2024 Playoffs Round 2: Dallas Mavericks vs. Oklahoma City Thunder

[SMC0007]

Kyri has to step up.

[Melonhead]

Moronic turnovers

[Melonhead]

I hate Dort as much as cp3

[Melonhead]

This game might come down to free throws again man

[SMC0007]

Lively and refa are OKC momentum builders. Refs are making it where tou cant even screen Dort.

[SMC0007]

Originally Posted by Melonhead

This game might come down to free throws again man

Of course.

That heavily favors OKC in all aspects too.

[JTmoney2424]

Luka!!

[JTmoney2424]

Dallas plays better on the road for some reason it seems

[JTmoney2424]

Kidd leaving THJ in the game is going to cost them.

[Melonhead]

Look at that thj killing us again, 2 bricks and a turnover

[NeedlesKane]

Originally Posted by Melonhead

I hate Dort as much as cp3

But who hates CP3 more, you or championships?

[SMC0007]

Lol. Wtf is PJ doing in no mans land.

Thj better be taking a fn seat.

We are allergic to any consistent run of intelligent basketball.

[Melonhead]

Kyrie that?s a fucking layup

[Melonhead]

Here we go with the god damn free throws

[SMC0007]

Choke time

[SMC0007]

Dort is king flop

[JTmoney2424]

Another BS foul call that goes OKC

[SMC0007]

No way the overturn that. Even though they should. Players could bait refs into this 8/10 times if they wanted

[SMC0007]

DJJ

[SMC0007]

That was a foul on Joe trying to block Lively. Lol. Jesus

[JTmoney2424]

Why take out Kyrie and Luka??!

[EricaLubarsky]

Thank you Kathy Drysdale

Legend to Livey and legend to us

[Melonhead]

Okc are straight up bitches. Sga flops and almost slid into kyries legs.

Not to mention this loser ass hack a shaq they are not on the Mavs level man

[Melonhead]

Okc are not fighters. If you get a lead on them they will fold unless you give it away aka 50% ft.

[SMC0007]

Idk. Luka looked the most fresh since early Clippers series.

[Dallas41]

Originally Posted by SMC0007

DJJ

My favorite player on this team vastly underrated

And shout out to both bigs as they showed up in a big way on both ends of the floor

[Melonhead]

I can?t believe I?m saying this: Draymond is forcing chuck and shaq to actually talk basketball.

[Melonhead]

My only two worries about Saturday.

If Tony Brothers refs

Luka thrives on the road trash tasking fans. I need that energy at home

[LukaMagic]

Originally Posted by EricaLubarsky

The ?we only lost because Luka was hurt? probably makes the suffering worse

It?s also the third straight season he?s had these injuries and that trajectory isn?t looking good.

People complain about Luka so much about so many things that sometimes they get blind to what is most obvious. Did you pause to notice that last game Luka had a triple double too?

Those are league-leading numbers baby. And you are writing him off.*

tz tz tz tz...

* Aaand you're supposed to be a fan. Last I checked this website is for the fans of Dallas Mavericks which is what Luka is. He is a Dallas Maverick.

[Thespiralgoeson]

Originally Posted by twistaeffect2004

Dude, this type of injury is not just this year, this is becoming a trend.

Are yuu suggesting the more weight doesn?t effect the lower body? He?s simply carrying more weight now than when he entered the league. Hell, he?s heavier now than when the season started.

That, is absolutely inexcusable and no Mavs colored glasses will change that.

I'm late to the party on this, but miss me with the "Luka is out of shape" bullshit. Luka is not out of shape right now. He fucking isn't. No Mavs colored glasses here. Just two perfectly functioning eyeballs. I'm looking at him now vs when the season started.

Luka on the season opener- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uokjxb_XAjs

Luka tonight- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Lut-8vSSkQ

If Luka is heavier tonight than he was in October, it's by such a small amount that it's not visible to the naked eye. At least not mine. The 82 game grind of an NBA regular season is so grueling, I doubt it's even possible for someone like Luka to get out of shape over the course of the season unless A: he's missing very long stretches (he hasn't) or B: he's just eating nothing but pizza and ice cream in between games (highly unlikely.) When Luka has been out of shape in the past, it's been at the beginning of the season.

Now, the fact that Luka is dealing with nagging leg injuries for the third straight year is disconcerting. Maybe it's because of the way he plays. He does play a very physical style, especially for a guard. Maybe it's because he just has bad knees and/or ankles. Maybe it's because he plays too much- playing overseas every offseason will take a toll on anyone. Or maybe it's just bad luck. 3 postseasons actually is a small sample size, scientifically speaking, even if it feels like it isn't.

