2016 Playoffs Round 1: OKC Thunder vs. Dallas Mavericks

[Pillendreher]

German Mavericks fans are so salty. Saying they've lost all respect for Durant, that both Westbrook and Payne are clowns, that Cuban was right, that they'd never want Westbrook on their team.

That's what 5 years of meaninglessness dies to you I guess. So salty.

[Mick75]

Just read it over there...I have no words...

[getrichordie]

I can't decide if our team is too confident or not. I'm not sure how I feel about this series and everything that transpired in it. Where did all this beef come from? Was it spurned by Charlie V interrupting Westbrook and Payne's pre-game outine?

I can't lie, I definitely expected Durant and Westbrook to take the high road and conduct themselves with a little bit more class. I'm a little disappointed.

Hopefully, our guys can get humble real quick as we get ready to face Pop & Co. We are going to need all the humility we can get.

By the way, what happened in Game 5? Did Durant and Westbrook just decide to take over or did Dallas make it a point to cover Ibaka, leaving lanes for Durant and Westbrook?

[Bergmaniac]

By the way, what happened in Game 5? Did Durant and Westbrook just decide to take over or did Dallas make it a point to cover Ibaka, leaving lanes for Durant and Westbrook?

Westbrook was getting wide open looks all the time and his shot was falling, so he took advantage. The Mavs also paid more attention to Ibaka this time, plus he passed on quite a few open looks from 3 IIRC.

[Texas Chuck]

Chuck, if you're reading this, I love you, but that postgame presser was balm to my soul.

Durant's response was spot on perfect. Not sure what Cuban's thought process was before the game, but if you claim Russ ain't a superstar, you deserve to be called an idiot.

[Texas Chuck]

So even in the two games where our defense was suspect combined with Dallas making quite a few tough shots, we still win by 11 and 14. That speaks to the talent discrepancy more than anything, but still. And Dallas needed Durant and Westbrook to shoot a combined 15/55 and turn the ball over 11 times to eek out a one point win in their lone victory.

I think that series ended with the 3rd or 4th highest total margin of victory in 7 game playoff history? So yeah it was definitely a total mismatch and we needed Durant to set a record for missed shots to win a game by 1 point that we came within a fraction of a second of losing anyway....

But the Mavs fought hard the entire way and never gave up and as a fan I can't ask for more than that. Good luck in the next round against the Spurs. Westbrook is likely to have a big series and will need to with Durant not totally in form and now he has to deal with Kawhi. Should be a great series, tho I have to admit I think the Spurs have the edge--in particular Pop V Donovan.

[NaturalThunder]

So even in the two games where our defense was suspect combined with Dallas making quite a few tough shots, we still win by 11 and 14. That speaks to the talent discrepancy more than anything, but still. And Dallas needed Durant and Westbrook to shoot a combined 15/55 and turn the ball over 11 times to eek out a one point win in their lone victory.

I think that series ended with the 3rd or 4th highest total margin of victory in 7 game playoff history? So yeah it was definitely a total mismatch and we needed Durant to set a record for missed shots to win a game by 1 point that we came within a fraction of a second of losing anyway....

But the Mavs fought hard the entire way and never gave up and as a fan I can't ask for more than that. Good luck in the next round against the Spurs. Westbrook is likely to have a big series and will need to with Durant not totally in form and now he has to deal with Kawhi. Should be a great series, tho I have to admit I think the Spurs have the edge--in particular Pop V Donovan.

Yeah, as a Mavs fan I wouldn't be ashamed of my team's showing. Even fully healthy winning this series would've been a tall order for the Mavs; add in the long list of injuries only made it even more difficult. But they managed to win one game and competed decently well in two others. Last night's game ended up being a 14 point margin of victory for OKC, but the Mavs were within four with about three minutes to go in the 4th.

I can't see us winning next round, especially if Durant can't get his crap together which will be even more difficult with two-time reigning DPOY guarding him. And like you said, Popovich vs Donovan is a big coaching mismatch in San Antonio's favor. We'll see, though. If we're clicking, we do have the athletes and the offensive potency to not only hang with the Spurs, but to actually beat them.

[Bravenewworld]

I thinkt hey exited the series after game 1 and started to focus on the spurs. Which luckily didnt turn out worse for us.

I think this is the case. They smacked them in the first game and knew they'd win the series no matter what. It's always been about effort with this time, all season long. Of course we didn't look spectacular against them, but we still beat them and that's all that counts at this points. +18.4 NetRtG with Durant having the worst series of his career and Dirk turning back the clock several times: I'll take that.

But don't get me wrong: In order to have a shot against the Spurs, we have to take our game to the next level.

We just have to play like we normally do in the POs against the Spurs.
They cant handle Ibaka and Durant so they need to pick their posion, which will be Ibaka. But theyve also never had to deal with such an effective Adams and the offensive beast that is Kanter. Of course Westbrook, there's nothing they can do about him at all.
Cam will have a big series too. The Spurs have shown to let, even our young guards, have their way with them.

[Pillendreher]

Cam will have a big series too. The Spurs have shown to let, even our young guards, have their way with them.

You really think Cam will play? I don't trust Donovan to make that decision. I'm pretty sure he's gonna go with Foye for at least a couple of games before he realizes that he's **** up our rotation by doing that.

[Bravenewworld]

Cam will have a big series too. The Spurs have shown to let, even our young guards, have their way with them.

You really think Cam will play? I don't trust Donovan to make that decision. I'm pretty sure he's gonna go with Foye for at least a couple of games before he realizes that he's **** up our rotation by doing that.

If Cam gets minutes, this series will be the one and really the only one that justifies having a rookie point in.

[actively]

I am sure Kanter and Dion are very underrated in this group, and both of them still young and have heart for OKC, but lately KD is not playing with heart. I am afraid he will continue to do so in Spurs and Warriors series. If supporting cast Kanter, Dion, Adams , and Ibaka continue to play good, we have a shot at the finals no matter how Kd plays. Donovan wont make the same mistakes he did in Game 2. It will be interesting to know that many writers in this forum will still unhappy with Kanter and Dion.

I knew Kanter and Dion were underrated in this forum, wrote about it in Dallas series, both of them young, one is 23, and the other 25, and had issues with previous coaches. I am happy that OKC played with heart and finally Donovan figured out to play Kanter 30 minutes when it mattered most. We won despite too many turnovers.

[bondom34]

He's got me eating crow this series so far, I'm glad to say .

[actively]

He's got me eating crow this series so far, I'm glad to say .

I think we also underestimate how young OKC is, a plus in playoffs as time goes on, than old Spur guys.

[bondom34]

He's got me eating crow this series so far, I'm glad to say .

I think we also underestimate how young OKC is, a plus in playoffs as time goes on, than old Spur guys.

Especially Adams/Kanter, they're too athletic.

[actively]

He's got me eating crow this series so far, I'm glad to say .

I think we also underestimate how young OKC is, a plus in playoffs as time goes on, than old Spur guys.

Especially Adams/Kanter, they're too athletic.

I am happy that they are friends and help each other, Adams also exceeded my expectations at both end of floor.