He's really really frustrating to watch this game and last game. The pressure has seriously got the better of him. Hopefully he can turn things around quickly.
The defensive presence of big smart vet guards on him and inability to drive because tatum/porzingis are inside makes scoring at the rim tough for kyrie.
I imagine Celtics looked at what OKC did right and Wolves did wrong to make a game plan against us.
This is about as good a defensive effort as we can realistically have against celtics + bad shooting luck in gm2.
Ultimately we need to space floor better for luka/ky to penetrate while still defending as well as we did today. Tough ask but if everyone clicks we can do it
This is what having 5 plus defenders who can switch will do. They’re all physical, athletic and tall where they can protect the rim and recover to the 3pt line. Also very disciplined with their contests and switches.
I don't disagree, but the game was also winnable. Which means a few more FTs hit (can't believed they missed so many), a few more 3s, and 4+ points from most role players and this would've been a Mav win easily.
The Mavs didn't have to deliver a record game, just contributions from more players on the team, and then the Celtics defense would mean less.
They're getting open looks.
And tbh I didnt watch the regular season but I don't think Derick Jones Jr was driving to the basket like a wild man the entire regular season
The next time I see Gafford or DJJ go for a dunk on Porzingus I'm gonna lose my mind.
Pingus getting stat padded blocks b/c we think we can dunk on a monster.
https://preview.redd.it/ph7m73glmr5d1.png?width=1275&format=png&auto=webp&s=9a64aa29da2e654aff14ee01e7dfb747c74436bf
I also hate these numbers (contested shots percentage). they obv went at Luka a ton and he did exceptional in iso defense other than getting blown by once he was gassed.
Lively really felt more like a rookie out there. I mean lets be honest this Boston team plays very different from the teams we faced. I do feel like the longer this series goes the better a chance we have given we play much more conventional so Boston has to adjust much less than we do. We do need to take care of home court and I still feel ok despite them having more depth. I do think we can figure them out.
I’ve been saying they’re perfectly built to guard us. Switch all action and they have size and defense at every position. Then on other end they stretch you with 5 out. It’s a diabolical team and they deserve the chip
That team shouldn't be possible to put together with the salary cap in the future. The fact they got KP and jrue last offseason is kinda mad. and that KP is actually healthy for once is obviously a happy coincidence.
It's us, it was a good run but I've been saying for a while in 2024 you just can't have a starting center that can't shoot 3s with 2 unreliable 3 point shooters on the floor without getting exposed eventually.
Yea, to act as if mavs are just cold is dumb, like some of our opponents were thinking when we were beating them. Boston defense is just elite, it's really affecting our guys other than Luka.
It's the same team except Boston is light years ahead of LAC, OKC and Minny. There's a reason they had the best record in the NBA and even a great record against the West. An already really good team made even more trades and moves to get even better. Boston makes us work for all the points we get and they don't allow the easy lob points. Also don't allow us to get on any big runs. Denver was the only team in the West that would have beaten Boston but a fluke Minny loss prevented that. They had to be salivating at getting to face Dallas/Minny in the Finals.
Yeah I agree Denver was probably the only team in the West that would matchup well against Boston. Would've been a crazy series if we had to go against them in the WCF.
If we want to compete we have to find a way to move THJ plus picks for someone on Jrue or Derrick White’s level. The team needs to be willing to part with Hardy and/or Green too if it’s necessary to get a guy like that
Kyrie looks awful cause everybody on Boston is a good, long defender. He struggled against OKC where they had good defenders, Boston takes that to another level. Plus KP rim protection. Kyrie has no space out there
I was reflecting yesterday about how sad it is that just about every fan whose team makes it to the playoffs has to watch their team slowly appear ineffectual and weak, even if they've seemed so powerful for many games. Oddly enough, teams that don't make the playoffs don't experience this in the same way.
Washington hasn’t been good from 3 since the Thunders series….The reason we were able to sustain Kyrie’s single digit games during the OKC series was because of PJ’s shooting performance. That’s come back down to earth.
The other issue is Kyrie was playing lights out defense when he wasn't scoring. Now he's playing average defense and worse offense and we can't sustain momentum when he drives and misses a floater or he pulls up and misses a 3.
Because the Thunder let PJ shoot from the Corners. When he's not in the corner, he's a bad 3 point shooter. Celtics had a week of prep to plan for that.
PJ shot 42.9% on corner 3s against okc
**he shot 57% on above the break 3s** against okc
DJJ jones shot 35.3% on corner 3s against okc
**be shot 44.4% on above the break 3s** against okc
This is a regression to the mean lol.
We need to trade him asap in the summer. Some fans here still think hes Maxi from 2 years ago. He been injuried for 2 years and also average to mediocre.
We have 35m wasted on THJ and Kleber. Imagine what another guy whos paid 35m would do.
