I haven't gone through all the comments, but has anyone pointed out that even if the Mavs had hit a respectable % of their 3's they still would have fallen short? The lead was up to thirty at one point which was how many more threes?--here, let me do the math...
I thought the D was awesome. Yeah they missed some open looks, but there were also a lot of contested 3's including at least two that were blocked.
But what had me really excited was the absolute roasting of Dallas weaker defenders. They took it to Luka. Powell was useless out there. And they utterly abused Bertans in the short minutes he was out there.
That was always part of the Warriors secret sauce. Destroy the weak links early in the series, and get them excised from the rotation. If you end up in a tough series the guys that they really have to ride (Kleber, DFS, Bullock) hopefully will be gassed from overuse and won't hit as many shots.
Something I think is being a little overlooked about all of those threes the Mavericks had...
Dallas is used to playing a deliberate slow game. The Warriors, particularly Steph, Klay, and Poole, run defenders through an absolute gauntlet on Dub offensive possessions. If it's in the open court it's obvious, but in the half court, a lot of running around screens. Guys like Bullock and Finney-Smith aren't used to that much effort on the defensive end and I think it took a little bit out of them on the offensive end, even early on it makes it harder to get as comfortable when taking those open shots.
I expect they'll hit more of those open shots moving forward, and hopefully we do a little bit better job contesting on some of those wide-open threes to counter, but the difference between playing another offense that has more static actions in the half court and doesn't run in transition much versus the Warriors should help blunt some of those more open looks they're surely going to keep getting.
Rightfully Wiggins and Looney getting all the love! It bodes well for us when STEPH CURRY *12* REBOUNDS, 31 minutes is not even a main talking point :) quietly doing winning things.
Amid all of the praise the broadcasters (deservedly) heaped on Looney last night, I think it was SVG mentioned how gassed he looked by the end and wondered how he'd hold up over the entire series playing like this.
I'd counter with how gassed Doncic looked and really wonder how HE will hold up. Warriors are really forcing him to work on both ends. He had to work hard on the offensive end (one of the disadvantages of going iso so much) and the Warriors really went at him on defense it looked like.
Let's just wear out Luka all series. They're the slowest paced team in the league for a reason. Especially after just having survived a seven game series, if the Warriors are continually able to speed things up for him and the rest of the team then I don't think this series goes past five games.
Exactly this. Doncic is the head of the snake. Dallas is in trouble if he runs out of gas. I don't want to see the Ws without Loon, but they really don't want to see the Mavs without Luka.
I hope the Warriors are ready with some minor tweaks on Friday. I know Kerr is loathe to make real adjustments until we start losing games, but I really hope they can make some minor adjustments to stay a little ahead of the game.
I know I am contractually bound to say it's only one game, but I see no reason for Dallas to have a lot of optimism in this series. The Warrior defense isn't going to let up. The offense might stall out at times but the defense is very well suited to what Dallas does. It's only one game. Not.
I think DAL will hit more shots, but if GSW can keep up the dominance in rebounding, that is a crucial advantage. And DAL will have to seriously tighten its defense because compared to MEM they are showing no rim protection or threat to passing lanes.
It does appear that our defense is capable of keeping theirs from doing very well, but their defense is not capable of slowing ours. We keep outrebounding everyone. And Poole et. al. can just keep dashing to the rim, because why not.
Historically, that seems to be the mantra that always follows Golden State's defense. "If we'd only shot better. . ." Steve Kerr's defenses consistently take teams out of rhythm in a way that makes those open shots much harder to make, and forces them to "open" fourth options.
That and all is that running exhausts some teams. The Rockets missed 27 in a row, which sometimes gets painted as coming out just bad luck, but do the pundits not think that chasing the Splash Brothers around doesn't cost a team something late in games and especially late in a series?
Listening to Doncic post game really makes me smile. After years of hating the heliocentric LeBron & Harens of the world that we've had to play against, Doncic just sounds like a nice down to earth teammate instead of a narcissistic windbag.
