Playoffs 2024 - WCF - G1 - Mavs @ Wolves (Wed., 8:30PMEST)

[GermanFan120]

I voted Wolves in 6 in GB.

I am confident Mavs will collapse as usual because they are just who they are (a bunch of losers and chokers), and Wolves are as strong as the 1996 Bulls.

In fact, Wolves already won the championship this year on my mind.

When did you get a job at ESPN?

As soon as you develop some sense of humor.

[ChipotleWest]

I voted Wolves in 6 in GB.

I am confident Mavs will collapse as usual because they are just who they are (a bunch of losers and chokers), and Wolves are as strong as the 1996 Bulls.

In fact, Wolves already won the championship this year on my mind.

When did you get a job at ESPN?

As soon as you develop some sense of humor.

I was actually joking too, because that's how they act. Chill.

[fuller4379]

THJ played 10 minutes and took 0 shots had 0 rebounds and 0 assists.

Wrong! He got 4 rebounds. He also got a steal.

[arkuo]

Luka walked Mcdaniels like a dog in the park. I've seen enough. Mavs are winning this series.

[kacey ring]

So Anthony Edwards is said to hunt Kyrie. Would Kyrie scores in double digits? Minny really wants to swap the Mavs four straight.

I'm hoping this fuels Kyrie and they actually go to Kyrie more. If Ant wants to guard Kyrie, let him expend his energy on the defensive end. Kyrie's a whole new animal 1v1 vs the other guys Ant had to guard who's default was usually a jumpshot (Murray, Beal, Booker).

Nailed it. Ant was worn out! Minny likely makes an adjustment there, in particular with their first subs. They can't afford having Ant worn down to close games.

[ChipotleWest]

THJ played 10 minutes and took 0 shots had 0 rebounds and 0 assists.

Wrong! He got 4 rebounds. He also got a steal.

My bad, I looked at the stats wrong. Still didn't take a shot which is a good thing.

[Forbes]

The confidence I have in this series is through the roof. I felt like OKC was gonna be way harder harder to score on. Wolves took away our 3 and gave us the paint. I’ll have a better idea in game 2 when the Wolves decide on what defense works best. Which I don’t think anything will. We’ll have a counter

[arkuo]

Ant is good, but the bread is not fully baked at the moment. He'll get there, but not today. Mavs in 5 or 6.

[Maverick41]

So Anthony Edwards is said to hunt Kyrie. Would Kyrie scores in double digits? Minny really wants to swap the Mavs four straight.

I'm hoping this fuels Kyrie and they actually go to Kyrie more. If Ant wants to guard Kyrie, let him expend his energy on the defensive end. Kyrie's a whole new animal 1v1 vs the other guys Ant had to guard who's default was usually a jumpshot (Murray, Beal, Booker).

Nailed it. Ant was worn out! Minny likely makes an adjustment there, in particular with their first subs. They can't afford having Ant worn down to close games.

Yup. I would not be surprised if they played NAW more or even started him in G2 or later in the series. Put NAW on Kyrie, McDaniels on Luka and give allow Ant to roam around off of DJJ.

[ChipotleWest]

Green managed to transform himself into a complete scrub in only 2 months. Incredible.

To think Mavs could have had Bane,Maxey or McDaniels,yet they choose Green

True, but maybe if we had one of those we would have won more games last season and not been able to draft Lively, like if we had Maxey we probably wouldn't have a need for Kyrie it could be a completely different team now. Can't just assume all of the same moves would have been made with one of them on the roster.

[kacey ring]

THJ played 10 minutes and took 0 shots had 0 rebounds and 0 assists.

Absurd! He finally played within the game and didn't force anything! We'll take that!

[Bob8]

Fantastic win, even more considering how bad were they shooting for 3. They would be blown out in previous years with shooting like that.

[kacey ring]

Damn, I love the playoffs. And love this squad. They don't GAF what the media says. The trust on this team is through the roof.

Things I loved:
-Kyrie's explosive first half.
-Luka's playmaking. No way Minny plays anymore drop coverage. Why did it take them so long to start blitzing him?
-Jaden Hardy's minutes. He got a little cocky ovrdribbling against Ant, but his playmaking is looking good!
-PJ Washington's confidence. This guy has to keep shooting. His form looks solid. They will start falling.
-Gafford/Lively's hands, rebounding, and defense.
-THJ not forcing anything

Thing I hated
-Josh Green's decision making. WTF man!

[41Dirk41]

Luka&Kyrie are too good.

Make our **** 3s!!!!!! Please!!!

[kacey ring]

Crazy stats for the game were our points in the paint and the point differential in 3s. Twolves made 12 more threes, that's +36. Imagine if we could've hit just 3-4 more.

Odd enough, counting RS and PO games, Mavs are now 7-0 in games where they shoot 25% or worse on 3s. The 5 regular season games were against non-PO teams, but still.

[tleikheen]

Oh My ..... 9/13 .....19 pts / 20 rebs ....3 blocks against the 4 time Defensive Player of the year in game 1 of the Western Conference Finals ....what do you do for an encore in game 2

[41Dirk41]

Green was a disaster, turn your game kid or next man will step up... Exum.

[41Dirk41]

Oh My ..... 9/13 .....19 pts / 20 rebs ....3 blocks against the 4 time Defensive Player of the year in game 1 of the Western Conference Finals ....what do you do for an encore in game 2

Gobert is a joke. I told ya.

[tleikheen]

Wasn't all Goberts fault ...Luka and Kyrie shredded the Wolves perimeter players and Gobert commits and Lively and Gaff are throwing down gimme's which is what the Wolves have to try to stop .....but thats why alot of us picked Mavs to win .

[ozwizard8]

What a game! Luka finished the game the way he did against Suns. Just lecturing Twolves.
Having Gobert on the team and Gobert-oriented defense is again punished by Kyrie-Luka and interestingly this time even Hardy had those lobs and 4 assists. I didn't like Green and THJ today but Mavs need to keep some rotation minutes. It's easier to lose a player and confidence than build up. More importantly, Luka played 41, PJ 41, Kyrie 40, DJJ 35. Its better to play Luka 41 minutes than playing him 45 minutes. Same applies for all those starters. Other than Lively-Gafford we do not have a bench player that is as good as the starter. If Kleber returns, then we can have fewer THJ/Green minutes. Nuggets made a mistake with playing Jokic heavier minutes especially in the last game.

So we need to play Hardy-Exum-Green-THJ from the bench. There are like 35-40 total minutes. Exum seems to be not helping offense. Hardy doesn't have experience to average more than 10 mpg. So we need some Green and THJ in between.

Minnesota offense is stagnant partly due to Gobert. And their defense has a liability that is also Gobert. But without Gobert they cannot protect the rim and cant get much rebounds.

Solid game! Having Luka less injury-riddled make a lot of difference. I guess since Game 5 against Thunder, he is more like 85% compared to earlier round when he was playing like 50% most games.