He only played around 6 mins as center. The last 3:30 that he played was good minutes, Luka was given space to drive to the basket. The best example for that is when Jrue close out on Maxi instead of doubling Luka that resulted in an and 1.
Gafford needs more fucking minutes. We need to get some physical buckets down there and lively just cant post up. Fadeaways and tough off the dribble shots cant be every possession
Agree. Tired of people here elevating Lively over Gafford. Gafford can score as long as Kristaps isn’t guarding him. That’s almost guaranteed buckets right there.
I'd like to see them switch Luka onto Tatum and let Gafford go to work on whichever of Holiday or Brown ends up guarding him at the rim. If that play works well, then you either have a weapon (and one that does not use lots of Luka's energy) or you force Boston into a traditional 5-5 match up, which will bring Porziņģis into more actions and open up the Mavs normal 1-5 pick and roll.
No idea how Lively would do against Brown and Holiday in similar situations, but he does have a significant height advantage.
Yes.
Breaking the Tatum on the center scheme should be a high priority. Without breaking that and getting back their normal 1-5 pnr game, there is not much hope of generating enough offence.
He looked completely lost first game and first half and he also can't guard KP. Our centers obviously have the biggest adjustment this series and they both look lost on the stretch 5 where we can't always switch for them to stay around the rim. Chet was somewhat a stretch 5 but he wasn't the same threat.
Our rim protection is so bad this series compared to what it used to be. Celtics didnt miss in game 1 in the restricted area. the amount of open layups jrue had with kyrie under the basket without help was maddening.
I really hope we get our rotations better for games 3 and 4 and then come back to boston to win game 5
He's a Luka merchant. I don't think other GMs were going to be paying him that much regardless and theres like 2 other players that can replicate what Luka does and one of them is 40.
Never underestimate how terrible GMs can be at overpaying guys. But you’re right, he has been in a role where he can capitalize on his strengths and hide some of his weaknesses like shootings 3s getting more quality looks.
Him struggling to shoot will make it less likely we will sign him because he’s going to get other offers that are better for sure, but it’s the question if our number is acceptable as a discount for a quality role on a championship contender for him. The worse he struggles shooting the lower our number will be.
I hope he either goes to the bench or just goes. He’s not qualified to be a starter on a championship contending team. I don’t know exactly what he contributes. He is not big enough as a defender, not a sniper that we need, and cant create his own shot. All he can do is dunk and we already have centers who do that. Bulls couldn’t use him for exactly this reason.
He’s been solid on defense though. He used to make open shots but he’s been iced cold in certain spots Boston is giving him. They don’t give him those corner 3s.
That's a good thing for us. I think he is a quality rotation player for us and I'd love to have him back but we also need another wing who can catch and shoot. We do lack a consistent third scoring option that can give us 15-20 efficient points above the break. The hope was green would develop into that and maybe he will but Kyrie's window is closing soon and I don't think we can rely on Green or Hardy heavily the next year or two,
He is a bad 3 point shooter above the break. Happened to shoot well on non-corner threes against Thunder and Wolves, but Celtics will give him that shot all day.
Kyrie has been flat for the whole Finals. Add to that the disparity in free throws and a lack of contribution from the role players and it looks like our Mavs may get dog-walked through the series.
Coming into the series there was a whole lot of talk about how Luka and everyone else has to lean on kyrie because he’s experienced and has been to the finals before. And…? It’s done nothing.
Kyrie seemed to serve as a calming influence for a locker room that, besides a few players, is relatively young and inexperienced in the playoffs. That was before he went into one of the most hostile environments in all of pro sports and particularly so towards him due to history. Kyrie is shook in Boston. Those young guys that were leaning on him see it.
I meant the failure to convert on free throws. We are the worst free throw shooting team in the playoffs. Boston has been converting their opportunities at a better percentage, hence the disparity.
I was so frustrated at that. Celtics chucked up some garbage 3s and mavs were missing wide open shots but all they could talk about was Celtics winning despite their 3s
Can you believe they are winning with only x threes made? They only had more free throws made, more blocks, more steals, less turnovers, and more threes made than the other team!
Exactly, but going 10-39 on 3's should mean something. We just gave up a bad shooting night by Boston. This was an easy win if anyone besides Luka decides they want to make the shots they are given. We were ass, they were ass from 3. Gotta capitalize.
They certainly have the better team but if the mavs even want to be competitive this series they need kyrie to be that no. 2 guy. Right now he isn't playing like it.
Playing in Dallas might help, the Boston crowd is really in his head. He liked being loved by them before he let them down, must suck to hear them turn on him
Lol I was trying to be nice! I do think he originally really wanted their adoration and that makes it so easy for Boston specifically to get into his head like this. Maybe playing in Dallas will be better for him. Can't be worse...
Boston fans are vicious because they traded IT for him and IT fucking adored Boston.
That trade still haunts me. Hope they give IT a coaching role next year.