But whatever he's dealing with right now is absolutely not because he's fat. Because he fucking isn't.

But narratives are hard to dispel once they've taken root, and the "fat Luka" narrative is as stubborn as any. For whatever it's worth, our fat, lazy, out-of-shape player put up a 30 point triple double, got his team a huge playoff win on the road, and has his team on the brink of making the conference finals for the second time in three years.

[Thespiralgoeson]

Also, Lively was +22 tonight. His defense is special. And this is him as a rookie. He could a perennial DPOY candidate.

[rimrocker]

Originally Posted by Thespiralgoeson

Also, Lively was +22 tonight. His defense is special. And this is him as a rookie. He could a perennial DPOY candidate.

I'm just happy that bigs are becoming relevant again in the NBA.
Wemby, Chet, Jokic, Lively, Gafford, Kessler and several others will be fun to watch competing in the western conference over the next several years.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Originally Posted by DevinHarriswillstart

Yeah, I just want one great game from Luka. Even if we lose. He needs to dig down and find his inner Jordan.

Check.

And did you ever dream the Mavs would play defense like this? It's beautiful.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

And Kidd played Hardy more minutes than THJ? What sorcery is this?

[Thespiralgoeson]

Originally Posted by DevinHarriswillstart

And Kidd played Hardy more minutes than THJ? What sorcery is this?

Hardy played 15 minutes and I thought he was very good for at least a few of them. Yeah he was only 1-5 from the field but, other than a corner three that rimmed out, his misses were contested and/or in traffic.

I really hope Kidd hasn't stunted his development too much this year by not letting him play. I still think he can be exactly the 6th man we need if given a consistent 20-25 minutes a game.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Originally Posted by Thespiralgoeson

Hardy played 15 minutes and I thought he was very good for at least a few of them. Yeah he was only 1-5 from the field but, other than a corner three that rimmed out, his misses were contested and/or in traffic.

I really hope Kidd hasn't stunted his development too much this year by not letting him play. I still think he can be exactly the 6th man we need if given a consistent 20-25 minutes a game.

He was better than THJ who had maybe one of the worst possessions of all time. In fact, his play was the only reason the Thunder had a chance to come back IMO.

I mean, better late than never I guess.

And honestly, Kidd deserves very little criticism this series. Can't say he has really done anything that has overtly pissed me off.

[Thespiralgoeson]

Originally Posted by DevinHarriswillstart

He was better than THJ who had maybe one of the worst possessions of all time. In fact, his play was the only reason the Thunder had a chance to come back IMO.

I mean, better late than never I guess.

And honestly, Kidd deserves very little criticism this series. Can't say he has really done anything that has overtly pissed me off.

Yeah, I don't mean in this series. I was thinking of the regular season, when Hardy started racking up DNPs, despite playing pretty well whenever given the chance, as well as THJ stinking up the whole building.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Originally Posted by Thespiralgoeson

Yeah, I don't mean in this series. I was thinking of the regular season, when Hardy started racking up DNPs, despite playing pretty well whenever given the chance, as well as THJ stinking up the whole building.

Oh trust me, I wasn't happy about it. But it's one of the few things with regards to giving players minutes that irked me.

And Hardy is inconsistent, but when he gets going offensively it's like a wrecking ball.

It's a nice FU to Hardaway senior that Hardy got more minutes. Maybe it's time to STFU old man.

[SMC0007]

Never trust THJ. He has proven that over time. If he has a random game where he is hitting at a high clip, then ride his hot hand but Kidd has to have his finger on the eject button soon as he misses 2 in a row.

My criticism for Kidd is that he needs toys taken away in order to be successful with rotations. Hardy surely isn't at max potential right now because he hasnt played near the amount of minutea he should have been.

Omax on the other hand seems to have found something by time spent in the G league. If nothing more than confidence. It will be concerning if he isnt a full time rotation player next year. Idk his status now but it would be nice to have his hustle and potential to help spread the floor.

[EricaLubarsky]

I love this team.

Luka finally stepped up.

PJ had his first off-game. He was still awesome, but just not god mode, but DJJ stepped up big time. This team is good at always finding some new contributors.

Crazy good defense

Abused them on the boards (+13)

Lively had a solid stat line (11-10) but it was the intagibles that won out. Hard to even imagine he is a rookie. He's starting to look like 2011 Tyson Chandler and yet he wasn't even 20 when the season started and won't be able to drink until next valentines day.

Kai has not even stepped up yet. Averaging only 14-7-2, but...

rving now owns a career record of 13-0 in closeout games, and he averages 23.2 points in those outings. You see the eye-popping offensive artistry on display night after night.