Game 3 - 6PM PST TNT

[nickhx2]

I'm curious if we'll see any starting lineup adjustments.

Seems like the jackson is not the answer, so either he has to play better or we need someone else to step up. Unfortunately, starting lou williams is generally a bad idea (even if i think he's been playing fairly well). Praying that RJ "gets" it all of a sudden seems like a big ask, though. But I suppose it's hard to expect doc to start mann in a playoff game.

Boban's been doing a lot of work on harrell, and making it tough for him to be himself. So i do think it makes some sense to possibly let him start and let zubac play off the bench. If the team is afraid of zubac's immobility then green/PP need to be options to consider.

PG simply needs to play better or we likely won't win, unless kawhi goes supernova.

[NickP]

Doc won't try anything new. Carlisle is running circles around Doc. We have no answer for Luka. But we do have Kawhi and PG. If they each go for 30 then as usual they'll have bailed Doc. Otherwise doc is getting thoroughly exposed.

[LamarWho]

Doc's earth shattering adjustment for tonight: Replace Shamet's mins with Rodney McGarbage.

[NickP]

Doc's earth shattering adjustment for tonight: Replace Shamet's mins with Rodney McGarbage.

Or start Lou. Now that's an adjustment.

[og15]

I liked the adjustment last game of pressuring Luka full court and then sending the second defender to make him give it up and have other guys create. It slowed down the Mavs offense and was effective, but the Mavs bench were not contained.

Burke is a hot and cold player, so who knows what they'll get from him, but they need to make sure they don't let him get out in transition too easily.

The Mavs got 31 points on 13/20 FG from Curry and Burke last game, that's tough. You add Boban and it was 44 points on 19/28 FG (68%). If that can be contained to more like 14/28 FG and 34 points on those FGA (leaving the FT's the same), which is very reasonable, then you've shaved off 10 points.

Offensively while improvements can be made, PG simply needs to not play like trash and that will be good enough.

[nickhx2]

I liked the adjustment last game of pressuring Luka full court and then sending the second defender to make him give it up and have other guys create. It slowed down the Mavs offense and was effective, but the Mavs bench were not contained.

Burke is a hot and cold player, so who knows what they'll get from him, but they need to make sure they don't let him get out in transition too easily.

The Mavs got 31 points on 13/20 FG from Curry and Burke last game, that's tough. You add Boban and it was 44 points on 19/28 FG (68%). If that can be contained to more like 14/28 FG and 34 points on those FGA (leaving the FT's the same), which is very reasonable, then you've shaved off 10 points.

Offensively while improvements can be made, PG simply needs to not play like trash and that will be good enough.

yeah

you'd think that the team has enough mix and match pieces that it's not gonna let those fringe guys go off. but we're not really utilizing those pieces and the mavs have a record offense for good reason.

but really if those guys play like that for the entire series and PG keeps posting duds, then the mavs deserve to win.

[NickP]

Not bite on every pump fake and no help defense on a guy trying to shoot a 3 ball. This in itself could be an improvement.

[TucsonClip]

I think you can make the case to try to start Shamet at PG to get more off the ball actions and motion going. He isnt going to help on defense, but you can slide him over to Hardaway. or if you want to trap, you start him on Doncic and bring the help off DFS to trap.

Not sure we see a change to the starting five, but Doc has to have a quick hook with Reggie. Hes playing too many minutes and taking horrible shots, like he typically does. Reggie is the better option to trap or blitz Doncic, with his 7'0" wingspan, but can he be trusted?

[Roscoe Sheed]

I liked the adjustment last game of pressuring Luka full court and then sending the second defender to make him give it up and have other guys create. It slowed down the Mavs offense and was effective, but the Mavs bench were not contained.

Burke is a hot and cold player, so who knows what they'll get from him, but they need to make sure they don't let him get out in transition too easily.

