2024 NBA Playoffs: West Semifinals: #1 Oklahoma City Thunder vs #5 Dallas Mavericks (DAL WINS 4-2)

[Charlesareed]

Luka chocked at the free throw line plain and simple he’s missed quite a few free throws this series the whole Dallas team has missed lots of free throws I’d rather have kyrie at the line instead of Luka both Luka & kyrie no showed they got plenty held from role players pj Washington & DDJ and lost a close game that came down to the free throw battle

[dygaction]

I think if I'm Kidd I try to limit Luka to 35 minutes a game tops which will be difficult I admit, but he just can't give 40+. Let most of those minutes sitting be in the first half however you've got to do it. You'll probably give up some points during the time he's sitting but the way he's playing he's worn out in the second half so you're losing points at the end of games anyway.

I've been seeing it even during the regular season when he was healthy he would just toy with teams in the first half score 18 but Kyrie would be the closer in the 4th quarter not Luka because Luka had nothing left.

I think you mentally and physically invested way too much in the past few months so someone has to answer for it. Poeple depicted as a beatiful thing to see for them to take over first/second half and claimed great chemistry, and now it was because Luka had nothing left? What about the period when Kyrie was out?

A 2:2 tie between #5 seed and #1 with an injured Luka and a bad game from Kyrie is not the end of the world.

[shmoosicle]

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Wow talk about a throw-back performance, you almost never see a player effective in that area anymore.

[Dadouv47]

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?r

I love Cason. He's a rookie and is only 20 years old. No high ceiling but he's gonna be an elite role player for a long time.

[Texas Chuck]

I love Cason. He's a rookie and is only 20 years old. No high ceiling but he's gonna be an elite role player for a long time.

Yep felt like OKC overpaid at the time to move up 2 spots to get him, but nope. Taking on the Bertans deal totally worth ensuring you get your guy. Hate that you get Dort off the court and there is still Wallace. And then really hate those lineups with both of them.

Such a great pick.

[HotRocks34]

Good Mares and Legler talk here about Luka and Kyrie. Mostly focused on Luka.

Well deserved call outs and discussion. First segment.

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Dallas technically lost this game late but they got sloppy early IMO once they built like a 14 point lead. That style allowed OKC to hang in and eventually get the win.

Also, great OKC offensive rebounding.

Dallas IMO has the formula for this series but they got too loose and went off script and it burned them in the end of Game 4.

[QPR]

Shai 11 blocks in the series so far

[MoneyTalks41890]

Shai 11 blocks in the series so far

Can’t find the post anymore but in the playoffs this year Chet is first at 3 blocks per game and Shai is third at 1.8 bpg.

[baldur]

You should eliminate when your opponent's best player is pj washington.

[tamaraw08]

Maybe its just me, but are Mavs fans not frustrated by the lack of shot attempts from Kyrie? In no world should one of the most talented scorers in league history be taking fewer than 15 shots a game. Mavs need to lighten the load on the Luka and let Kyrie cook in game 5.

I feel like Kyrie could score 40 any night he wanted.

And I wish he was just selfish in the 4th last night, but he was so good creating for others last night its hard to fault him for making the correct play over and over instead of hunting his own.

But yeah I want him to pull Luka aside and say this is your team, this will always be your team, I have deferred all year and will next year again, but you aren't right, let me do this for you for now. And then just cook.

I know he looks like he’s in great shape but is it possible that he no longer can play at a very high level for more than 30 minutes?
He’s 32, have played a total of more than 28,000 minutes and he had injuries too. I think this is the main reason he’s not pouring it on early.

[Baz]

so much hate everywhere

The playoffs this year are bringing out the worst in us

I dont remember it ever being this bad. The Wolves were crowned Champs, Mavs were going to steam roll as well and both series were over.

Now it's 2-2 and they're both best of 3s.

The 2021 Bucks were garbage & Giannis was never going to be a champion according to this board after being down 0-2 in the finals

[robbie84]

Jason Kidd is just an awful coach. The defense the whole game was just awful. The Mavs have made a gigantic mistake signing him long term.
He is simply riding the coat tails of Luka and Kyrie and adding nothing of value.

[OldeBoy]

Jason Kidd is just an awful coach. The defense the whole game was just awful. The Mavs have made a gigantic mistake signing him long term.
He is simply riding the coat tails of Luka and Kyrie and adding nothing of value.

IDK, about Jason Kidd as a head coach, but Dallas has been playing fantastic defense. Not sure what you are watching.

[ChipotleWest]

Jason Kidd is just an awful coach. The defense the whole game was just awful. The Mavs have made a gigantic mistake signing him long term.
He is simply riding the coat tails of Luka and Kyrie and adding nothing of value.

The defense was awful for one quarter (4th) but was good otherwise, holding them to only 65 points through 3 quarters. They lost by 4 and made 52% of their free throws if they just made 67% of their free throws they win the game. That's on the offense. This is the worst offensive team left in the playoffs other than Cleveland if they don't have Donovan Mitchell, because Luka isn't Luka and Kyrie isn't shooting enough. PJ Washington has been the best Mav on offense, someone known for defense.

I give OKC credit though because they're sending Chet to help Dort if Luka gets in the paint and they're usually doubling Kyrie. It's a great defensive strategy because the Mavs were so dependent on Luka and Kyrie to score more than 50% of the Mavs points in the regular season. If PJ had not been this good on offense this series would have likely been a sweep in favor of OKC.

[Mavrelous]

Defense have been amazing, it was SGA doing superstar things and few lucky bounces that resulted in few offensive boards in the 4th.

[durden_tyler]

My Dallas series bet is trembling after that G4 collapse. However, i’ve seen enough of these teams this series (and previous series) to tell me that the Mavs are the slightly better team.

I do think OKC will still play inspired G5 and will get the win there. Dallas loses Wednesday but shocks the world with back to back wins in the last two.


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[sfernald]

You should eliminate when your opponent's best player is pj washington.

You can stop the Luka’s and the Kyrie’s of the world, but PJ will always get his points.

[tsherkin]

Shai's mid-range game is amazing. And while he doesn't get as high as MJ did, the way he uses the fade is similar. I mean, it's a common enough shot, so you could say that about many, but the way he sets it up is kind of like Old MJ, like Washington MJ but with much more foot speed. It's kind of neat to see. In a time of rim-or-three, he's showing a way to still be absurdly efficient without taking a billion 3s. Quite skillful.

[Doranku]

Mavs need one of those games where both Luka and Kyrie go off, feels like we haven't seen it happen a single time in the playoffs yet. OKC has held Luka to under 20 points twice and Kyrie under 10 points twice.

[MoneyTalks41890]

Yeah without trying for this coming off too strong, there wasn’t much that could be done to defend some of those SGA mid range shots. In fact on most of them the defense was quite good.