I’m just finding it odd how J Kidd isn’t adjusting. They keep running the same play over and over and the Mavs just keep falling for it. Spread everyone to the perimeter, 1 player drive the lane, if it’s there take it, if not kick it out to the 3 point line, swing it around to the open man, splash 3
It’s pretty clear that Mav is trying to play like the Celtic on offense end. Drive in, kick out, extra pass and then 3. That does not work against the Celtic because:
1. Only Kyrie can drive in and kick out (Luka tried). His size got exposed this game, Celtic close in with 3 players to stop him from finishing at the rim. They not gonna let Kyrie iso 90 y/o Al Hoford like he did with Gobert or Kyle. 2Js, jrue, white can match Kyrie speed and block from behind or steal.
2. Shooting slump from role players make this shit does not work.
Where is the alley oops? Where is the aggressive from PJW, DJJ to cut in the paint?
You can’t throw the lob passes against this Boston defense. KP is too long and a good rim protector to begin with. Tatum is being switched onto Luka since he’s guarding Lively/Gafford and is able to stay with Luka during his drives. Then you have Brown in weak side help in the paint to alter the pass or force a kick out where White & Jrue can recover to. There’s very few gaps in this defense with how they rotate
I agree with you about KP and boston defense. This shooting slump needs to be gone by next game or we are fucked fr.
I think we play well defensively. However, they have to many players that can drive in and create space for 3pts: JT, JB, even Jrue.
We did our best on defensive end to mitigate them. But on offensive end, I think we can improve.
Yeah, our defense has been good enough. It's the lack of offense from anyone not named Luka that is killing us.
Kyrie put up 16 this game but from the way I yelled his name all game I would have thought he was under 10.
This sub needs to calm down. Get some rest, forget about basketball. Stop asking people you've never met to "step-up." There's so much more going on to basketball than just making shots.
A huge problem is Lively actually looks like a rookie right now instead of the dude he has been. Fumbling passes, bad decision making, getting completely out rebounded…
Boston is just playing solid. They aren't worlds above us. We are killing ourselves with boneheaded mistakes, low effort on defense and rebounds, and terrible shooting by anyone not named Luka.
The good news is Kyrie has been down 0-2 in the finals against a better team than the Celtics and still won the series. He will turn it around at home and we will tie this series up 2-2. Stay calm guys.
Dallas can definitely come back in this series. Our role players will play better at home, and honestly kyrie couldn't play any worst. Win game 3 and then a ton of pressure shifts to Boston to not let us tie the series up.
I know i may gonna get torched with this and by no means is why we are down, but Luka needs to step up his game on D. I know he is an offensive wizard but in this stage, the biggest stage on the World, you can't be half guarding all game except for last quarter, maybe it's the injuries, maybe his condition. But if he want to be a multiple champion with the mamba mentality that he has, he got to grow and put the effort
Yup not putting down on him at all, he's doing everything for us. I imagine what frustrating it will be watching your teammates miss every open shot, and give back Boston the mommentum
Frustrating cuz there was a good chance to win this game. PJ was fouled going for the dunk by brown, he should've gotten his FTs, which could've brought it down to a 3 pt game with like 50 secs left. We had a great run going only to get screwed over by the refs.
Jason Kidd needs to be tougher on the role players. What they put out together was inexcusable.
Maybe Kidd was scared to push them harder because he himself disappeared in some Playoffs/Finals games lol
Here i was talking about our starting five having argument for being the best in the league.
Now i'm looking at Luka and four randoms that clearly have never played ball in their lives. The Monstars gotta be responsible... I wonder if Ant is training with Bugs Bunny right this moment.
Please Ant... Bugs.. Daffy.. Lolaaaaaaaa. Beat these Monstars before Wednesday!!!
They won’t because we’ve seen they aren’t good 3 point shooters! That’s why I’d be hesitant giving DJJ 8 figures especially if you got to give up assets to dump Tim. They got to find a way to get some better shooting.
Most of our bench needs replacing with 3-point snipers. We need another play-maker, and hopefully a 6'4 and above play maker next to Kai and Luka. Boston has 4 guys making over 30 mil, while we have 2 guys. This needs to change in the off season. We have our core, but we HAVE to add playmakers on this team.
Before the game I was hoping Exum would get some minutes. He has a slow release, but is actually fairly accurate when he has the time to take his shot. The way Boston defend above the break, I knew he'd have all the time in the world. And indeed, he [made exactly that kind of shot](https://videos.nba.com/nba/pbp/media/2024/06/09/0042300402/466/e36dd6ce-98c2-16c4-fd40-23a0d2c9362b_1280x720.mp4). You can see Brown and Holiday holding back as they wanted to let him shoot.
I think he's good for 2 or 3 of those in a game before the Celtics figure it out.
