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

[Archx]

So, SGA "a well rounded 2-way player, great defensive guard, etc...

Uhm, maybe some credit to Luka as well?

Same DRTG as SGA in the series and held OKC players to 39.8% shooting in direct matchups at a very respectable sample size of 15.5 DFGA.

For the entire playoffs Luka is holding players to only 40.3% shooting. SGA at 45%.

Are the narratives still too strong or we allowed to give praise?

[Raps in 4]

Send this stat to Presti .

What Presti has done to try to fix the lack of team rebounding borders on malpractice.

Chet was OKC's sole rim protector and was the only one really challenging shots at the rim while having to rebound at the same time. Dallas got a lot of rebounds off of misses that Chet forced, but there was no one to clean up after him.

It was obvious OKC weakness was rebounding and to have a rookie Chet as your only real big-man is insane. OKC is actually very fortunate he didn't get an injury playing all of the regular season and playoffs. Jaylin Williams (not J-Dub) looked terrible as a 5.

Kinda feels Presti threw away a year of OKC being true contenders.

That’s the thing. He didn’t really try .

He needs to make an offer to Masai for Poeltl.

[Ssj16]

I watched the last 3 minutes of last night's game on replay and I was impressed by both teams. I'm so proud of Shai as a Canadian and my biggest takeaway as usual is just how scary the west is.

Western Conference Finals should be fun.

[Johnny Tomala]

I had Mavericks in 6. I was right.

[ChipotleWest]

Something to keep in mind, Dereck Lively's mother died just last month, and this guy is a 20 year old rookie. I think it's made him grow up right before our eyes.

[ChipotleWest]

Read on Twitter

[Deivork]

Congrats Dallas, I was rooting for them this series. But hat off to OKC, they deserved to win tonight and a Game 7. Future is theirs.

[Handlez]

So, SGA "a well rounded 2-way player, great defensive guard, etc...

Uhm, maybe some credit to Luka as well?

Same DRTG as SGA in the series and held OKC players to 39.8% shooting in direct matchups at a very respectable sample size of 15.5 DFGA.

For the entire playoffs Luka is holding players to only 40.3% shooting. SGA at 45%.

Are the narratives still too strong or we allowed to give praise?

https://youtu.be/HofUQhnToWM?si=SaFXR6IBqD039t1Q

[Deivork]

I gotta say, ive had a lot of issues with Kidd in the RS, but this is the 2nd playoff run that i am extremely impressed by how prepared his Mavs have come into series and how theyve been able to adjust game to game.

Is there such thing as a playoff coach? Playoff Kidd?

While I agree for the most part, I don't think Mavs were engaged enough tonight. Luka and Kidd almost lost them the game imo. Luka with his antics and Kidd allowing the 2Q run.

[Deivork]

MVP talent. 2 budding stars. Max cap space. Lotto pick and like 20 1st rounders over the next 5 years

Who can possibly stop OKC this decade?

Absolutely fantastic prospects, add in good coaching, GMing and team culture but yeah I'm afraid Jokic can stop them for a while.

[Los_29]

MVP talent. 2 budding stars. Max cap space. Lotto pick and like 20 1st rounders over the next 5 years

Who can possibly stop OKC this decade?

Wemby.

No player can do it alone, and while SAS has some decent assets (2 lotto picks and hawks picks), they dont have any real good young talent besides Wemby. Theyre gonna have to hit on picks and actually build well before theyre a real threat to OKC's western primacy

Even Denver is now showing how mediocre they are around Jokic. OKC has a path to Lebron like Eastern conference dominance

OKC needs to sign all of their players. Their top 3 guys are going to be very expensive. That’s going to be in just two years time. Their FRPs are also not that great. They only have a couple of picks that are pretty intriguing. They might end up having to use some of them to try and get cheap talent to fill out their bench because even guys like Dort is going to cost money.

[Dacost]

Weird to say this. But it feels like the better team lost. If Dallas and OKC play 50 games I feel like OKC wins.

So a team Beats another team in 6 games and yet the other team was better ?????

What in world is wrong with some basketball fans NBA playoffs make so the best team always wins that's why it takes 4 games to win.

This 50 game crap is the most stupidest argument I ever seen.

[Bergmaniac]

tried telling people. Luka vs Jokic is pre-ordained since the all-star game. Luka winning a championship will happen this season because the NBA wants to lock him in as one of the faces of the league. They want that Euro market fully invested in him and the NBA. He can't ascend without first winning a title. League is rigged y'all. Doesn't mean you can't still enjoy watching world-class athletes play the game you love. Like a scripted TV show it's still enjoyable

Your trolling act is getting way too obvious, man, you need to tone it down a bit.

The Euro market, LOL. Slovenia has smaller population than 36 US states. And the rest of Europe won't watch more because there is a Slovenian winning a title.Especially with Jokic already winning last year.

[sikma42]

Something to keep in mind, Dereck Lively's mother died just last month, and this guy is a 20 year old rookie. I think it's made him grow up right before our eyes.

I can’t even imagine this at 20. What a performance and wish him the best through the healing process.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM mobile app

[mcfly1204]

tried telling people. Luka vs Jokic is pre-ordained since the all-star game. Luka winning a championship will happen this season because the NBA wants to lock him in as one of the faces of the league. They want that Euro market fully invested in him and the NBA. He can't ascend without first winning a title. League is rigged y'all. Doesn't mean you can't still enjoy watching world-class athletes play the game you love. Like a scripted TV show it's still enjoyable

Your trolling act is getting way too obvious, man, you need to tone it down a bit.