A decade from now someone will be interviewing Kuminga about all the times he has faced Doncic in the postseason and dominated him, and try to provoke him into a controversial statement, and he'll say, "I just go out there and try to get better each and every day," because he always says that.
I was telling Wiggins after he was scoring well that he couldn't stop on 17 tonight. He ignored me on getting to 25 as I suggested - but he was missing on most of his shots in the 3rd qtr. I'll take 19 pts as a "he hearrd me" win.
Good game for us. Definitely wasn't as dominant as the score indicates because of a couple of factors (very subpar Luka game, they might be tired after G7 and obviously shooting variance), but still felt we were the better team overall. I think they were slightly better in the first half, but we completely annihilated them in the 2nd half.
Some observations which I think are important for the rest of the series:
1. JP cooking Kleber/DFS in isolation. This is huge, as those are 2 of their 3 best defenders and I'm guessing Bullock will be on Steph most of the time due to his incredible screen navigation. If JP is able to beat those guys regularly and get to the rim, that's probably the easiest offense we'll have all series long. They don't have anything close to a JJJ which is what Poole struggled with in games 4-6 against Memphis. Still, I think Ntilikina might give him problems in the 2nd unit, so hopefully Klay's able to help him by making some tough shots when Steph's out.
2. On the other hand, Poole was getting completely lit up by Dinwiddie/Brunson in isolation. We didn't leave Poole in an iso against Doncic, but we can guess the results. He needs to hold up better or we'll have to bench him when the Mavs start to figure out how to get isos despite the high-tag defense.
3. As for the Mavs, you guys seriously weren't prepared for the high-tag defensive strategy which has been a Warrior staple since 2017? That's absurdly bad from their coaching team. I feel like Kidd might be getting some of the praise that Ty Lue gets in that he screws up badly to start a series and then corrects his errors and makes really great adjustments. Obviously, he deserves praise for making the adjustments. But it would be nice if they don't start a series unprepared and on the back foot. For all my criticisms of Kerr, he always has the team incredibly well prepared for any series. I think our record in G1's demonstrates that.
4. Steph looked like Steph (shooting the ball) for 1 quarter. We need more of that, especially when Luka's playing well. Everything else was pretty good. A few wayward passes which would've been dunks for Memphis in the prior series, but overall a very steady game from the true Point God. And he held up on defense, especially on Brunson. Brunson's stronger than most guards and is able to bully them, but Steph ain't most guards.
5. Great Draymond game. A few dumb fouls, but apart from that he was amazing.
6. Pretty great Andrew Wiggins game (at least from a results perspective). A few ill-advised long 2s, but he made them tonight. That floater in the 1st was sexy though (didn't know Wiggins had that in him).
7. Related to the Draymond point, but I feel our biggest advantage this series is our ability to get easy stuff in transition. And Draymond was amazing at this (the Draymond Express lol). Compared to the Mavs who basically never get into transition (one of Luka's biggest faults imo), we can generate easier offense than them. I don't think our half-court offense is as good as theirs, but one way to alleviate that is not get into half-court as often.
8. OPJ and Looney were incredible. They're our core role players and they're the 2 players most vulnerable to the spaceball that the Mavs play, so seeing them play this well is very reassuring.
9. By the way, is Loon our best Doncic defender lol?
10. We got quite a few system buckets today on backdoor cuts (especially in the 3rd). Gotta think that the Mavs tamp down on those as the series goes along, but hopefully they take their sweet time doing it so that we win 1-2 more games.
11. Us shooting 29 3s and them shooting 48 3s is not a recipe for success for us long-term in this series imo. Need Steph, Klay and Poole to get up more 3s.
Overall, a very encouraging G1. Mavs and Luka will be much much better (perhaps as soon as G2), and Luka might be one of the guys who figures out a defense as the series goes along, but I think that G1 went about as well as could be expected.
Loving our balance but also hoping our depth holds up. Due to injuries we only have a 7 man core rotation, which is no joke. Granted, it’s like 7 starter-level players, but hope they keep up the big wins and low minutes usage.
The good thing, I suppose, is that the Mavs also play like a 6.5 man rotation. Lot's of starter minutes to go around this series (well unless we win every game by 30 and Steph gets to keep sitting out 4th quarters).
