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

[EmpireFalls]

Why the **** did we have to trade PJ man…

[Raps in 4]

OKC has been exposed. Worst #1 seed since the 2018 Raptors?

[Doranku]

I remember making a post when the Mavs traded for PJ saying he wasn't what the Mavs needed.. boy was I wrong. Dude has saved their season.

[Raps in 4]

OKC should trade some picks for Poeltl. It's a win-win trade.

[BrianInPhilly]

OKC has been exposed. Worst #1 seed since the 2018 Raptors?

... Even if they lose in 6, they're not close to the worst #1 seed. They would still have a winning record in the playoffs.

[HotRocks34]

Luka sealed this game late and did it with his defense.

Way to step up despite the physical issues.

[ItsDanger]

When OKC prefers a 5 out system, they then concede offensive rebound opportunities.

[Ambrose]

Luka hobbling around getting beat the hell up every game. Can Dallas bubble wrap him or something? If he was healthy, they'd be scary for anyone and everyone.

[MrGoat]

This was a weird game. Sometimes Luka made me want to pull my hair out, but he did have a great steal he took all the way for a clutch basket and to his credit only took 4 3s this time.

As much as people talk about OKC's inexperience, this is PJ Washington's first playoffs and he's been outrageously good

Dereck Lively led the Mavs in +/- for the second time in a row despite still playing one of the worst offensive games I'd ever seen out of him yet again. Daigneault was so desperate to get him out of there on the defensive end he made one of the first truly earnest attempts I'd seen at hack a Shaq in years, and it completely backfired. He went 8/12 and swished the last 4.

Honestly, both teams should have been shooting a lot more free throws.

[zeebneeb]

Here is the ridiculous Chet Lively chase.


https://youtube.com/shorts/5psnJj3J3DQ?si=feTxaYS9R-yVQJnk

[HotRocks34]

Read on Twitter

[NZB2323]

I like those 24-1 odds I got on the Mavs.

[ChipotleWest]

This was a weird game. Sometimes Luka made me want to pull my hair out, but he did have a great steal he took all the way for a clutch basket and to his credit only took 4 3s this time.

As much as people talk about OKC's inexperience, this is PJ Washington's first playoffs and he's been outrageously good

Dereck Lively led the Mavs in +/- for the second time in a row despite still playing one of the worst offensive games I'd ever seen out of him yet again. Daigneault was so desperate to get him out of there on the defensive end he made one of the first truly earnest attempts I'd seen at hack a Shaq in years, and it completely backfired. He went 8/12 and swished the last 4.

Honestly, both teams should have been shooting a lot more free throws.

Gafford had a total of 5 playoff games with Wizards, Lively obviously no prior experience as well. But Washington is playing like he's the star of the team it's pretty incredible.

[jigga_man]

Here is the ridiculous Chet Lively chase.


https://youtube.com/shorts/5psnJj3J3DQ?si=feTxaYS9R-yVQJnk

Looking like a prime Klay running through screens

[ChipotleWest]

OKC has been exposed. Worst #1 seed since the 2018 Raptors?

2021 Utah Jazz say hi.

[slick_watts]

i'm really disappointed in coach daigneault. the thunder have the horses to run this race but he is just pressing the wrong buttons over and over again. starting josh giddey is the obvious misstep, but continuing to play gordon hayward and isaiah joe only playing 19 minutes in this one is even more bizarre. at least there's a semi-justifiable excuse to stick with josh giddey. gordon hayward is a sunk cost. perhaps the most perplexing roster decision is not playing kenrich williams at all. williams is part of many of the thunder's best lineups the last two seasons, is an elite corner shooter, and is probably one of the few guys on the thunder who would be right at home in the prison rules playoffs era. but he can't even see the court.

worse than all of that combined was his decision to start fouling derrick lively in the fourth quarter. the mavs were just as miserable as the thunder were offensively when the game got choppy, and the thunder were forcing turnovers and at least had some hope of getting into transition. but that all goes away when you foul lively- even if he misses one or both, you're forced to play in the half court against the mavs set defense. a real bizarre decision, maybe one of the worst in-game choices i have witnessed from a thunder coach. okc had a top five defense, has chet, and we're doing prison rules- and you don't trust your guys to get stops in a one possession game?

lots has been made of the thunder players' youth and inexperience. i think that's overblown. but i haven't seen much said about the thunder coaching staff's youth and inexperience. mark daigneault has never coached in the playoffs, and nor have any of the thunder bench assistants (chip has, but he's not really a bench coach). okc could really use an experienced assistant who has seen a bit of everything on the staff. as it stands, imo, the thunder coaching staff's inexperience has harmed the thunder far more than the players' in this series so far.