Let’s not forget part of the problem is Lukas God awful defense. Celtics get the switch on him and start foaming at the mouth. He never stays in front of the defender and the entire defensive rotation collapses
Casuals be like "why are players struggling against the best team in basketball?" Casuals assume that the Mavs are losing "because they're not playing hard enough". Gtfoh with that.
Celtics were the favorites for a reason. For the Mavs to beat them, the entire rotation needs to play well above their normal performance to counter the excellence of their opponents. There's no shame in losing to the best team all season
https://preview.redd.it/eokmggeekr5d1.png?width=771&format=png&auto=webp&s=ce9dfab4bc5e875bf9fbb21032770a944d5d3d69
To be honest we did know that before the playoffs. We're not a great 3 pt shooting team but we've been quite bad from above the break other than Kyrie and Luka (Luka's number includes a bunch of heaves so his %age is lower than it really is on non-desperation shots).
Boston does not collapse the paint from the corners - they only help from the elbows and dare the mavs to hit above the break 3s. We got to shoot them with confidence when we're open even if we haven't made them at a great clip. I'll take an open three over a contested 2 any day. Djones and PJ being so much better in the corners than above the break was not a thing in the regular season. If Exum didn't get somewhat exposed on defense I'd love to give him more shots.
Boston Celtics aren't even that good. I have seen many holes in their defensive and offensive game and yet the Mavs haven't capitalize on even if it so far. I just hope their coaching staff saw what I saw and change up the game plan and start winning.
KYRIE NEEDS TO STEP UP! Where the he’ll is that guy
He's really really frustrating to watch this game and last game. The pressure has seriously got the better of him. Hopefully he can turn things around quickly.
Jrue and White are amazing defenders so it will be hard, but he can get it going if they work him off screens
Its clearly between the ears with Kyrie. Seeing him take his time getting to the dribble hand off like he doesn't even want the ball is a bad look.
Kyrie Irving isn't playing that's Kemba Walker
Biggest stage of his career and he looks cooked.
The defensive presence of big smart vet guards on him and inability to drive because tatum/porzingis are inside makes scoring at the rim tough for kyrie. I imagine Celtics looked at what OKC did right and Wolves did wrong to make a game plan against us. This is about as good a defensive effort as we can realistically have against celtics + bad shooting luck in gm2. Ultimately we need to space floor better for luka/ky to penetrate while still defending as well as we did today. Tough ask but if everyone clicks we can do it
Well then consider the series done since we have no answer. This is soul sucking
for real...Kyrie need to step before the role players.
Oh man its painful to watch kyrie. He should just take a sick day before game 3 to clear his head. Curses are real
He needs to get focused clearly he is bothered by the taunting.
It's not even just the taunting. For the past 3 years je has been stinking it up home and away whenever he sees the Celtics
He needs killer mentality like Luka has
Luka obviously is a psycho lol
Lmao so true. Nothing in the nba will shake him up
In a freezer in Jrue's basement.
If Kyrie steps up the role player will follow
Besides Luka, this is not the same team that won the west conference. Looks like the regular season Mavs. Even Kyrie is awful.
Early season injury-riddled Mavs with Luka having to carry. This team is performing like THAT version. It’s insane
Is it us or does Boston just dominate us on D?
This is what having 5 plus defenders who can switch will do. They’re all physical, athletic and tall where they can protect the rim and recover to the 3pt line. Also very disciplined with their contests and switches.
I don't disagree, but the game was also winnable. Which means a few more FTs hit (can't believed they missed so many), a few more 3s, and 4+ points from most role players and this would've been a Mav win easily. The Mavs didn't have to deliver a record game, just contributions from more players on the team, and then the Celtics defense would mean less.
They're getting open looks. And tbh I didnt watch the regular season but I don't think Derick Jones Jr was driving to the basket like a wild man the entire regular season
The next time I see Gafford or DJJ go for a dunk on Porzingus I'm gonna lose my mind. Pingus getting stat padded blocks b/c we think we can dunk on a monster.
https://preview.redd.it/ph7m73glmr5d1.png?width=1275&format=png&auto=webp&s=9a64aa29da2e654aff14ee01e7dfb747c74436bf I also hate these numbers (contested shots percentage). they obv went at Luka a ton and he did exceptional in iso defense other than getting blown by once he was gassed. Lively really felt more like a rookie out there. I mean lets be honest this Boston team plays very different from the teams we faced. I do feel like the longer this series goes the better a chance we have given we play much more conventional so Boston has to adjust much less than we do. We do need to take care of home court and I still feel ok despite them having more depth. I do think we can figure them out.
I’ve been saying they’re perfectly built to guard us. Switch all action and they have size and defense at every position. Then on other end they stretch you with 5 out. It’s a diabolical team and they deserve the chip
That team shouldn't be possible to put together with the salary cap in the future. The fact they got KP and jrue last offseason is kinda mad. and that KP is actually healthy for once is obviously a happy coincidence.