The Mavs got 31 points on 13/20 FG from Curry and Burke last game, that's tough. You add Boban and it was 44 points on 19/28 FG (68%). If that can be contained to more like 14/28 FG and 34 points on those FGA (leaving the FT's the same), which is very reasonable, then you've shaved off 10 points.

Offensively while improvements can be made, PG simply needs to not play like trash and that will be good enough.

Burke will score like that every game if the clippers play such bad defense- usually he just waltzed down the lane for a lay up

[og15]

I think you can make the case to try to start Shamet at PG to get more off the ball actions and motion going. He isnt going to help on defense, but you can slide him over to Hardaway. or if you want to trap, you start him on Doncic and bring the help off DFS to trap.

Not sure we see a change to the starting five, but Doc has to have a quick hook with Reggie. Hes playing too many minutes and taking horrible shots, like he typically does. Reggie is the better option to trap or blitz Doncic, with his 7'0" wingspan, but can he be trusted?

Shamet starting only works if he isn't afraid to shoot, and of course if he actually starts making some shots.

Reggie wasn't as bad as people are making it out to be, like I said, he's the low hanging fruit, especially for those who don't want to get on PG. He 2-3 unnecessary shots, but overall he deffered and wasn't disruptive to the stars.

The lane was pretty congested last game, by design of course and the Clippers have to decide if they want to go full spread on the Mavs a couple of minutes here and there to throw them off.

I think to open things up, running a Williams (or other guard)/George/Leonard/Green/Morris lineup would be a good idea, you don't overplay that lineup, but it should be thrown out there as a offensive run lineup. You are small inside, but you're not small all over. You switch everything and take what comes.

The Clippers ran about 5 minutes of Williams/Beverley/George/Leonard/Morris in game 1 and it was effective, that's an even smaller lineup though, and of course small sample, but that can help open things up offensively if needed.

[nickhx2]

i definitely agree with all that.

reggie wasn't good or anything. but he also wasn't putrid. jamal crawford in his last couple years was putrid because of the things you described, taking way too many awful shots and taking the ball away from his stars.

i do think that lineup you described does sound viable. the team kinda just needs to put game-shape guys into play, and harrell and shamet are just not there. even if morris isn't really a center, he's tough enough to not just blow over. and his range would be pretty nice as a counter to boban.

[esqtvd]

I think it was Doc who said we didn't make them pay for playing Bobi. Bobi has always gotten his points everywhere he's played; it's his D that makes him unplayable. You gotta punish him at the other end. Trezz has to get back on the beam and force him back to the bench.

If we lose this one, changes will have to be tried. But you don't throw out everything just because the players didn't execute for one game. We need to feed Zu for some easy points, get PG to slow down, get Reggie to play smarter, and hope the good J-Myke shows up, not the minus-19 catastrophe from the other night.

Can't underestimate what we lose with Pat out. The energy and heart, and also his constant on-ball harassment of Doncic, who only had one TO on Wednesday after having 11 in Game 1. We might see Mann, although I don't think people appreciate that giving up a 12-2 run can happen in 90 seconds. You can't just say 'what the hell' and throw a G-Leaguer out there willy-nilly without acknowledging you can throw away a game in the blink of an eye. These are the NBA playoffs not a scrimmage.

[TucsonClip]

I dunno guys... Lou, Reggie and Shamet were getting absolutely roasted on straight line drives by Curry, Burke and Hardaway. That simply cant happen consistently if we arent going to be able to slow the Luka on the PNR either. Sure, you can say Reggie wasnt that bad on offense, I will disagree, but defensively he/they were abominable.

[TucsonClip]

I think it was Doc who said we didn't make them pay for playing Bobi. Bobi has always gotten his points everywhere he's played; it's his D that makes him unplayable. You gotta punish him at the other end. Trezz has to get back on the beam and force him back to the bench.

