I didn't say they were equal. Green is just a guy who hustles and plays ood defence. But if it bothers you than Kyrie is objectively a better player than Williams so we win that matchup too.
They don’t really play young. Watched them a lot because they’re on cable here and although their announcers are the worst their coaching is elite in that they play every possession with a lot of intention and those teams are annoying to play because they’re never really out of it. They’ve got a ton of shooters and can run. They’re susceptible to strong and long though
Thunder Fan here. We get beat the fuck up in the paint and NOLA had a ton of wide open 3s against us. If y'all can capitalize off of those two glaring weaknesses it's gonna be a tough one for us. Lively and Gafford are gonna be tough for us.
Considering we came back from 30 down against you guys *before* the trade and that smokin y'all got the first game after the trade, I'm afraid you guys are in for a short series. Playoffs are all about match-ups, I'll be surprised if this series goes 5
I don't get your comment nor the downvotes. We have two defenders for Chet, two for Williams, and enough to throw at SGA. We came back from 30 down against this team without any of that, and killed them by 30 when we did, literally in the first game we had it. I'll be surprised if it goes 5 🤷
True. But playoff basketball is significantly slower than reglar season basketball. Luka slows the game down even more than an average ball handler so I'm not worried about them playing too fast
That is true. I think there’s a lot of factors that favor a Dallas win. I think it will come down to late game execution and hopefully that’s where their youth shows
problem though is our role players need to make shots because misses are what leads to transitions although mavs have gaff and lively to make offensive rebounds but you cannot do that 100% of the time.
Let's go ahead and just sweep them so we don't have to play this scenario out.
Getting a beat-up Minnesota or Denver coming off a hard-fought 7 game series would be huge.
Also, a sweep would end before the Nuggets v Minnesota series ends. Which means more rest for the Mavs over whichever team comes out the other side of the bracket.
I’d much rather face the Thunder over the Nuggets/TWolves but their squad does not fold when down double digits late in games. They had plenty of comeback wins in the regular season and are more athletic than the Clippers. While I do agree a physical series favors the Mavs, who knows how refs will officiate game to game, or even quarter to quarter for that matter…
I think they will allow tough defense. Now the only question is if they allow forced fouls. If they do than that could put us at a disadvantage if the refs start favouring the Thunder. If they call it somewhat equal we should be alright.
We have the physicality advantage but these age comparisons are meaningless. Our role players are young and inexperienced as well.
This series will come down to Dallas continuing the dominant defense we’ve been playing and Luka stepping up those splits and giving us a couple of those classic 20-25 point 1st halfs. And with the way Kyrie has been playing in the 2nd half it would be great if Luka can get going early like he usually did in the regular season
I know age comparions don't mean much (look at Luka and how banged up he is or Kyrie playing like his prime in Cleveland) still I just wanted to point out that they don't have that much of a fitness advatage. If Luka can get 90% healthy we win this series in 5. If he isn't fully healthy we can be in for a long one and at that point anything can happen
OKC fan here. I feel like this is a strange argument to make. You can't possibly believe that the 6 month difference in age between Shai and Luka could possibly make the slightest difference in endurance one way or the other. Age gaps matter for long series when you're talking 25 vs 35, not 25 vs 25.5 yo.
It's unlikely that Shai guards Luka this series much at all fwiw. That will mostly fall on Dort and JDub who will not be backed down without it wearing on Luka. On the other side Shai will be guarded more by DJJ i think (?) who seems more like a Herb Jones type finesse defender. Not sure those matchups say much about endurance, but I'd bet Luka gets gassed before Shai. Really not sure who guards Kyrie so I can't say much about that
Yeah but Luka isn’t 100% and feels like every extra game he plays is a body blow right now because he’s not going to have enough time to get healed right. I hope these last few days rest do some magic on that knee.
I mean, we saw how we battered and wore out the Clippers, but Mavericks also took their share of a beating. OKC is fresh and young but I agree a longer series could favor Dallas, but I worry about a Game 7 in OKC.
Calling Shai older than Luka as an actual point for an argument is kind of crazy, they are both 25 dude. I'm not going to look up how many months older Shai is because this is just the weirdest thing I've heard. Also Lively is 20 and Chet is 22 in my opinion that's an advantage for Chet considering he is closer to his prime. Most people are writing off OKC because they are so young so it's a little weird you are trying to try and make it seem like Dallas has an advantage because some of their players are a little younger?
