2023-2024 Regular Season Game 7: Dallas Mavericks (5-1) at Orlando Magic (4-2) - 7pm

[Fortune Teller]

When teams go zone and force us to take outside shots we are going to struggle.

Also tough to win down 2 starters and 2 key reserves. But that’s our lot until Welt cuts ties with these players who never play more than 60 games in a year (Isaac, WCJ, Fultz, G. Harris).

[Bergmaniac]

Nearly half our salaries were out injured with Wendell, Fultz, Isaac, and Harris. Isn't that our top 4 salaries on the team?

Yes.

All of your top paid players being injury prone is not perfect.

[basketballRob]

When teams go zone and force us to take outside shots we are going to struggle.

Also tough to win down 2 starters and 2 key reserves. But that’s our lot until Welt cuts ties with these players who never play more than 60 games in a year (Isaac, WCJ, Fultz, G. Harris).

We're down our top 4 salaries, and the Ingles is the 5th highest and a liability on the court.

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[eyriq]

Yikes, Paolo, Franz, and Suggs had an offensive stinker last night. An offensive engine running on 2nd and 3rd year players is going to stall out at times.

[ORLMagicGirl15]

Also... theres a reason DAL is 5-1 record wise guys...

They played Spurs, Nets, Grizzlies, Bulls, Nuggets, Hornets, and Magic.

Nuggets and Magic are the only team they have played that is over .500. That is the reason why they are 5-1 and now 6-1.

6-1 is 6-1...there are no easy wins this year, every win is deserved.

Absolutely. But let’s not assume they played juggernauts and therefore it makes this loss much easier. We had a chance and we blew this one.

[eyriq]

You can imagine Fultz getting some timely buckets in the 3rd to settle things down and help us avoid a complete collapse.

[Bergmaniac]

Our defense gotta be better, bottom line. If we are going to run with all these bricklayers our defense is whats gonna carry us. When these droughts happen we gotta be able to keep up the fight defensly to stay in it. 17 points in the 3rd is bad but we also gave up 33. Defense is our clalling card. Its a good lesson cause we were feeling ourselves a bit after the LA game and the first half of this one.

No matter how good the defence is you won't win many games with an offensive rating of 103.0, which is what we had last night. Especially against a below average defensive team like Dallas. Last year the worst offensive team in the league had an offensive rating of 108.4. And top offensive teams will have big scoring quarters and runs even against the best defenses on most nights, that's the reality of the current league.

[eyriq]

Our defense gotta be better, bottom line. If we are going to run with all these bricklayers our defense is whats gonna carry us. When these droughts happen we gotta be able to keep up the fight defensly to stay in it. 17 points in the 3rd is bad but we also gave up 33. Defense is our clalling card. Its a good lesson cause we were feeling ourselves a bit after the LA game and the first half of this one.

No matter how good the defence is you won't win many games with an offensive rating of 103.0, which is what we had last night. Especially against a below average defensive team like Dallas. Last year the worst offensive team in the league had an offensive rating of 108.4. And top offensive teams will have big scoring quarters and runs even against the best defenses on most nights, that's the reality of the current league.

Our defense held them below their season average. The problem is their defense held us below ours. And our offense is already mid to poor. An average defense can hold us to a below average offense, but Dallas does not have an average defense. Really no excuse for our offense playing so poorly.

[bigdogdylan5]

The realty is we aren’t going to win with offense so our defense has to be high intensity all game because of it. For a long regular season that is really tough. But at the end of this year I hope the front office turns on this second half back on because it’s the perfect encapsulation of what is the biggest concern with this team. If a team can completely sell out to protect the paint we’re doomed. We have been getting by with Franz and Anthony shooting the lights out but for night to night consistency it isn’t enough. This should be Fultz last year, Suggs needs to show a shooting leap or he needs to go to the bench. His defense is excellent but if he can’t shoot and turns the ball over he isn’t worth it.

All that being said this team is still scratching the surface of what it can be.

[UCFJayBird]

Not going to go into everything, but I felt like I was taking crazy pills with how much the team was going to Moe in the 4th quarter. Paolo would drive and then try and dump off to him, or somehow Moe would wind up with the ball with 3 seconds on the clock and be forced to take a tough shot.

The team played great in the 1st half, and then when things got rough couldn't pull themselves out of poor play and it just spiraled. It happens with young teams. Hopefully they can learn from it.

[magik9113]

It's a forgivable loss. Let's let our young bucks grow with this

Disagree. That was truly a disaster despite our youth.

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Disastrous indeed but so was the Clippers game.
How easily we forget that we were out two starters and our best defensive player off the bench. How we bounce back in Mexico vs a division rival is key

[p0peye]

Mosely’s post game comments are solid: Can’t let our defense suffer when the shots stop falling. Need to learn how to play with a lead. Young players need to learn from this. At least he sees what we see.

Happens to everyone, that is why we very rarely see top defense from teams that such offensively. Defense is effort based category and inability to score drains mentally.

[swarlesbarkley]

Isaac's been defending well, even when the shots aren't falling. A sore hamstring isn't the end of the world. I wouldn't mind it if we hold him out to be safe.

The point really isn't that he has a sore hamstring. That happens.

It's that they've babied his minutes, held him out of the only back-to-back they've played, and he's still already feeling sore after just 5 games of very light work.

Just getting caught up on the game thread and agree that this was my reaction when I saw JI was scratched again.

Minute restriction... check.
Doesn't play back-to-backs... check.

Even if he was playing like KD on offense and Kawhi on defense would it matter? Can't trust him to play more than 10 minutes a game when he's already rarely available - how's that going to help this team in any way?

[swarlesbarkley]

I'm a pretty big Luka rookie card collector so I watch him and root for him when Dallas isn't playing the Magic... but that being said, his fake concussion deal was so annoying and clearly changed the direction of the game. Crafty move, I suppose. I wonder if more dudes are going to pretend to have a head injury on a 3 v 5 fast break?