One thing is I don't think Luka hunted matchups nearly as aggressively as he will going forward. Maybe he was a "feel out" game, Lebron-style. I'm going to assume that he has another gear or three in him.
About the 3 point disparity, it was because the Warriors were getting so many easy looks in the paint. Once those are taken away, they will necessarily shoot more threes. They shot the midrange at a higher-than-sustainable percentage, and that will regress, but the Mavs were giving those to us.
I expect the Mavs will demonstrate that they have better defense. Agree the easy layups will get clamped down eventually (this always seems to happen). Also I'm predicting that unfortunately Poole will get targeted more and more on defense and by the end it'll be tough to put him out there. But we've taken care of Game 1, and if Poole's offense can be the reason for at least one more win, that's already a huge swing. And if I'm wrong and Poole can be Poole deep into the series, the Mavs are in serious trouble.
Finally, I am so sad that GP2 is missing this series. This guard heavy five-out style would have been perfect for him.
>6.Pretty great Andrew Wiggins game (at least from a results perspective). A few ill-advised long 2s, but he made them tonight. That floater in the 1st was sexy though (didn't know Wiggins had that in him)
I loved that Wiggins was aggressively looking for his shot in the first half, seemingly whenever Doncic was on him. I think he has a pretty deep repertoire offensively, but doesn't feel justified in taking a bunch of shots on this team. Nice to see him leading us in attempts tonight; he should view single coverage from Doncic as a personal affront.
They completely lost track of him on the 3-point line several times, most of which he cashed. Simple but effective way to get a pretty nice game score.
> 10. We got quite a few system buckets today on backdoor cuts (especially in the 3rd). Gotta think that the Mavs tamp down on those as the series goes along, but hopefully they take their sweet time doing it so that we win 1-2 more games.
Agreed, if I recall correctly this happened in the Memphis series where the Warriors were getting a lot of system stuff in Games 1 and 2 with Memphis just coming off a Game 6 but then Memphis started cleaning it up after the 3 day break. There is no 3 day break in this series though so yeah, hopefully the Warriors can at least get out to a 2-0 lead before that starts to tighten up.
> 11. Us shooting 29 3s and them shooting 48 3s is not a recipe for success for us long-term in this series imo. Need Steph, Klay and Poole to get up more 3s.
Agreed and that was probably the main worrisome thing from this game for me, everything else went pretty well. Go back to the 2018 Rocket series, a key takeaway from that series was that the Warriors won when they kept the 3 point attempt differential within single digits and lost when they didn't. I don't think these Mavs are as good as that Rocket team and already bucked that trend with tonight's game, but -19 in 3PAs is too big of a differential to overcome consistently imo (although I swear they had one possession with like 4 attempts which inflated the numbers a bit).
We won G3 against Memphis with the 2nd best team TS% in playoff history so don't think G2 was when that switched. I think it was Ja missing and Adams coming into the lineup and walling of the paint which switched the tenor of the series for us.
There were lots of back cuts in Game 3 against Memphis after a 4 day layoff too. It's all about what the defense is trying to take away and how to attack them. For the Mavericks, we don't even have to worry about a real weak side shot blocker. Maybe Kleber will be better in the future.
As for the shooting, gotta take what the defense is giving you. I'd also point out that the blocked 3pt attempts still count too. I haven't watched too much of the Mavs, but does DFS have a slow release to the point where Dray can expect to contest effectively from the paint?
We made a lot of mid-long 2s though (from Wiggins/Klay/Poole and the incredible one from Loon). Of course, rim attempts are the best. But we can allocate some of those 2s to 3s for better results over the course of a series.
Also, this is the exact type of sentiment Suns fans had in G1 and G2. Over the course of a series, a huge differential in shot profile is likely going to catch up with you. Of course, our shot profile is not going to be as bad as the Suns was (they basically never get to the rim and their best players do all their damage from the mid-range), but it can still be improved.
Don't know exactly, but I would guess we had 10+ attempts from there.
