I'd say both of them are higher quality starters than Curry and THJ. 

Mavs don't have a dearth of talent. The issue is that they don't have enough talent in key roles. If the Mavs had just 1 more big defensive wing that can hit 3's consistently (ala Covington) and 1 creator off the bench, I am confident they'd be a 60 win team. Wright, Jackson, Powell, Barea leave a lot to be desired and there are obvious needs of improvement off the bench. But the Mavs top 6 is competitive (Luka, KP, THJ, Curry, Maxi, DFS).

[HoosierDaddyKid]

^^ With all due respect, Jokic has lost a lot of weight. At least 25-30 pounds.

[omahen]

LAL-Kuzma/Howard/Mcgee/Green? I honestly don't know who's the Lakers 3rd and 4th best player is. I'd lean on Howard and Kuzma in terms of role and importance. Kuzma has been as streaky as they come and I'd take Curry or THJ over them. Laker fans have been trying to fidn ways to get rid of Kuzma all year. Howard has had a resurgence of a year, but it's debatable to say he's better than either THJ or Curry.

You are looking just the offensive side. All four are good defenders and Lakers are number one because they play excellent defense, not because they have the best offense. Green/Bradley or Green/Kuzma are arguably better than THJ/Seth 

DEN- Paul Milsap/MPJ

I would certainly bring Harris in the conversation and he is way better than THJ or Seth. So is Milsap. MPJ is still a role player at this stage of his career, but developing to be a star, if he remains healthy.

[SleepingHero]

This is just too difficult to watch. Absolutely zero defense. Mavs taking it easy the whole bubble time. You are wrong if you think they will show a different face against Clippers. I said Clippers win in five but I am affraid that was wishful thinking. 

We better not start Curry because he will be just exploited badly. I wish Mavs find their PnR and transition defense in the summer, because they sure forgot to bring it to Orlando.

Right cause the Mavs have never looked different against teams in the regular season than the playoffs.

Carlisle has shown he purposefully hides strategies against teams to use against them in the playoffs. See the 2014 series against the eventual champion Spurs. Mavs were the only ones to take the Spurs to 7 that year, and the Spurs cleaned up everyone else. Are you telling me 35 year old Dirk and Monta are that good? Or perhaps did Carlisle's coaching play a big role in how they defended Kawhi in that series. 

Now I'm not saying the Mavs are even favored to win a game against the Clips, and thats just because of the talent level of the Clips. But I think it's a bit obtuse to think how the Mavs looked against the Clips in the regular season is how the Mavs are going to be in the playoffs. 

Of course if Carlisle doesn't have any lineups or strategies and just plays the Clips straight up then I'll happily admit I'm wrong, but I think Carlisle is going to at least  try pull something from his sleeve. Maybe run a blitz action against Kawhi with Maxi and MKG and make PG beat them. It might horribly fail but I think the Mavs are going to be prepared.

[Hypermav]

I think the rotations will be limited and more zone.  Mavs hit open three's and they will be fine.

[omahen]

Right cause the Mavs have never looked different against teams in the regular season than the playoffs.

Yeah. And all others were just giving their absolute best throughout the season and have nothing left. I am sure Mavs will try some different schemes. But it is the approach that worries me. They are not showing any effort. Especially role players - the ones that should be giving most effort. Luka raised his defensive game, the rest didn't

[SleepingHero]

I would certainly bring Harris in the conversation and he is way better than THJ or Seth. So is Milsap. MPJ is still a role player at this stage of his career, but developing to be a star, if he remains healthy.

Harris has been underwhelming the last 2 seasons since his injury, shooting the ball at a Wes Matthews special 42% from the field and 33% from 3. I'd agree with you if this was 2 years ago, but I'd take THJ or Seth over Harris. Seth shot 45% from 3 this year. THJ 40% from 3, and before the bubble wasn't a turnstyle on defense. 

You are looking just the offensive side. All four are good defenders and Lakers are number one because they play excellent defense, not because they have the best offense. Green/Bradley or Green/Kuzma are arguably better than THJ/Seth 

And thats a fair point. But at the end of the day it's still arguable. Its not clear cut that Bradley/Green or Green/Kuzma are better than THJ/Seth or Seth/Maxi. But what is apparent is that the Lakers have much better 7th, 8th, and 9th guys. Mcgee>Powell. Morris>Jackson. Caruso>Wright. This is where the Mavs have to get better.

Maxi, Curry, DFS and THJ aren't bad rotation players on a playoff team. But Jackson is barely an NBA player. MKG cannot shoot. There's a good chance Powell never returns to form. Wright can't make a good choice for his life. This is where the Mavs are failing hard and where their lack of depth hurts them.

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Right cause the Mavs have never looked different against teams in the regular season than the playoffs.

Yeah. And all others were just giving their absolute best throughout the season and have nothing left. I am sure Mavs will try some different schemes. But it is the approach that worries me. They are not showing any effort. Especially role players - the ones that should be giving most effort. Luka raised his defensive game, the rest didn't

Thats also a good point, but I feel like we're letting recency bias affect us here.

The Mavs had some pretty good effort games. Notably against Houston, MIL, and the Kings. But it hasn't been consistent. And they have gotten absolutely torched the last 2 games. But I hope its just because the Mavs are content with their seeding and are prepping for the playoffs. If not then, there are bigger conversations to be had with the coaching staff not getting the players to buy in.

[omahen]

Harris has been underwhelming the last 2 seasons since his injury, shooting the ball at a Wes Matthews special 42% from the field and 33% from 3. I'd agree with you if this was 2 years ago, but I'd take THJ or Seth over Harris. Seth shot 45% from 3 this year. THJ 40% from 3, and before the bubble wasn't a turnstyle on defense.

Again you are just watching the offensive side. Harris is decent on offense, but he is close to all nba defense. There is a reason Denver are number 3 seed and Mavs number 7

The Mavs had some pretty good effort games. Notably against Houston

Houston scored 153 points. The effort was just on one side, which is not nearly enough. That is also why Dallas is losing so many close games. Opponent is always scoring at will, while naturally Mavs offense gets a bit worse once the opponent steps up defensively.

[SleepingHero]

Again you are just watching the offensive side. Harris is decent on offense, but he is close to all nba defense. There is a reason Denver are number 3 seed and Mavs number 7

There is a reason the Nuggets are the 3 seed and Harris isn't the main reason. Harris has had a net negative DRTG last 2 years (111, and 113). He's had a negative DBPM and negative BPM the last 2 years as well. 


Almost every advanced stat paints Harris in a negative fashion. And he posted a PER of 9.7 this year. 

Harris has been underwhelming since his hamstring injury.