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

[Texas Chuck]

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.

Dallas could simply try blitzing him and getting the ball out of his hands. Not sure I think that's a good idea, but its something they could have tried. It's what teams do when Luka gets on one. But like Luka SGA is a willing passer and in non-Giddey lineups, I don't think Dallas wants to play 3 on 4.

He's an all-NBA 1st team guy for a reason. There aren't good solutions.

[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.

Dallas could simply try blitzing him and getting the ball out of his hands. Not sure I think that's a good idea, but its something they could have tried. It's what teams do when Luka gets on one. But like Luka SGA is a willing passer and in non-Giddey lineups, I don't think Dallas wants to play 3 on 4.

He's an all-NBA 1st team guy for a reason. There aren't good solutions.

It’s probably worth a shot. SGA isn’t the passer Luka is but the team has seen some of that and as long as it’s mostly shooters on the floor and they can move to spots to make it easy for SGA to pass out I think they could overcome that, because he’s not a bad passer. But he’s also not going to turn a double into a no look lob. J Dub makes fun of Shai’s lobs.

[Devilanche]

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.

Yeap. Who knew the true successor to MJ would be PJ.

[5IVE5TAR5]

Winner of tonight may be the one to advance into the WCF.

Ngl I kind of want Thunder to win just to prove all the media wrong about youth, experience and all those narratives that they've continued to shatter. Talent, health, continuity, their togetherness trumps youth and experience. These guys are like a true brotherhood that really want to see each other succeed and excel, it's not about a bag with them (for now). That's deadly and can bring even the biggest colossal to their knees.

[slick_watts]

shai has a bit of history struggling with double teams this season especially in minutes where jalen williams is not on the court with him. could be something to look at.

[CodeBreaker]

Luka eating booger will cost them this series

[ChipotleWest]

I'm not even sweating if we lose this series anymore, because there's no way the Mavs would beat that guy in Denver anyway with this Luka at 50%, so go ahead and put me out of my misery sooner or not I don't care.

[Texas Chuck]

I got lectured by West for being a bad fan and this guy is giving up lol.

I will continue to root for the little underdog Mavs even as I understand OKC is really good and a challenge. And if Dallas were to somehow advance, I will root for them against their next opponent. And not concede games before they are played.

[JustBuzzin]

Dallas probably has a better chance at beating the Nuggets for my sake I hope they win this series.

OKC is just too young to put up a fight vs Denver.

[ChipotleWest]

Dallas probably has a better chance at beating the Nuggets for my sake I hope they win this series.

OKC is just too young to put up a fight vs Denver.

If Luka was 100% I wouldn't make a comment like that. But I don't think I can recall a team make the Finals where their superstar hasn't been healthy the entire playoffs and that player is shooting way worse than he normally does and his numbers are way down. That seems crazy to me. And then you got the MVP on the other team.

Dallas is a very good defensive team but Jokic is handling Minnesota the best defensive team as we speak.

It would be a massive upset in my opinion, like one of the biggest because of Luka's health.

[JustBuzzin]

Dallas probably has a better chance at beating the Nuggets for my sake I hope they win this series.

OKC is just too young to put up a fight vs Denver.

If Luka was 100% I wouldn't make a comment like that. But I don't think I can recall a team make the Finals where their superstar hasn't been healthy the entire playoffs and that player is shooting way worse than he normally does and his numbers are way down. That seems crazy to me. And then you got the MVP on the other team.

Dallas is a very good defensive team but Jokic is handling Minnesota the best defensive team as we speak.

I actually had Dallas beating Denver in the WCF before the playoffs started.

Luka not being healthy obviously hurts their chances. Still I think they would put up a better fight than OKC even with a hobbled Luka.

[ChipotleWest]

Dallas probably has a better chance at beating the Nuggets for my sake I hope they win this series.

OKC is just too young to put up a fight vs Denver.

If Luka was 100% I wouldn't make a comment like that. But I don't think I can recall a team make the Finals where their superstar hasn't been healthy the entire playoffs and that player is shooting way worse than he normally does and his numbers are way down. That seems crazy to me. And then you got the MVP on the other team.

Dallas is a very good defensive team but Jokic is handling Minnesota the best defensive team as we speak.

I actually had Dallas beating Denver in the WCF before the playoffs started.

Luka not being healthy obviously hurts their chances. Still I think they would put up a better fight than OKC even with a hobbled Luka.

Probably so, as Jokic would cook Chet and they're too young. Either way it's looking like Boston vs Denver Finals.

[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.

Yeap. Who knew the true successor to MJ would be PJ.

I would have thought it would been NJ, OJ and then finally PJ! Ps NJ = Joker.

[MoneyTalks41890]

I love talking about these matchups like these teams have never seen each other before.

[jkvonny]

I'm not even sweating if we lose this series anymore, because there's no way the Mavs would beat that guy in Denver anyway with this Luka at 50%, so go ahead and put me out of my misery sooner or not I don't care.

Or Minnesota (if they come back).

[ChipotleWest]

I'm not even sweating if we lose this series anymore, because there's no way the Mavs would beat that guy in Denver anyway with this Luka at 50%, so go ahead and put me out of my misery sooner or not I don't care.

Or Minnesota (if they come back).

I'd give Dallas a better chance of beating Minnesota, just because both teams play great defense they have Ant but we have Kyrie and hobbled Luka is stilll better than their second best scorer KAT IMO. I think it could go either way I could see it going 7.

[ChipotleWest]

I love talking about these matchups like these teams have never seen each other before.

Regular season matchups don't matter that much when it comes to the playoffs. Suns swept Wolves in the regular season then Wolves swept them back in the playoffs. If you just look at W/L records from the record season you might see "Minnesota beat Dallas 3-1" "OKC beat Dallas 3-1" but some of those games were before we got Gafford or PJ Washington at the trade deadline and Kyrie missed like 20 games. If OKC wins this series it's not because they had our number from the regular season.

[MoneyTalks41890]

I love talking about these matchups like these teams have never seen each other before.

Regular season matchups don't matter that much when it comes to the playoffs. Suns swept Wolves in the regular season then Wolves swept them back in the playoffs. If you just look at W/L records from the record season you might see "Minnesota beat Dallas 3-1" "OKC beat Dallas 3-1" but some of those games were before we got Gafford or PJ Washington at the trade deadline and Kyrie missed like 20 games. If OKC wins this series it's not because they had our number from the regular season.

The comment did not pertain to Dallas.

[ChipotleWest]

I love talking about these matchups like these teams have never seen each other before.

Regular season matchups don't matter that much when it comes to the playoffs. Suns swept Wolves in the regular season then Wolves swept them back in the playoffs. If you just look at W/L records from the record season you might see "Minnesota beat Dallas 3-1" "OKC beat Dallas 3-1" but some of those games were before we got Gafford or PJ Washington at the trade deadline and Kyrie missed like 20 games. If OKC wins this series it's not because they had our number from the regular season.

The comment did not pertain to Dallas.

Doesn't matter I'm just giving examples. We've never seen Denver vs. OKC or Denver vs. Dallas in a playoff series, or Minnesota vs. OKC or Minnesota vs. Dallas. At least not with these rosters.

[Archx]

Luka eating booger will cost them this series

Don't worry they are working hard on fixing their problems, mainly FT shooting.

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