The Euro market, LOL. Slovenia has smaller population than 36 US states. And the rest of Europe won't watch more because there is a Slovenian winning a title.Especially with Jokic already winning last year.

Nationally televised games (TNT, ESPN, ABC) have only been averaging 1.62 million viewers, so a prospective target market of Slovenia, or Europe for that matter, is kind of a big deal/opportunity.

[ChipotleWest]

Something to keep in mind, Dereck Lively's mother died just last month, and this guy is a 20 year old rookie. I think it's made him grow up right before our eyes.

I can’t even imagine this at 20. What a performance and wish him the best through the healing process.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM mobile app

There might be something to the fact that his mother dying not only impacted Lively, but all the other Mavs. You know they have to sympathize with the guy and not only want him to succeed but maybe they have rallied around him and are inspired, and want him to keep playing basketball as long as possible.

Kyrie's maturity has also no doubt played a positive role for this team and Lively. The game the Thunder decided to Hack-a-Lively and Lively took off running from Chet Kyrie had a talk with him and said "you don't have to do that, just go up there and make your free throws, we believe in you" and after that, he made all his free throws the rest of the game.

There's something special here about these Mavs that many don't even see.

[mcfly1204]

Something to keep in mind, Dereck Lively's mother died just last month, and this guy is a 20 year old rookie. I think it's made him grow up right before our eyes.

I can’t even imagine this at 20. What a performance and wish him the best through the healing process.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM mobile app

There might be something to the fact that his mother dying not only impacted Lively, but all the other Mavs. You know they have to sympathize with the guy and not only want him to succeed but maybe they have rallied around him and are inspired, and want him to keep playing basketball as long as possible.

Kyrie's maturity has also no doubt played a positive role for this team and Lively. The game the Thunder decided to Hack-a-Lively and Lively took off running from Chet Kyrie had a talk with him and said "you don't have to do that, just go up there and make your free throws, we believe in you" and after that, he made all his free throws the rest of the game.

There's something special here about these Mavs that many don't even see.

Did you just make a positive comment about Kyrie's leadership qualities?...

[FarBeyondDriven]

tried telling people. Luka vs Jokic is pre-ordained since the all-star game. Luka winning a championship will happen this season because the NBA wants to lock him in as one of the faces of the league. They want that Euro market fully invested in him and the NBA. He can't ascend without first winning a title. League is rigged y'all. Doesn't mean you can't still enjoy watching world-class athletes play the game you love. Like a scripted TV show it's still enjoyable

Your trolling act is getting way too obvious, man, you need to tone it down a bit.

The Euro market, LOL. Slovenia has smaller population than 36 US states. And the rest of Europe won't watch more because there is a Slovenian winning a title.Especially with Jokic already winning last year.

you gonna be okay? Does someone believing the NBA is rigged hurt your feelings and constitute trolling? Get over yourself. I'm entitled to my opinions. Imagine believing a white European has no affect on viewership and popularity of the NBA in Europe. Seriously, imagine thinking that.

How do you think MJ was able to become so popular worldwide? By winning titles, being in commercials, movies, video games and playing in the Olympics. He helped open up the global market. Which brought in revenue for the league. The NBA had to protect their golden boy MJ by literally changing the rules to facilitate that rise.

Doncic has already had a major affect on the European market. He's inspired so many kids and now Europeans are beating us in international play. Last year's #1 and likely this year's #1 player are from France. Kids coming up are emulating his style of play like they did when Steph hit the scene. How are you not aware of this?

edit - and I'm not trolling. I legit believe the NBA is rigged because I've lived through so much of it. The Knicks getting Ewing. The Spurs getting Duncan. The NBA steering Kobe to the Lakers. And the straw that broke the camel's back was the 2002 playoffs where we lost to the Lakers because of officiating. That was when I really started to pay attention and the evidence kept piling up. The vetoed Paul trade. The officiating in the 2006 and 2010 Finals. The rigged 2016 Finals. The Cavs getting the #1 pick multiple times. The Pelicans getting the #1 pick after losing AD. The Spurs getting Wembanyama. How the rules have changed. How the league favors its superstars. How playoffs are officiated. There's so many other examples I don't feel like getting into. If you don't want to believe it than more power to you

[ChipotleWest]

I can’t even imagine this at 20. What a performance and wish him the best through the healing process.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM mobile app

There might be something to the fact that his mother dying not only impacted Lively, but all the other Mavs. You know they have to sympathize with the guy and not only want him to succeed but maybe they have rallied around him and are inspired, and want him to keep playing basketball as long as possible.

Kyrie's maturity has also no doubt played a positive role for this team and Lively. The game the Thunder decided to Hack-a-Lively and Lively took off running from Chet Kyrie had a talk with him and said "you don't have to do that, just go up there and make your free throws, we believe in you" and after that, he made all his free throws the rest of the game.

There's something special here about these Mavs that many don't even see.

Did you just make a positive comment about Kyrie's leadership qualities?...

Absolutely, this is a different Kyrie than Cleveland Kyrie, Boston Kyrie, or Brooklyn Kyrie.

[jourdy]

I wonder where that clown who said Mavs fans should be ashamed /alarmed after seeing Luka and Kyrie laugh at the bench while losing Game 1.