These are the top five Thunder producers. And they play the most minutes. All five appear capable of regularly scoring. That is very important for them that all five of them get on the scoring sheet.
Their centre is both 1. A FINESSE PLAYER aaaand 2. A ROOKIE. That is great news for Mavs. That can be exploited. Both Lively and Gafford can guard him. Aaand, both Lively and Gafford are surely stronger than him. That can surely be exploited offensively.
Those are their numbers in their last 4 games vs. Pelicans. Which is a series that they have swept.
They are a young team and this is their first time in the playoffs. Last year they were kicked out at the play-in stage. That is also an advantage for the Mavs. They haven't yet been tested in the playoffs, while Mavericks have both Luka and Kyrie who are players that have very much already been tested.
Mavericks must be seen as favorites going into this series. But the league prefers the OKC so that the refereeing standard will not be fair.
#5 Dort does not appear to have much of an inside game. Here, for example, a player with inside game would surely push it into the paint
https://youtu.be/dZoXqU3TVeA?t=86. But he doesn't even think about that. And instead opts early for a pass for a three-pointer. Everyone can shoot, and they appear to spread the floor well.*
Also notice here how that Valiancunas is a VERY, VERY SLOW AND LUMBERING BIG. Dallas' bigs are better on their feet. But Holmgren will give them trouble. Holmgren will give ANYONE in the league such a trouble for a very long time to come (lol).
* Dort probably has some kind of inside game given his size and attributes. He might opt for this pass because this is how they play. Spread the floor, get the ball around to the open three point shooter. So he does it very quickly and absent much other thinking. Especially after a pump fake that has worked because that means that one of the defensive players dropped out.
#5 Dort appears to have a great pump fake. That he uses often. That makes it hard to guard when on the run. And he has a little bit of a different kinda shooting motion. Slow and therefore hard to time for a block. Unusual and atypical. And then he uses the pump fake so well.
https://youtu.be/dZoXqU3TVeA?t=59
#5 Dort is a French Canadian of Haitian origin. From Montreal. Grew up playing street ball there.
Hence . s a v v y (Google Dictionary: "shrewdness and practical knowledge; the ability to make good judgements.") Physically, he is very limited. Only 1.93m. But very, very savvy as I've written above. Good pump fake. He is strong, but with that size that makes him still very, very limited. Not fast. But good judgments. He is probably very comfortable in the post but in a specific isolation.
#2 SGA is good. He is their best player. But he has neither swagger, nor coolness about himself. Like those things are foreign to him. And that's what Kyrie Irving needs to show him in this series. I think Kyrie Irving could have a great impact on on SGA in this series. I think Kyrie will probably start guarding him. I think that could be a good match-up for the Mavs.
https://youtu.be/5yE2j2jp5_4 Notice that this game Kleber started and notice how the Mavs had a great start. That was the case because of his great movement and defending against the OKC team that appears to spread the floor very well. And Kleber can shoot 3s too. Kleber is a big loss. I think this was the very first game played by Gafford and PJ.