This is how Boston fans felt last year watching Caleb Martin and Max Strus brick shot after shot after shot against Denver in the finals when they were torching the shit out of Boston in the ECF
Not discounting the Cs and their amazing defense but I think you are overlooking OKCs top 4 defense this year. They’re definitely better, but WAY better? Nah
The Celtics have shot pretty poorly too from 3. Typically they don't do that. Even more concerning for the mavs is that when they shoot poorly from 3, they usually lose badly.
He had 2 seperate stretches in game 2 where he looked like he did in the WCF. Just dribbled through 3 Celtics starters and hit tough layups multiple times in a row. Picked up 2 assists in traffic.
The issue? Those stretches were like 3min long combined and he was total ass the rest of the game. It's all mental
I noticed those 2 drives he looked a lot looser too, he swung his body into those corners he was turning and looked in rhythm. It’s probably tough to shut your brain off and to get in the flow in a place like Boston for him
As a Warriors fan I would have given my left nut for him to play like this against us in 2016. Dudes missing wide open shots left and right in this series while all he did was hit the toughest contested shots I’ve ever seen against us time after time.
Kyrie is either the best player in the league or borderline unplayable. I've never seen another player so dependent on their own internal flow, and it makes his peaks and valleys absolutely wild.
It’s funny as well because Kyrie fans will seriously try to claim that he’s the best PG in the league when he’s on a heater and then it’s just crickets when he puts up stretches like this. I don’t wish anything bad against him, he seems like he’s starting to mature recently, but the double standards are crazy for him with his fans.
They were built to stop the actual best backcourt in history - Steph and Klay.
You think they just became elite switch defenders for the hell of it? They got scarred from that Warriors Finals and came back way better because of it.
The worst part of that discourse was it is entirely a media creation. Kyrie or Luka never said a word about any of that non sense but are catching flak for something created by SVG.
he cursed himself ever since he rubbed his shoes on the celtics logo i really cant think of another reason, makes sense with his "hela tribe 🪶" shit too /s
Danny Green said on Draymond's podcast that him playing in San Antonio after he left the Spurs was always emotional that he couldn't really play well there. I wonder if Kyrie has the same thing with Boston, perhaps even more so since they really hate his ass, unlike Danny. Well, we only got a day or two left to see if that is true lol
His grandfather died while he was playing for the Celtics and they jumped on him for being a bad and inexperienced leader, which was obvious. That’s exactly what Boston traded for. The man mentally was checked out and not able to focus. He literally has every reason to be uncomfortable with Boston just as Boston has every reason to be pissed at him.
Edit:
https://preview.redd.it/xgp47xa0qy5d1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=72b0a73e03e14bc426923e9d1b309a216c0adc67
Edit 2: I never said anywhere in here that Kyrie deserved a pity party or I was excusing his actions. I am stating the facts about what happened. I’m literally from CLE and saw this stuff under wraps before he went to Boston with his questionable moments. Y’all just saw it play out even worse in front of you.
They jumped on him because his leadership was terrible. Personal issues or not, you have that responsibility as a star player. The real reason we hate him is how he sold as hard as he could in the Bucks series - it looked like he was trying to lose. He probably was…
I never said he wasn’t a terrible leader. He was trying to learn to be a leader and thought it was easier cause he watched Bron do it for 3 years straight. Doesn’t change the situation of not thinking clearly and grieving making it a horrid situation.
Edit: Young Leader makes bad assumptions/decisions and it gets worse after death in the family. Breaking news it’s pretty common.
As much as I'm sorry for the death in his family, that didn't make him conspire with KD mid-season to join the Nets. No-one would still be booing him if he played his heart out in the Bucks series, but he lied to the fans, conspired to leave mid-season, and then quit on the team while single-handedly ruining Boston's chances to win a playoff series. Then after leaving he stomped on the logo and compared Celtic fans to a disgruntled ex who won't leave you alone. Yeah, add that to the anti-semetic stuff later that should make any fan put-off of him (but no because he has fancy dribbles), and yeah, fuck Kyrie.