Just going from ESPN's shot tracking here (https://www.espn.com/nba/game/_/gameId/401438944), by a very rough count (done by hand by me so could be wrong), it seems we took 17 shots from 16+ feet.
That does sound like plenty... but if it's what the defense is giving you, you just have to make them. And I trust Steph, Klay, Jordan, Andrew, and Otto to make their midrange shots with pretty decent frequency.
Yes, we need to take some (especially Steph and Poole who can use the threat of the midrange to create rim/3 opportunities). 17 is way too many though, and a 19 3PAs differential is going to be hard to overcome when both teams shoot a reasonable % from 3.
Another notable thing was that the Mavs were perfectly willing to let Doncic guard Wiggins 1 on 1, I assume because doubling to help Doncic like they did against other matchups probably leaves Curry or Klay or Poole open somewhere. Maybe they'll make an adjustment to that coverage, otherwise it's going to be imperative that Wiggins takes advantage of Doncic.
This is where having someone "overqualified" for a 3 and D role like Wiggins helps compared to a straight 3 and D guy like Bullock who the Warriors can guard with Curry, that playoff versatility to beat different defensive schemes.
"This is where having someone "overqualified" for a 3 and D role like Wiggins helps compared to a straight 3 and D guy like Bullock..."....Or Mikal Bridges last round. Who's a great player but isn't gonna cook Luka off the dribble.
Oh man... that's right. Wiggins was aggressive from the jump. It was awesome to see. if Andrew Wiggins can straight up win that match up (yes, while mostly funneling Doncic to one of the best defenders in NBA history)...
Picking up Doncic full court is one way to speed them up. Take an extra 3-4 seconds off the shot clock, and they have to go faster. And if they pass ahead or have somebody else dribble up, even better to make them take more time to get into their Doncic set. I really hope they keep at it.
Wiggins has some incredible endurance if he's able to pick someone up full court and play 35-40 minutes a game guarding the best offensive player on the other team and attacking the boards/exploiting mismatches offensively. Usually you see that strategy with the backup PG like Cory Joseph or Alvarado or Ky Bowman or GP2 or something, I feel like you don't often see it with the starting SG (Klay is probably the starting SF).
I hope he can really do this and doesn't tire out halfway through the series.
I trust Wiggins' stamina over Doncic. Especially since Wiggins is gonna be getting more help. If Wiggins can tire him out by minute 35, it's a big win, even if Wiggins himself is dead tired.
I just got to start watching the game, unfortunately busy during game time. Wow were we out to send a message in Q1. Wiggs picking up Doncic full court. Looney with the block. Dray with that cross court rotation for the block on the corner 3 that Steph got finger tips to. That was fun to watch. I have the rest of the game to go. Not as fun as live, a very diff experience to watch knowing the outcome.
Still I'd say packed start to finish with some of the best team and individual plays from the dubs all post season so far so worth watching every second regardless. They locked in
I haven't gone through all the comments, but has anyone pointed out that even if the Mavs had hit a respectable % of their 3's they still would have fallen short? The lead was up to thirty at one point which was how many more threes?--here, let me do the math...
I thought the D was awesome. Yeah they missed some open looks, but there were also a lot of contested 3's including at least two that were blocked.
But what had me really excited was the absolute roasting of Dallas weaker defenders. They took it to Luka. Powell was useless out there. And they utterly abused Bertans in the short minutes he was out there.
That was always part of the Warriors secret sauce. Destroy the weak links early in the series, and get them excised from the rotation. If you end up in a tough series the guys that they really have to ride (Kleber, DFS, Bullock) hopefully will be gassed from overuse and won't hit as many shots.
The defense was sublime. Best end-to-end defensive showing of the playoffs so far.
Something I think is being a little overlooked about all of those threes the Mavericks had...
Dallas is used to playing a deliberate slow game. The Warriors, particularly Steph, Klay, and Poole, run defenders through an absolute gauntlet on Dub offensive possessions. If it's in the open court it's obvious, but in the half court, a lot of running around screens. Guys like Bullock and Finney-Smith aren't used to that much effort on the defensive end and I think it took a little bit out of them on the offensive end, even early on it makes it harder to get as comfortable when taking those open shots.
