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

[saclare]

Meh....deep breaths people...

I can't fucking stand SGA's game and it's going to be one long and annoying series if he continues to get the regular season foul call treatment. To go so drastically from a physical series with the Clippers, to all the basketball world fawning over the Timberwolves style of defense and physicality to...that? Horrendous product. Makes you want to give credit to conspiracy theories and scripts. I get that some of the fouls were just out of position or perhaps just bad defense, but man, some of that bullshit last night was unwatchable. The "foul" on Gafford? The 3 quickies for PJ, at least 1 of which was horseshit. But I digress, the Mavs simply didn't do enough for it to really matter in the end. Gotta hope the refs fall back to let these guys play. Hell, if fucking Lu Dort can play football out there, at least let us match it...

Still, this was on the Mavs and not being ready yet again for a game 1. I don't know what it is with this group of coaches and players, but it's going to bite them in the ass to have these slow starts and long stretches of just...meh...

Player of the game: Gafford by a mile.

Opposite of that: Lively looking like a rookie playing his first game. Truly awful performance from him in a game we needed it the most and a series we will need him to step up, especially without Maxi. He will even tell you he played like ass

Rebounding and turnovers. You simply can't lose the rebounding battle against OKC. The only real reason you would is lack of effort. I think there was some ownership of that in the postgame, but again, where the fuck is that for 100% of a series? Hell, gimme 100% of one game!

Still plenty of series left, but I'd surmise that the Mavs have to win game 2. It would be too much of a hole and OKC is good enough to snag one in Dallas. Have to come out swinging and aggressive, counter their bullshit full court "style" where there's plenty enough contact that if it were reversed, SGA would have 30 free throws...