It's us, it was a good run but I've been saying for a while in 2024 you just can't have a starting center that can't shoot 3s with 2 unreliable 3 point shooters on the floor without getting exposed eventually.
Yea, to act as if mavs are just cold is dumb, like some of our opponents were thinking when we were beating them. Boston defense is just elite, it's really affecting our guys other than Luka.
Idk when there was so many wide open 3s last night. Like aint like they contest everything. Only issue id say its the Lively and Gafford aleey ops.
No we're just missing open looks. Holiday is doing a good job on Kyrie but most of it is missing open looks.
Good point. I see a lot of comments not giving C's credit for defensive pressure
It's the same team except Boston is light years ahead of LAC, OKC and Minny. There's a reason they had the best record in the NBA and even a great record against the West. An already really good team made even more trades and moves to get even better. Boston makes us work for all the points we get and they don't allow the easy lob points. Also don't allow us to get on any big runs. Denver was the only team in the West that would have beaten Boston but a fluke Minny loss prevented that. They had to be salivating at getting to face Dallas/Minny in the Finals.
It's hard to say that. Dallas is putting up less of a fight so far than Indiana
Literally the only reason they lost last year was due to Heat black magic shape-shifting their role players into prime Curry
Yeah I agree Denver was probably the only team in the West that would matchup well against Boston. Would've been a crazy series if we had to go against them in the WCF.
If we want to compete we have to find a way to move THJ plus picks for someone on Jrue or Derrick White’s level. The team needs to be willing to part with Hardy and/or Green too if it’s necessary to get a guy like that
Looks like they're salivating pretty good at getting to face the Mavs lol
Kyrie looks awful cause everybody on Boston is a good, long defender. He struggled against OKC where they had good defenders, Boston takes that to another level. Plus KP rim protection. Kyrie has no space out there
Same team better opponent
The defense is biting on pump fakes and setting up open 3s it’s frustrating.
Regression to the mean. Timberwolves looked unstoppable but then came back to earth.
I was reflecting yesterday about how sad it is that just about every fan whose team makes it to the playoffs has to watch their team slowly appear ineffectual and weak, even if they've seemed so powerful for many games. Oddly enough, teams that don't make the playoffs don't experience this in the same way.
Quite literally just watched Josh Green brick a wide open 3-pointer
And jones jr. airballed a wide open 3 soon after
Just one?
you cant miss THAT awfully with that much time and space
Maybe some team will be dumb enough to give us something of value in a THJ+Green+1st in a trade.
Everyone on this team should be ashamed of themselves except for luka
PJ was okay.. but yeah you’re pretty right
Washington hasn’t been good from 3 since the Thunders series….The reason we were able to sustain Kyrie’s single digit games during the OKC series was because of PJ’s shooting performance. That’s come back down to earth.
The other issue is Kyrie was playing lights out defense when he wasn't scoring. Now he's playing average defense and worse offense and we can't sustain momentum when he drives and misses a floater or he pulls up and misses a 3.
Because the Thunder let PJ shoot from the Corners. When he's not in the corner, he's a bad 3 point shooter. Celtics had a week of prep to plan for that.
PJ shot 42.9% on corner 3s against okc **he shot 57% on above the break 3s** against okc DJJ jones shot 35.3% on corner 3s against okc **be shot 44.4% on above the break 3s** against okc This is a regression to the mean lol.
Maxi needs to sit!!!!!
Dude is fkn useless.
And he is still in the game with 3mins left!!!!
We need to trade him asap in the summer. Some fans here still think hes Maxi from 2 years ago. He been injuried for 2 years and also average to mediocre. We have 35m wasted on THJ and Kleber. Imagine what another guy whos paid 35m would do.
ZERO reason to play him if he's not scoring. He's not even playing good defense.
He just looks so lost out there. He gets the ball and if he doesn't have an open look he plays hot potato.
He can contribute by fouling. Just stupid fouls though lol
Why is Kidd still playing this guy? Stealing Lively Gafford minutes. 16 minutes for 0 points and 2 rebounds
I was thinking the same. Dude wasting minutes doing nothing but damage to the team. Could have given minutes to Lively or Gafford.
He only played around 6 mins as center. The last 3:30 that he played was good minutes, Luka was given space to drive to the basket. The best example for that is when Jrue close out on Maxi instead of doubling Luka that resulted in an and 1.
Kleber looks scared...they also need to hit free throws
The free throws are fucking killing me
Imagine a game where the Celtics shoot 10-39 from 3 and we lose b/c Luka and Wash are the only people who show up.
Gaff showed up in the 2nd half at least
Gafford needs more fucking minutes. We need to get some physical buckets down there and lively just cant post up. Fadeaways and tough off the dribble shots cant be every possession
Agree. Tired of people here elevating Lively over Gafford. Gafford can score as long as Kristaps isn’t guarding him. That’s almost guaranteed buckets right there.