I expect they'll hit more of those open shots moving forward, and hopefully we do a little bit better job contesting on some of those wide-open threes to counter, but the difference between playing another offense that has more static actions in the half court and doesn't run in transition much versus the Warriors should help blunt some of those more open looks they're surely going to keep getting.
Rightfully Wiggins and Looney getting all the love! It bodes well for us when STEPH CURRY *12* REBOUNDS, 31 minutes is not even a main talking point :) quietly doing winning things.
Amid all of the praise the broadcasters (deservedly) heaped on Looney last night, I think it was SVG mentioned how gassed he looked by the end and wondered how he'd hold up over the entire series playing like this.
I'd counter with how gassed Doncic looked and really wonder how HE will hold up. Warriors are really forcing him to work on both ends. He had to work hard on the offensive end (one of the disadvantages of going iso so much) and the Warriors really went at him on defense it looked like.
Let's just wear out Luka all series. They're the slowest paced team in the league for a reason. Especially after just having survived a seven game series, if the Warriors are continually able to speed things up for him and the rest of the team then I don't think this series goes past five games.
Exactly this. Doncic is the head of the snake. Dallas is in trouble if he runs out of gas. I don't want to see the Ws without Loon, but they really don't want to see the Mavs without Luka.
I hope the Warriors are ready with some minor tweaks on Friday. I know Kerr is loathe to make real adjustments until we start losing games, but I really hope they can make some minor adjustments to stay a little ahead of the game.
I know I am contractually bound to say it's only one game, but I see no reason for Dallas to have a lot of optimism in this series. The Warrior defense isn't going to let up. The offense might stall out at times but the defense is very well suited to what Dallas does. It's only one game. Not.
I think DAL will hit more shots, but if GSW can keep up the dominance in rebounding, that is a crucial advantage. And DAL will have to seriously tighten its defense because compared to MEM they are showing no rim protection or threat to passing lanes.
Curry/Klay/Wiggs/Poole combined 8/25 from 3, and team 10/16 from FT. The bad shooting was on both sides. W's just adapted, Mavs didn't
It does appear that our defense is capable of keeping theirs from doing very well, but their defense is not capable of slowing ours. We keep outrebounding everyone. And Poole et. al. can just keep dashing to the rim, because why not.
"We just missed open shots." - Mavs
Do I, as a Warriors fan, believe it's that simple? No... but it's also true. They missed some open shots.
Historically, that seems to be the mantra that always follows Golden State's defense. "If we'd only shot better. . ." Steve Kerr's defenses consistently take teams out of rhythm in a way that makes those open shots much harder to make, and forces them to "open" fourth options.
That and all is that running exhausts some teams. The Rockets missed 27 in a row, which sometimes gets painted as coming out just bad luck, but do the pundits not think that chasing the Splash Brothers around doesn't cost a team something late in games and especially late in a series?
Apparently not, because I was hearing the same sh*t as I did 7 years ago last night.
They definitely missed plenty of good looks. At least enough to make it a close game.
We also missed enough good looks to make it a blowout all over again on top of that.
Shhh…
Agree with belilaughs analysis below, I’m sure Joe will have some good commentary as well on GSOM tomorrow to go with Eric’s E1P here.
Hopefully we didn’t deploy this defensive scheme too early, I’d hate for Dallas to adjust to this too quickly and steal a game at Chase.
Never doubt the Steve Kerr. Where you been the last few years? Plus now we have adjunct coaches Steph/Dray. Don't worry! Send on the positive energy!
Andrew Wiggins
I agree with this statement.
Has could legitimately earn the inaugural WCFMVP if he's going to be that good at defending Luka while being aggressive offensively.
Oh! I know this one! "Who outplayed Luka Doncic tonight?"
Warrior game 1 heroes for $200, Alex
#iseewhatyoudidthere
Listening to Doncic post game really makes me smile. After years of hating the heliocentric LeBron & Harens of the world that we've had to play against, Doncic just sounds like a nice down to earth teammate instead of a narcissistic windbag.