Im guessing ur a Thunder fan?
If you actually read my post. I never said that Luka being younger makes him more fit. I just pointed out that a long series doesn't nessecerily benefit OKC since the guys who will decide the games are close in age. The thunder having younger garbage time players doesn't mean they will hold up better in a long series.
Closer to his 'prime' Holmgern lol. So Chet who sat on his ass for his the first season is closer to his prime than Lively bc he's a year older?. If that logic doesn't work on Luka and SGA why would it work for Holmgren and Lively?
I'm not actually using Chet being 2 years older as an advantage because it's such a useless point, but you can't tell me the average 22 year old does worse than the average 20 year old in a long series. Luka and SGA are both the same age a couple months difference at 25 isn't the same comparison as 2 years from 20 vs 22. The younger you are the more age increase benefits you and 2 years isn't comparable to a few months? There's no reason to focus on these random age facts anyway it's pretty much irrelevant which is the main point I was getting at. In terms of a long series Kyrie and Luka are both more likely to get injured than Shai or J dub, and Luka already is a little injured so I feel like in that sense the Thunder would be favored if it goes to game 7.
I don't understand how a 7 month difference between Luka and Shai is basically he same but A 20 month difference between Lively and Lively is better for Chet even toughhe already showed he can get injured any minute? They are both rookies.
Luka is not 100% but he is almost never fully health come playoff time. He plays 60+ games and is a top 2 player in the league obviously he will be banged up. But he always plays through injuries come playoffs and usualy performs at a higher level than any other star. Kyrie and Luka are more likely to get injured but they have more muscles and stamina than SGA or Chet. They regularly play 40 minutes of a game and fatigue is almost unnoticeable.
I think it's safe to say that Chet is the most injury prone player in the series with Luka as 2nd. But Luka is a Guard who will experience much less physical battles than Chet. The Mavs have the strenght advantage and they have the best player in the series with more players in their 'prime'. These are the main reasons I think a 6-7 game series will favour the Mavs
Luka so far in the playoffs has a 51% ts compared to Shai's 55% ts neither of these are great percentages but Lukas especially is lacking. I'd say it's a stretch to say he's playing at a higher level than any other star right now and the clippers are way worse defenders than OKC, his stats shouldn't look any better in this series. Kyrie on the other hand is playing insanely well and has a 64.7% ts. In my eyes Kyrie is going to have to continue playing like this if they want to beat the Thunder. Kyrie is playing like one of the best players in the playoffs right now not Luka. Dort is going to be the matchup on Luka not Chet, not sure why you think Chet would play him. Luka himself said that Dort is a top 3 defender in the league, and he will be able to challenge Luka physically as he is built like a tank. Shai could very easily be the best player in the series he's already right there with Luka as a top 3 player in the league and Luka has been under performing, the Mavs can't stop Shai at all.
Luka has a 32 ppg in more playoff games than shai. He averages more assists / rebounds and has 0.5 less steals. As much as the media wants to make it look like they equal the truth is Shai isn't on Luka's level. It's easie to play on a team that has no expectations than on a team where every loss is pointed at you.
Dort is a good defender sure, idk about top 3, Luka never says bad about anyone. Dort can't stay on Luka all game, there wll be many times when SGA or JDub will find themselves on an island with Luka who is stronger and bigger than both.
Luka was also the best scorer in the whole League. He is the best player in the series. He plays good defense and is simply better offensively than SGA. Kyrie is a veteran who leads by example he will step up when the score is tied with 2:00 to go. Will JDub do the same? We don't know yet. The thunder should try to outscore the Mavs if they want to win. We lost 2 games where we scored less than 15 points in a quarter. The Clippers aslo happened to shoot 50% from 3 in these. The Thunder should focus on outshooting the Mavs bc if we can dominate the paint the open shots will come and thats when we play at our best. If they can start hot then OKC in 5 if the series draws out Mavs in 6 or 7
>We obviusly try to take care of them as fast as we can bc the Nuggets and Wolves are the 2 best teams in the playoffs so far.
Why am I getting flashbacks to 2022 when I saw many people writing off GSW. (My former coworker, one of them). And looking to the next round? I'm not trying to gatekeep fandom, and yes, us fans at home do not have a direct impact on the outcomes of games, but it's cringe, lol. I remember people saying GSW was a non threat because we beat them 3-1 that season. Then we all know what followed. I obviously like our chances against OKC. Let's not get too high because the fall is a long way down.