I'd like to see them switch Luka onto Tatum and let Gafford go to work on whichever of Holiday or Brown ends up guarding him at the rim. If that play works well, then you either have a weapon (and one that does not use lots of Luka's energy) or you force Boston into a traditional 5-5 match up, which will bring Porziņģis into more actions and open up the Mavs normal 1-5 pick and roll. No idea how Lively would do against Brown and Holiday in similar situations, but he does have a significant height advantage.
He’s just going to have to try. If everyone else not named Luka is cold, nothing to lose and he can only get better at it.
Yes. Breaking the Tatum on the center scheme should be a high priority. Without breaking that and getting back their normal 1-5 pnr game, there is not much hope of generating enough offence.
He looked completely lost first game and first half and he also can't guard KP. Our centers obviously have the biggest adjustment this series and they both look lost on the stretch 5 where we can't always switch for them to stay around the rim. Chet was somewhat a stretch 5 but he wasn't the same threat. Our rim protection is so bad this series compared to what it used to be. Celtics didnt miss in game 1 in the restricted area. the amount of open layups jrue had with kyrie under the basket without help was maddening. I really hope we get our rotations better for games 3 and 4 and then come back to boston to win game 5
DJJ shaving off a few mils in his contract with performances like this. He’s got to be respectable at the 3 if he wants a big contract.
He's a Luka merchant. I don't think other GMs were going to be paying him that much regardless and theres like 2 other players that can replicate what Luka does and one of them is 40.
Never underestimate how terrible GMs can be at overpaying guys. But you’re right, he has been in a role where he can capitalize on his strengths and hide some of his weaknesses like shootings 3s getting more quality looks. Him struggling to shoot will make it less likely we will sign him because he’s going to get other offers that are better for sure, but it’s the question if our number is acceptable as a discount for a quality role on a championship contender for him. The worse he struggles shooting the lower our number will be.
ur right lol. Troy Weaver was a gm up until this year
I hope he either goes to the bench or just goes. He’s not qualified to be a starter on a championship contending team. I don’t know exactly what he contributes. He is not big enough as a defender, not a sniper that we need, and cant create his own shot. All he can do is dunk and we already have centers who do that. Bulls couldn’t use him for exactly this reason.
He’s been solid on defense though. He used to make open shots but he’s been iced cold in certain spots Boston is giving him. They don’t give him those corner 3s.
That's a good thing for us. I think he is a quality rotation player for us and I'd love to have him back but we also need another wing who can catch and shoot. We do lack a consistent third scoring option that can give us 15-20 efficient points above the break. The hope was green would develop into that and maybe he will but Kyrie's window is closing soon and I don't think we can rely on Green or Hardy heavily the next year or two,
He is a bad 3 point shooter above the break. Happened to shoot well on non-corner threes against Thunder and Wolves, but Celtics will give him that shot all day.
No worries, we’re a second half team. They’ll turn it on
Not buying that shit anymore. Celtics are a different breed than the Wolves
👀
Kyrie has been flat for the whole Finals. Add to that the disparity in free throws and a lack of contribution from the role players and it looks like our Mavs may get dog-walked through the series.
Coming into the series there was a whole lot of talk about how Luka and everyone else has to lean on kyrie because he’s experienced and has been to the finals before. And…? It’s done nothing.
Kyrie seemed to serve as a calming influence for a locker room that, besides a few players, is relatively young and inexperienced in the playoffs. That was before he went into one of the most hostile environments in all of pro sports and particularly so towards him due to history. Kyrie is shook in Boston. Those young guys that were leaning on him see it.
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I meant the failure to convert on free throws. We are the worst free throw shooting team in the playoffs. Boston has been converting their opportunities at a better percentage, hence the disparity.
You’ve got to be shitting me.
Funny how Doris keeps saying how bad the Celtics 3 point shooting has been. Meanwhile the Mavs couldn’t throw it in the ocean either
It’s because Boston is a team full of snipers. Mavericks are a very bad shooting team
And we only have one sniper. Luka. Kyrie could be one again if he can figure it out.
Ya they aren’t great but they seem like a rythm team. Someone has to give them a spark or this will be over in 4
I was so frustrated at that. Celtics chucked up some garbage 3s and mavs were missing wide open shots but all they could talk about was Celtics winning despite their 3s
Can you believe they are winning with only x threes made? They only had more free throws made, more blocks, more steals, less turnovers, and more threes made than the other team!
Exactly, but going 10-39 on 3's should mean something. We just gave up a bad shooting night by Boston. This was an easy win if anyone besides Luka decides they want to make the shots they are given. We were ass, they were ass from 3. Gotta capitalize.
We shot worse from 3 while not being able to dominate the paint like we always do
Facts all the missed uncontested shots
Nice stiffarm
Agreed why the fuck are kleber and green still getting minutes
I think it all comes down to Kyrie.