A decade from now someone will be interviewing Kuminga about all the times he has faced Doncic in the postseason and dominated him, and try to provoke him into a controversial statement, and he'll say, "I just go out there and try to get better each and every day," because he always says that.
The real question is how many rings will be on his fingers by then. I'm gonna go with 6, matching MJ.
I'm just ready for him to get that first one; then we can talk.
This is reasonable. However I'm also kind of banking on 44 year old Steph having 9 rings by then.
I could live with that.
Still can't believe we got him for DLo. Him and that Wiggins guy.
I was telling Wiggins after he was scoring well that he couldn't stop on 17 tonight. He ignored me on getting to 25 as I suggested - but he was missing on most of his shots in the 3rd qtr. I'll take 19 pts as a "he hearrd me" win.
Wiggins simply understands the value of points. Why use up 6 more of them when you can just... not do that and still win?
Good game for us. Definitely wasn't as dominant as the score indicates because of a couple of factors (very subpar Luka game, they might be tired after G7 and obviously shooting variance), but still felt we were the better team overall. I think they were slightly better in the first half, but we completely annihilated them in the 2nd half.
Some observations which I think are important for the rest of the series:
1. JP cooking Kleber/DFS in isolation. This is huge, as those are 2 of their 3 best defenders and I'm guessing Bullock will be on Steph most of the time due to his incredible screen navigation. If JP is able to beat those guys regularly and get to the rim, that's probably the easiest offense we'll have all series long. They don't have anything close to a JJJ which is what Poole struggled with in games 4-6 against Memphis. Still, I think Ntilikina might give him problems in the 2nd unit, so hopefully Klay's able to help him by making some tough shots when Steph's out.
2. On the other hand, Poole was getting completely lit up by Dinwiddie/Brunson in isolation. We didn't leave Poole in an iso against Doncic, but we can guess the results. He needs to hold up better or we'll have to bench him when the Mavs start to figure out how to get isos despite the high-tag defense.
3. As for the Mavs, you guys seriously weren't prepared for the high-tag defensive strategy which has been a Warrior staple since 2017? That's absurdly bad from their coaching team. I feel like Kidd might be getting some of the praise that Ty Lue gets in that he screws up badly to start a series and then corrects his errors and makes really great adjustments. Obviously, he deserves praise for making the adjustments. But it would be nice if they don't start a series unprepared and on the back foot. For all my criticisms of Kerr, he always has the team incredibly well prepared for any series. I think our record in G1's demonstrates that.
4. Steph looked like Steph (shooting the ball) for 1 quarter. We need more of that, especially when Luka's playing well. Everything else was pretty good. A few wayward passes which would've been dunks for Memphis in the prior series, but overall a very steady game from the true Point God. And he held up on defense, especially on Brunson. Brunson's stronger than most guards and is able to bully them, but Steph ain't most guards.
5. Great Draymond game. A few dumb fouls, but apart from that he was amazing.
6. Pretty great Andrew Wiggins game (at least from a results perspective). A few ill-advised long 2s, but he made them tonight. That floater in the 1st was sexy though (didn't know Wiggins had that in him).
7. Related to the Draymond point, but I feel our biggest advantage this series is our ability to get easy stuff in transition. And Draymond was amazing at this (the Draymond Express lol). Compared to the Mavs who basically never get into transition (one of Luka's biggest faults imo), we can generate easier offense than them. I don't think our half-court offense is as good as theirs, but one way to alleviate that is not get into half-court as often.
8. OPJ and Looney were incredible. They're our core role players and they're the 2 players most vulnerable to the spaceball that the Mavs play, so seeing them play this well is very reassuring.
9. By the way, is Loon our best Doncic defender lol?
10. We got quite a few system buckets today on backdoor cuts (especially in the 3rd). Gotta think that the Mavs tamp down on those as the series goes along, but hopefully they take their sweet time doing it so that we win 1-2 more games.
11. Us shooting 29 3s and them shooting 48 3s is not a recipe for success for us long-term in this series imo. Need Steph, Klay and Poole to get up more 3s.