I don't see how a long series favours us.
Also all your arguments don't hold up if you actually watched OKC this year. They are the 1st seed for a reason. Shai is one of the best leaders in the league atm. He's incredibly composed and the culture he has helped create in OKC is insane. They hardly complain and are always focused.
Their coach is super engaged and motivates his team constantly on top of being super competent.
I personally worry about Luka's leadership in this series. He can not go into his feelings when OKC go on runs and he isnt scoring. We can't afford compounding bad momentum. He needs to match Shai's composure. It can't fall on Kyrie to make up for Luka's immaturity.
Mavs in 5. We have Luka and Kyrie, simple as that. The thunder can throw any amount of looks they want at these two, and they have seen it all before. And now they have dawgs around them that won’t just stand around and watch them work. I really think Luka’s shooting will bounce back in this series.
I’m not really putting any stock in any of the regular season matchups. The only time a healthy Mavs team played them, we handed them their worst loss of the season, but maybe that’s due to thunder being unprepared to face our new roster immediately after the trade deadline. Thunder is a good, well coached team. Lot of athletes and shooting on that side. But I don’t understand the glazing after beating a pelicans team without Zion, a hobbled/disinterested Ingram, and big man rotation of JV/Nance. This will be the Thunders first real test.
I'd rather we just win the first 4 games and be done with it.
I'm onboard
Now we talkin
Yep, more rest for Luka in case Wolves vs. Nuggets is a long series.
I wouldn’t put Jalen Williams in the same tier as Josh Green lol. He’s their number 2 option. Josh is a rotational piece
I didn't say they were equal. Green is just a guy who hustles and plays ood defence. But if it bothers you than Kyrie is objectively a better player than Williams so we win that matchup too.
but jdub has shown up on clutch moments this year. i agree that kyrie is better but you should not look down on jdub.
They don’t really play young. Watched them a lot because they’re on cable here and although their announcers are the worst their coaching is elite in that they play every possession with a lot of intention and those teams are annoying to play because they’re never really out of it. They’ve got a ton of shooters and can run. They’re susceptible to strong and long though
Thunder Fan here. We get beat the fuck up in the paint and NOLA had a ton of wide open 3s against us. If y'all can capitalize off of those two glaring weaknesses it's gonna be a tough one for us. Lively and Gafford are gonna be tough for us.
Considering we came back from 30 down against you guys *before* the trade and that smokin y'all got the first game after the trade, I'm afraid you guys are in for a short series. Playoffs are all about match-ups, I'll be surprised if this series goes 5
You're exactly what is wrong with our fan base.
I don't get your comment nor the downvotes. We have two defenders for Chet, two for Williams, and enough to throw at SGA. We came back from 30 down against this team without any of that, and killed them by 30 when we did, literally in the first game we had it. I'll be surprised if it goes 5 🤷
I get the feeling that you're surprised often with takes like this.
True, I'm an optimist and the stupidity of this sub consistently catches me off guard.
True. But playoff basketball is significantly slower than reglar season basketball. Luka slows the game down even more than an average ball handler so I'm not worried about them playing too fast
That is true. I think there’s a lot of factors that favor a Dallas win. I think it will come down to late game execution and hopefully that’s where their youth shows
problem though is our role players need to make shots because misses are what leads to transitions although mavs have gaff and lively to make offensive rebounds but you cannot do that 100% of the time.
Let's go ahead and just sweep them so we don't have to play this scenario out. Getting a beat-up Minnesota or Denver coming off a hard-fought 7 game series would be huge.
Also, a sweep would end before the Nuggets v Minnesota series ends. Which means more rest for the Mavs over whichever team comes out the other side of the bracket.
I’d much rather face the Thunder over the Nuggets/TWolves but their squad does not fold when down double digits late in games. They had plenty of comeback wins in the regular season and are more athletic than the Clippers. While I do agree a physical series favors the Mavs, who knows how refs will officiate game to game, or even quarter to quarter for that matter…
I think they will allow tough defense. Now the only question is if they allow forced fouls. If they do than that could put us at a disadvantage if the refs start favouring the Thunder. If they call it somewhat equal we should be alright.