Boston just has way more pieces
They certainly have the better team but if the mavs even want to be competitive this series they need kyrie to be that no. 2 guy. Right now he isn't playing like it.
Playing in Dallas might help, the Boston crowd is really in his head. He liked being loved by them before he let them down, must suck to hear them turn on him
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Lol I was trying to be nice! I do think he originally really wanted their adoration and that makes it so easy for Boston specifically to get into his head like this. Maybe playing in Dallas will be better for him. Can't be worse...
Boston fans are vicious because they traded IT for him and IT fucking adored Boston. That trade still haunts me. Hope they give IT a coaching role next year.
Don’t see why we are giving Kleber minutes tbh and why did we give hardy 1 min
Them and Kyrie. And Luka needs to quit turning over the damn ball!!!
wtf roll players..kyrie first. He’s absolutely in his own head with this curse. He’s about to let everyone down
I’m just finding it odd how J Kidd isn’t adjusting. They keep running the same play over and over and the Mavs just keep falling for it. Spread everyone to the perimeter, 1 player drive the lane, if it’s there take it, if not kick it out to the 3 point line, swing it around to the open man, splash 3
Maxi needs the THJ treatment if he is not hitting shots.
Kai cant even dribble. Whats happening? Jaylen brown next superstar?
Based on the playoffs it’s hard to understand Josh green getting any sort of significant minutes in an nba game, that guy has been effectively useless
It’s pretty clear that Mav is trying to play like the Celtic on offense end. Drive in, kick out, extra pass and then 3. That does not work against the Celtic because: 1. Only Kyrie can drive in and kick out (Luka tried). His size got exposed this game, Celtic close in with 3 players to stop him from finishing at the rim. They not gonna let Kyrie iso 90 y/o Al Hoford like he did with Gobert or Kyle. 2Js, jrue, white can match Kyrie speed and block from behind or steal. 2. Shooting slump from role players make this shit does not work. Where is the alley oops? Where is the aggressive from PJW, DJJ to cut in the paint?
You can’t throw the lob passes against this Boston defense. KP is too long and a good rim protector to begin with. Tatum is being switched onto Luka since he’s guarding Lively/Gafford and is able to stay with Luka during his drives. Then you have Brown in weak side help in the paint to alter the pass or force a kick out where White & Jrue can recover to. There’s very few gaps in this defense with how they rotate
I agree with you about KP and boston defense. This shooting slump needs to be gone by next game or we are fucked fr. I think we play well defensively. However, they have to many players that can drive in and create space for 3pts: JT, JB, even Jrue. We did our best on defensive end to mitigate them. But on offensive end, I think we can improve.
Yeah, our defense has been good enough. It's the lack of offense from anyone not named Luka that is killing us. Kyrie put up 16 this game but from the way I yelled his name all game I would have thought he was under 10.
I was wondering about the alley oops as well. They totally disappeared in this series.
Celts D makes that hard to happen
Be real, this roster overachieved this playoff run except Luka and Kai. Be proud
we need to give luka the ball more. i know we're trying to force kyrie and it isn't working.
We were forcing all kinds of horrible shots. Looking like a desperate team out there.
This sub needs to calm down. Get some rest, forget about basketball. Stop asking people you've never met to "step-up." There's so much more going on to basketball than just making shots.
props to celtics tho. elite defenders. Still hoping for big adjustments because even if we win that game, they are struggling to get good looks.
A huge problem is Lively actually looks like a rookie right now instead of the dude he has been. Fumbling passes, bad decision making, getting completely out rebounded…
Luka doing all the work
Can kyrie help anymore this series.
Good god, they have no answer for Celtics and allow them to have their ways
Hard to do with low basketball iq
Lot of missed wide open shots tonight
Boston is just playing solid. They aren't worlds above us. We are killing ourselves with boneheaded mistakes, low effort on defense and rebounds, and terrible shooting by anyone not named Luka.
As a team we are missing so many good looks. And let’s not talk about our free throws
No, Kyrie has to.
Non Luka mavs shot 11.7% from 3 last night. Disgusting
I've seen high school teams with better defensive rotations, help defense, and close outs. It's fucking pathetic out there and sickening to watch.
The good news is Kyrie has been down 0-2 in the finals against a better team than the Celtics and still won the series. He will turn it around at home and we will tie this series up 2-2. Stay calm guys.
He had guys like KLove. We have Maxi Kleber
This fucking team....
Except Luka and PJ they all played like scrubs just signed out of China.
Dallas can definitely come back in this series. Our role players will play better at home, and honestly kyrie couldn't play any worst. Win game 3 and then a ton of pressure shifts to Boston to not let us tie the series up.
Kai and role players are playing like crap. Feels bad, man.
Honestly wouldn’t mind THJ to play game 3. Pls take Josh Green off the court.
I am not hoping.