[sikma42]

i'm really disappointed in coach daigneault. the thunder have the horses to run this race but he is just pressing the wrong buttons over and over again. starting josh giddey is the obvious misstep, but continuing to play gordon hayward and isaiah joe only playing 19 minutes in this one is even more bizarre. at least there's a semi-justifiable excuse to stick with josh giddey. gordon hayward is a sunk cost. perhaps the most perplexing roster decision is not playing kenrich williams at all. williams is part of many of the thunder's best lineups the last two seasons, is an elite corner shooter, and is probably one of the few guys on the thunder who would be right at home in the prison rules playoffs era. but he can't even see the court.

worse than all of that combined was his decision to start fouling derrick lively in the fourth quarter. the mavs were just as miserable as the thunder were offensively when the game got choppy, and the thunder were forcing turnovers and at least had some hope of getting into transition. but that all goes away when you foul lively- even if he misses one or both, you're forced to play in the half court against the mavs set defense. a real bizarre decision, maybe one of the worst in-game choices i have witnessed from a thunder coach. okc had a top five defense, has chet, and we're doing prison rules- and you don't trust your guys to get stops in a one possession game?

lots has been made of the thunder players' youth and inexperience. i think that's overblown. but i haven't seen much said about the thunder coaching staff's youth and inexperience. mark daigneault has never coached in the playoffs, and nor have any of the thunder bench assistants (chip has, but he's not really a bench coach). okc could really use an experienced assistant who has seen a bit of everything on the staff. as it stands, imo, the thunder coaching staff's inexperience has harmed the thunder far more than the players' in this series so far.

Seems like they are shielded from this criticism. Just imagine if Kidd made those exact decisions.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM mobile app

[ChipotleWest]

i'm really disappointed in coach daigneault. the thunder have the horses to run this race but he is just pressing the wrong buttons over and over again. starting josh giddey is the obvious misstep, but continuing to play gordon hayward and isaiah joe only playing 19 minutes in this one is even more bizarre. at least there's a semi-justifiable excuse to stick with josh giddey. gordon hayward is a sunk cost. perhaps the most perplexing roster decision is not playing kenrich williams at all. williams is part of many of the thunder's best lineups the last two seasons, is an elite corner shooter, and is probably one of the few guys on the thunder who would be right at home in the prison rules playoffs era. but he can't even see the court.

worse than all of that combined was his decision to start fouling derrick lively in the fourth quarter. the mavs were just as miserable as the thunder were offensively when the game got choppy, and the thunder were forcing turnovers and at least had some hope of getting into transition. but that all goes away when you foul lively- even if he misses one or both, you're forced to play in the half court against the mavs set defense. a real bizarre decision, maybe one of the worst in-game choices i have witnessed from a thunder coach. okc had a top five defense, has chet, and we're doing prison rules- and you don't trust your guys to get stops in a one possession game?

lots has been made of the thunder players' youth and inexperience. i think that's overblown. but i haven't seen much said about the thunder coaching staff's youth and inexperience. mark daigneault has never coached in the playoffs, and nor have any of the thunder bench assistants (chip has, but he's not really a bench coach). okc could really use an experienced assistant who has seen a bit of everything on the staff. as it stands, imo, the thunder coaching staff's inexperience has harmed the thunder far more than the players' in this series so far.

Seems like they are shielded from this criticism. Just imagine if Kidd made those exact decisions.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM mobile app

Him and SGA have skated under the radar until this season and suddenly they're the #1 seed so there's no history of failure in the playoffs because they never made the playoffs. It's all rainbows and sunshine about how they overachieved but if they bow out a couple of times in the playoffs early it'll change.

[Apz]

Think OKC needs to learn to set screens if they gonna have a chance in this series

[Branduil]

Hack-a-Shaq remains an extremely stupid strategy except when two things are true.

1. The hacked team is scoring at an extremely high rate, and the hacked player is known for shooting extremely badly in the clutch.
2. The hacking team can score at a very high rate in the half-court.

Neither of these was true, all they did was build Lively's confidence and let Dallas set their defense.