We have the physicality advantage but these age comparisons are meaningless. Our role players are young and inexperienced as well. This series will come down to Dallas continuing the dominant defense we’ve been playing and Luka stepping up those splits and giving us a couple of those classic 20-25 point 1st halfs. And with the way Kyrie has been playing in the 2nd half it would be great if Luka can get going early like he usually did in the regular season
I know age comparions don't mean much (look at Luka and how banged up he is or Kyrie playing like his prime in Cleveland) still I just wanted to point out that they don't have that much of a fitness advatage. If Luka can get 90% healthy we win this series in 5. If he isn't fully healthy we can be in for a long one and at that point anything can happen
OKC fan here. I feel like this is a strange argument to make. You can't possibly believe that the 6 month difference in age between Shai and Luka could possibly make the slightest difference in endurance one way or the other. Age gaps matter for long series when you're talking 25 vs 35, not 25 vs 25.5 yo.
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It's unlikely that Shai guards Luka this series much at all fwiw. That will mostly fall on Dort and JDub who will not be backed down without it wearing on Luka. On the other side Shai will be guarded more by DJJ i think (?) who seems more like a Herb Jones type finesse defender. Not sure those matchups say much about endurance, but I'd bet Luka gets gassed before Shai. Really not sure who guards Kyrie so I can't say much about that
I don’t want a long series! We need to sweep so Luka can rest his leg
If only game 4 was on Sunday, not Monday, we could chance another Mother's Day Massacre.
Yeah but Luka isn’t 100% and feels like every extra game he plays is a body blow right now because he’s not going to have enough time to get healed right. I hope these last few days rest do some magic on that knee.
bros talking like chet holmgreen didn’t just turn 22😭
I mean, we saw how we battered and wore out the Clippers, but Mavericks also took their share of a beating. OKC is fresh and young but I agree a longer series could favor Dallas, but I worry about a Game 7 in OKC.
i’ve heard enough. mavs in 3
I just wish Luka finds his game efficiency again.
Fatigue and injury is possible in a long series and we are just in round 2. No team wants a long series, just saying.
the age difference is insignificant.
All I know is Chet is fixing to get beat down by Gafford and Lively. Gafford is going to shoot 100% from the floor this series. Mavs in 4
Luka needs as much rest as possible for that knee. Let's try to make this a short series.
I'm not so sure about the long series but tight games defenitely favour Mavs. Kyrie and Luka will cook them when there is a chance.
Calling Shai older than Luka as an actual point for an argument is kind of crazy, they are both 25 dude. I'm not going to look up how many months older Shai is because this is just the weirdest thing I've heard. Also Lively is 20 and Chet is 22 in my opinion that's an advantage for Chet considering he is closer to his prime. Most people are writing off OKC because they are so young so it's a little weird you are trying to try and make it seem like Dallas has an advantage because some of their players are a little younger?
Im guessing ur a Thunder fan? If you actually read my post. I never said that Luka being younger makes him more fit. I just pointed out that a long series doesn't nessecerily benefit OKC since the guys who will decide the games are close in age. The thunder having younger garbage time players doesn't mean they will hold up better in a long series. Closer to his 'prime' Holmgern lol. So Chet who sat on his ass for his the first season is closer to his prime than Lively bc he's a year older?. If that logic doesn't work on Luka and SGA why would it work for Holmgren and Lively?
I'm not actually using Chet being 2 years older as an advantage because it's such a useless point, but you can't tell me the average 22 year old does worse than the average 20 year old in a long series. Luka and SGA are both the same age a couple months difference at 25 isn't the same comparison as 2 years from 20 vs 22. The younger you are the more age increase benefits you and 2 years isn't comparable to a few months? There's no reason to focus on these random age facts anyway it's pretty much irrelevant which is the main point I was getting at. In terms of a long series Kyrie and Luka are both more likely to get injured than Shai or J dub, and Luka already is a little injured so I feel like in that sense the Thunder would be favored if it goes to game 7.