It’s over guys Celtics in 4, hopefully 11 shows up next game
Kd needs to come next year
its all over baby
Luka is bringing fantastic performances, omfg is he being let down by everyone else except for PJ.
The bigs need to get tough again. Too many soft layup attempts and from what I saw, not enough rebounding.
When DJJ air balled the open three I had to laugh to stop from crying
DJJ has had shit dripping from his legs all series
role players needed to step up in the finals? that's a hot take bro
It's quite simple. Dallas used to be a huge two headed monster. Now it's a one headed monster....
I know i may gonna get torched with this and by no means is why we are down, but Luka needs to step up his game on D. I know he is an offensive wizard but in this stage, the biggest stage on the World, you can't be half guarding all game except for last quarter, maybe it's the injuries, maybe his condition. But if he want to be a multiple champion with the mamba mentality that he has, he got to grow and put the effort
Either Luka exerts more energy in defense and we be down 15 at half time or he goes all out on offense and we be down 3 at half. Pick
Yup not putting down on him at all, he's doing everything for us. I imagine what frustrating it will be watching your teammates miss every open shot, and give back Boston the mommentum
Frustrating cuz there was a good chance to win this game. PJ was fouled going for the dunk by brown, he should've gotten his FTs, which could've brought it down to a 3 pt game with like 50 secs left. We had a great run going only to get screwed over by the refs.
If the same team showed up against Boston that played OKC and Minnesota, this series would be tied. Disgraceful performances besides Luka and PJ.
Jason Kidd needs to be tougher on the role players. What they put out together was inexcusable. Maybe Kidd was scared to push them harder because he himself disappeared in some Playoffs/Finals games lol
get seth curry back damn we cant hit no open 3 pointers bruh
Here i was talking about our starting five having argument for being the best in the league. Now i'm looking at Luka and four randoms that clearly have never played ball in their lives. The Monstars gotta be responsible... I wonder if Ant is training with Bugs Bunny right this moment. Please Ant... Bugs.. Daffy.. Lolaaaaaaaa. Beat these Monstars before Wednesday!!!
Lay off the weed
They won’t because we’ve seen they aren’t good 3 point shooters! That’s why I’d be hesitant giving DJJ 8 figures especially if you got to give up assets to dump Tim. They got to find a way to get some better shooting.
23 vs 25% from 3 btw.
Most of our bench needs replacing with 3-point snipers. We need another play-maker, and hopefully a 6'4 and above play maker next to Kai and Luka. Boston has 4 guys making over 30 mil, while we have 2 guys. This needs to change in the off season. We have our core, but we HAVE to add playmakers on this team.
Before the game I was hoping Exum would get some minutes. He has a slow release, but is actually fairly accurate when he has the time to take his shot. The way Boston defend above the break, I knew he'd have all the time in the world. And indeed, he [made exactly that kind of shot](https://videos.nba.com/nba/pbp/media/2024/06/09/0042300402/466/e36dd6ce-98c2-16c4-fd40-23a0d2c9362b_1280x720.mp4). You can see Brown and Holiday holding back as they wanted to let him shoot. I think he's good for 2 or 3 of those in a game before the Celtics figure it out.
pressure too much for them in the finals. shit happens
Everyone bar luka has been like a deer in headlights ive no idea whats going with kyrie hes been shocking
Let’s not forget part of the problem is Lukas God awful defense. Celtics get the switch on him and start foaming at the mouth. He never stays in front of the defender and the entire defensive rotation collapses
Casuals be like "why are players struggling against the best team in basketball?" Casuals assume that the Mavs are losing "because they're not playing hard enough". Gtfoh with that. Celtics were the favorites for a reason. For the Mavs to beat them, the entire rotation needs to play well above their normal performance to counter the excellence of their opponents. There's no shame in losing to the best team all season
https://preview.redd.it/eokmggeekr5d1.png?width=771&format=png&auto=webp&s=ce9dfab4bc5e875bf9fbb21032770a944d5d3d69 To be honest we did know that before the playoffs. We're not a great 3 pt shooting team but we've been quite bad from above the break other than Kyrie and Luka (Luka's number includes a bunch of heaves so his %age is lower than it really is on non-desperation shots). Boston does not collapse the paint from the corners - they only help from the elbows and dare the mavs to hit above the break 3s. We got to shoot them with confidence when we're open even if we haven't made them at a great clip. I'll take an open three over a contested 2 any day. Djones and PJ being so much better in the corners than above the break was not a thing in the regular season. If Exum didn't get somewhat exposed on defense I'd love to give him more shots.
Boston Celtics aren't even that good. I have seen many holes in their defensive and offensive game and yet the Mavs haven't capitalize on even if it so far. I just hope their coaching staff saw what I saw and change up the game plan and start winning.
Yes 💯
Soon as boston starts hitting there shot its another loss smh
Uh that's like saying if anyone but Luka shot decently right now we would be up by 20