Overall, a very encouraging G1. Mavs and Luka will be much much better (perhaps as soon as G2), and Luka might be one of the guys who figures out a defense as the series goes along, but I think that G1 went about as well as could be expected.
Loving our balance but also hoping our depth holds up. Due to injuries we only have a 7 man core rotation, which is no joke. Granted, it’s like 7 starter-level players, but hope they keep up the big wins and low minutes usage.
The good thing, I suppose, is that the Mavs also play like a 6.5 man rotation. Lot's of starter minutes to go around this series (well unless we win every game by 30 and Steph gets to keep sitting out 4th quarters).
One thing is I don't think Luka hunted matchups nearly as aggressively as he will going forward. Maybe he was a "feel out" game, Lebron-style. I'm going to assume that he has another gear or three in him.
About the 3 point disparity, it was because the Warriors were getting so many easy looks in the paint. Once those are taken away, they will necessarily shoot more threes. They shot the midrange at a higher-than-sustainable percentage, and that will regress, but the Mavs were giving those to us.
I expect the Mavs will demonstrate that they have better defense. Agree the easy layups will get clamped down eventually (this always seems to happen). Also I'm predicting that unfortunately Poole will get targeted more and more on defense and by the end it'll be tough to put him out there. But we've taken care of Game 1, and if Poole's offense can be the reason for at least one more win, that's already a huge swing. And if I'm wrong and Poole can be Poole deep into the series, the Mavs are in serious trouble.
Finally, I am so sad that GP2 is missing this series. This guard heavy five-out style would have been perfect for him.
Still predicting Warriors in 7!
>6.Pretty great Andrew Wiggins game (at least from a results perspective). A few ill-advised long 2s, but he made them tonight. That floater in the 1st was sexy though (didn't know Wiggins had that in him)
I loved that Wiggins was aggressively looking for his shot in the first half, seemingly whenever Doncic was on him. I think he has a pretty deep repertoire offensively, but doesn't feel justified in taking a bunch of shots on this team. Nice to see him leading us in attempts tonight; he should view single coverage from Doncic as a personal affront.
They completely lost track of him on the 3-point line several times, most of which he cashed. Simple but effective way to get a pretty nice game score.
> 10. We got quite a few system buckets today on backdoor cuts (especially in the 3rd). Gotta think that the Mavs tamp down on those as the series goes along, but hopefully they take their sweet time doing it so that we win 1-2 more games.
Agreed, if I recall correctly this happened in the Memphis series where the Warriors were getting a lot of system stuff in Games 1 and 2 with Memphis just coming off a Game 6 but then Memphis started cleaning it up after the 3 day break. There is no 3 day break in this series though so yeah, hopefully the Warriors can at least get out to a 2-0 lead before that starts to tighten up.
> 11. Us shooting 29 3s and them shooting 48 3s is not a recipe for success for us long-term in this series imo. Need Steph, Klay and Poole to get up more 3s.
Agreed and that was probably the main worrisome thing from this game for me, everything else went pretty well. Go back to the 2018 Rocket series, a key takeaway from that series was that the Warriors won when they kept the 3 point attempt differential within single digits and lost when they didn't. I don't think these Mavs are as good as that Rocket team and already bucked that trend with tonight's game, but -19 in 3PAs is too big of a differential to overcome consistently imo (although I swear they had one possession with like 4 attempts which inflated the numbers a bit).
We won G3 against Memphis with the 2nd best team TS% in playoff history so don't think G2 was when that switched. I think it was Ja missing and Adams coming into the lineup and walling of the paint which switched the tenor of the series for us.
There were lots of back cuts in Game 3 against Memphis after a 4 day layoff too. It's all about what the defense is trying to take away and how to attack them. For the Mavericks, we don't even have to worry about a real weak side shot blocker. Maybe Kleber will be better in the future.
As for the shooting, gotta take what the defense is giving you. I'd also point out that the blocked 3pt attempts still count too. I haven't watched too much of the Mavs, but does DFS have a slow release to the point where Dray can expect to contest effectively from the paint?