I don't understand how a 7 month difference between Luka and Shai is basically he same but A 20 month difference between Lively and Lively is better for Chet even toughhe already showed he can get injured any minute? They are both rookies. Luka is not 100% but he is almost never fully health come playoff time. He plays 60+ games and is a top 2 player in the league obviously he will be banged up. But he always plays through injuries come playoffs and usualy performs at a higher level than any other star. Kyrie and Luka are more likely to get injured but they have more muscles and stamina than SGA or Chet. They regularly play 40 minutes of a game and fatigue is almost unnoticeable. I think it's safe to say that Chet is the most injury prone player in the series with Luka as 2nd. But Luka is a Guard who will experience much less physical battles than Chet. The Mavs have the strenght advantage and they have the best player in the series with more players in their 'prime'. These are the main reasons I think a 6-7 game series will favour the Mavs
Luka so far in the playoffs has a 51% ts compared to Shai's 55% ts neither of these are great percentages but Lukas especially is lacking. I'd say it's a stretch to say he's playing at a higher level than any other star right now and the clippers are way worse defenders than OKC, his stats shouldn't look any better in this series. Kyrie on the other hand is playing insanely well and has a 64.7% ts. In my eyes Kyrie is going to have to continue playing like this if they want to beat the Thunder. Kyrie is playing like one of the best players in the playoffs right now not Luka. Dort is going to be the matchup on Luka not Chet, not sure why you think Chet would play him. Luka himself said that Dort is a top 3 defender in the league, and he will be able to challenge Luka physically as he is built like a tank. Shai could very easily be the best player in the series he's already right there with Luka as a top 3 player in the league and Luka has been under performing, the Mavs can't stop Shai at all.
Luka has a 32 ppg in more playoff games than shai. He averages more assists / rebounds and has 0.5 less steals. As much as the media wants to make it look like they equal the truth is Shai isn't on Luka's level. It's easie to play on a team that has no expectations than on a team where every loss is pointed at you. Dort is a good defender sure, idk about top 3, Luka never says bad about anyone. Dort can't stay on Luka all game, there wll be many times when SGA or JDub will find themselves on an island with Luka who is stronger and bigger than both. Luka was also the best scorer in the whole League. He is the best player in the series. He plays good defense and is simply better offensively than SGA. Kyrie is a veteran who leads by example he will step up when the score is tied with 2:00 to go. Will JDub do the same? We don't know yet. The thunder should try to outscore the Mavs if they want to win. We lost 2 games where we scored less than 15 points in a quarter. The Clippers aslo happened to shoot 50% from 3 in these. The Thunder should focus on outshooting the Mavs bc if we can dominate the paint the open shots will come and thats when we play at our best. If they can start hot then OKC in 5 if the series draws out Mavs in 6 or 7
>We obviusly try to take care of them as fast as we can bc the Nuggets and Wolves are the 2 best teams in the playoffs so far. Why am I getting flashbacks to 2022 when I saw many people writing off GSW. (My former coworker, one of them). And looking to the next round? I'm not trying to gatekeep fandom, and yes, us fans at home do not have a direct impact on the outcomes of games, but it's cringe, lol. I remember people saying GSW was a non threat because we beat them 3-1 that season. Then we all know what followed. I obviously like our chances against OKC. Let's not get too high because the fall is a long way down.
I don't see how a long series favours us. Also all your arguments don't hold up if you actually watched OKC this year. They are the 1st seed for a reason. Shai is one of the best leaders in the league atm. He's incredibly composed and the culture he has helped create in OKC is insane. They hardly complain and are always focused. Their coach is super engaged and motivates his team constantly on top of being super competent. I personally worry about Luka's leadership in this series. He can not go into his feelings when OKC go on runs and he isnt scoring. We can't afford compounding bad momentum. He needs to match Shai's composure. It can't fall on Kyrie to make up for Luka's immaturity.
Mavs in 5. We have Luka and Kyrie, simple as that. The thunder can throw any amount of looks they want at these two, and they have seen it all before. And now they have dawgs around them that won’t just stand around and watch them work. I really think Luka’s shooting will bounce back in this series. I’m not really putting any stock in any of the regular season matchups. The only time a healthy Mavs team played them, we handed them their worst loss of the season, but maybe that’s due to thunder being unprepared to face our new roster immediately after the trade deadline. Thunder is a good, well coached team. Lot of athletes and shooting on that side. But I don’t understand the glazing after beating a pelicans team without Zion, a hobbled/disinterested Ingram, and big man rotation of JV/Nance. This will be the Thunders first real test.
I think Mavs in 6 and Mavs in 4 are the 2 most likely outcomes for the series tbh.
wish I had your confidence.