Made this point on twitter Wednesday, but... If Doc isnt going to play Zu down the stretch, and wants to ride Trez for his offense if we are trailing, then why doesnt he flop his C rotation during the end of third/early fourth? Boban is not a good matchup for Trez, nor our bench unit. Why not flop that matchup to have Zu matchup with Bobi second half and let Trez play against Zinger?

[MartinToVaught]

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So no adjustments, then. Reggie and Lou will still be "guarding" Doncic. Zubac will still be watching the fourth quarter from the bench. PG will have to back up his talk with a career performance, because that's the only way I see us winning tonight.

[esqtvd]

I think it was Doc who said we didn't make them pay for playing Bobi. Bobi has always gotten his points everywhere he's played; it's his D that makes him unplayable. You gotta punish him at the other end. Trezz has to get back on the beam and force him back to the bench.

Made this point on twitter Wednesday, but... If Doc isnt going to play Zu down the stretch, and wants to ride Trez for his offense if we are trailing, then why doesnt he flop his C rotation during the end of third/early fourth? Boban is not a good matchup for Trez, nor our bench unit. Why not flop that matchup to have Zu matchup with Bobi second half and let Trez play against Zinger?

Bobi averaged only 10 mpg this year. I think if Trezz is at full go the Mavs won't even be able to play him that many, making it moot. At least that's Plan A. If you recall his time with us [and I saw him a bunch in Philly], there are a lot of nights where Bobi never really gets going and gets the hook. You just got to eat him up early.

[TucsonClip]

I think it was Doc who said we didn't make them pay for playing Bobi. Bobi has always gotten his points everywhere he's played; it's his D that makes him unplayable. You gotta punish him at the other end. Trezz has to get back on the beam and force him back to the bench.

Made this point on twitter Wednesday, but... If Doc isnt going to play Zu down the stretch, and wants to ride Trez for his offense if we are trailing, then why doesnt he flop his C rotation during the end of third/early fourth? Boban is not a good matchup for Trez, nor our bench unit. Why not flop that matchup to have Zu matchup with Bobi second half and let Trez play against Zinger?

Bobi averaged only 10 mpg this year. I think if Trezz is at full go the Mavs won't even be able to play him that many, making it moot. At least that's Plan A. If you recall his time with us [and I saw him a bunch in Philly], there are a lot of nights where Bobi never really gets going and gets the hook. You just got to eat him up early.

I think matching up with Zu get him out of the game in the second half. At the very least, Zu isnt going to let him cruise down the lane off a PNR and establish position 8 feet from the basket. Trez just doesnt look ready yet, and thats understandable. If he doesnt have it, Green needs to step up, and Doc needs to adjust.

[nickhx2]

well said

[esqtvd]

Made this point on twitter Wednesday, but... If Doc isnt going to play Zu down the stretch, and wants to ride Trez for his offense if we are trailing, then why doesnt he flop his C rotation during the end of third/early fourth? Boban is not a good matchup for Trez, nor our bench unit. Why not flop that matchup to have Zu matchup with Bobi second half and let Trez play against Zinger?

Bobi averaged only 10 mpg this year. I think if Trezz is at full go the Mavs won't even be able to play him that many, making it moot. At least that's Plan A. If you recall his time with us [and I saw him a bunch in Philly], there are a lot of nights where Bobi never really gets going and gets the hook. You just got to eat him up early.

I think matching up with Zu get him out of the game in the second half. At the very least, Zu isnt going to let him cruise down the lane off a PNR and establish position 8 feet from the basket. Trez just doesnt look ready yet, and thats understandable. If he doesnt have it, Green needs to step up, and Doc needs to adjust.

Yes, if Plan A doesn't work. The idea is to outquick Bobi, so that's the only flaw in matching him up with Zu. But I do think Zu looks a tad quicker since the restart so it might work. A healthy Trezz is the best solution though since Green's game is not really in the paint. Trezz can just snake right around Bobi.

[NickP]

We have to make some adjustments. Don't agree that we need to lose 2 in a row. Had KP not been tossed we would have been in a 0-2 hole.