We made 36/53 two point shots. I'll take that over extra 3s every day.
We made a lot of mid-long 2s though (from Wiggins/Klay/Poole and the incredible one from Loon). Of course, rim attempts are the best. But we can allocate some of those 2s to 3s for better results over the course of a series.
Also, this is the exact type of sentiment Suns fans had in G1 and G2. Over the course of a series, a huge differential in shot profile is likely going to catch up with you. Of course, our shot profile is not going to be as bad as the Suns was (they basically never get to the rim and their best players do all their damage from the mid-range), but it can still be improved.
How many? I know we made some and probably more efficiently than usual, but a lot of the shots were at the rim to my eye.
Don't know exactly, but I would guess we had 10+ attempts from there.
Just going from ESPN's shot tracking here (https://www.espn.com/nba/game/_/gameId/401438944), by a very rough count (done by hand by me so could be wrong), it seems we took 17 shots from 16+ feet.
That does sound like plenty... but if it's what the defense is giving you, you just have to make them. And I trust Steph, Klay, Jordan, Andrew, and Otto to make their midrange shots with pretty decent frequency.
Yes, we need to take some (especially Steph and Poole who can use the threat of the midrange to create rim/3 opportunities). 17 is way too many though, and a 19 3PAs differential is going to be hard to overcome when both teams shoot a reasonable % from 3.
Another notable thing was that the Mavs were perfectly willing to let Doncic guard Wiggins 1 on 1, I assume because doubling to help Doncic like they did against other matchups probably leaves Curry or Klay or Poole open somewhere. Maybe they'll make an adjustment to that coverage, otherwise it's going to be imperative that Wiggins takes advantage of Doncic.
This is where having someone "overqualified" for a 3 and D role like Wiggins helps compared to a straight 3 and D guy like Bullock who the Warriors can guard with Curry, that playoff versatility to beat different defensive schemes.
"This is where having someone "overqualified" for a 3 and D role like Wiggins helps compared to a straight 3 and D guy like Bullock..."....Or Mikal Bridges last round. Who's a great player but isn't gonna cook Luka off the dribble.
Pray to the basketball gods Wiggins will hit those step back middies during this series because he'll be getting a lot of those when the lane clogs up
He can yam on Kleber too... Mavs have exactly ZERO rim protectors that Wiggins should fear.
Same thing with Poole. The way he scored on Kleber in the 4th quarter showed how weak Mavericks' interior defense is compared to the Grizzlies.
Oh man... that's right. Wiggins was aggressive from the jump. It was awesome to see. if Andrew Wiggins can straight up win that match up (yes, while mostly funneling Doncic to one of the best defenders in NBA history)...
Picking up Doncic full court is one way to speed them up. Take an extra 3-4 seconds off the shot clock, and they have to go faster. And if they pass ahead or have somebody else dribble up, even better to make them take more time to get into their Doncic set. I really hope they keep at it.
Wiggins has some incredible endurance if he's able to pick someone up full court and play 35-40 minutes a game guarding the best offensive player on the other team and attacking the boards/exploiting mismatches offensively. Usually you see that strategy with the backup PG like Cory Joseph or Alvarado or Ky Bowman or GP2 or something, I feel like you don't often see it with the starting SG (Klay is probably the starting SF).
I hope he can really do this and doesn't tire out halfway through the series.
Wiggs is an incredible iron man
I trust Wiggins' stamina over Doncic. Especially since Wiggins is gonna be getting more help. If Wiggins can tire him out by minute 35, it's a big win, even if Wiggins himself is dead tired.
I just got to start watching the game, unfortunately busy during game time. Wow were we out to send a message in Q1. Wiggs picking up Doncic full court. Looney with the block. Dray with that cross court rotation for the block on the corner 3 that Steph got finger tips to. That was fun to watch. I have the rest of the game to go. Not as fun as live, a very diff experience to watch knowing the outcome.
Still I'd say packed start to finish with some of the best team and individual plays from the dubs all post season so far so worth watching every second regardless. They locked in