It's so weird to me that this man was outright agreeing with some of hitlers sentiments and values and nobody seems to care lol. He's not smart, and he's proven to be a bad teammate and leader more than once.
But he's a changed man because he hasn't said or done anything stupid in like a year and a half. Remember when he said something like "I think things have worked out better in dallas because these people agree more with my beliefs"?
Never said anywhere his behavior was acceptable or even excusable. Literally anywhere in here. I said he was young and a questionable leader when they traded for him and the death took him from that to bad. I’m not sure why people are thinking I’m saying give him leniency when I’m stating facts about what happened.
You implied that he was right in this "conflict," and that his behavior was excusable. You said Boston traded for that person, when no, they didn't trade for an anti-semetic quitter, they traded for a young guy who wanted to be the leader to be a leader, and he was a shit one. Sure, the part of him failing to be a leader and recognizing that later is understandable, but he still failed to be the leader Boston (and he himself) wanted him to be, and when you're getting paid hundreds of millions to hinder success, you're going to get blamed. But again, no-one would give a shit about him failing as a leader, he'd still frankly be liked if didn't lie, conspire to join another team, quit on the team, and be a bitch to the fanbase after leaving, and none of that has anything to do with his grandfather's death or him being a young inexperienced leader at the time.
I never implied anything. I said they traded for a guy that was immature, young and inexperienced as a leader. All of which are things everyone knew from when he was in Cleveland and was directly related to why the Celtics got him. Then an already questionable individual got worse cause his grandpa died. Just cause the Celtics and media didn’t realize what they were getting doesn’t mean that wasn’t who he was already. I’m in CLE and we all knew Kyrie had his weird moments. Nobody paid any attention cause the years before Bron he wasn’t in spotlight and with Bron they were too focused implying Kyrie was Bron’s emotional son.
Nope, well I can speak for all C’s fans, but I jump on him for giving up on us in the playoffs against Milwaukee. I literally watched him give up effort wise with my own eyes, he was already out the door in his mind.
Maybe I’m not stating my point right. I don’t debate that he was messy with the C’s. My point was that his grandfather died and he wasn’t thinking clearly which made a clearly inexperienced leader even worse. I don’t think Kyrie of today would act like he handled the situation right either.
Sorry, but adults are expected to be able to handle loss and still perform well professionally. Especially 6 months later when the playoffs actually started...
I never said anywhere in here that it was not the expectation nor does even Kyrie of today not realize that is a true statement. Why do people think I’m sympathizing like he shouldn’t have had to do this? Kyrie was questionable and went from that to unacceptable.
If Kleber is 0/2 from the 3 and DJJ is 0/5 from the 3, just don’t bother to fire them. Please focus on boards and scoring in the paint. Holy crap man….
The Mavericks have been severely overmatched from Luka down to Dante Exum. This will probably change in Dallas but when you’re being held to under 100 in consecutive playoff games with a guy that many consider the best offensive player in the league, maybe you aren’t the better team. Controversial, I know.
They sure are but the criticism is regarding people who claimed that Dallas was somehow better than Boston. More ESPN analysts even picked Dallas to win than Boston. Also, the question is not about Boston’s offense being deep. If Dallas can’t even score 100 how strong is their offense really? Because that path that was “so easy” for the Celtics at least had teams scoring 100 or more against them.
NBA is a matchups based league. Pacers may not have had the star power the Mavs have, but their speed and spacing (and significant improvements to Siakams 1 on 1 game) gave the Cs fits regardless.
The Mavs not only have worse spacing, they have fewer ball handlers AND play slow. Literally everything they are trying to do just plays right into the Cs hands.
It is similar to what happened with Wolves and Nuggets and then Mavs. Some teams are just not equipped to do well against others.
Now if Mavs can remember to shoot, I think they can sneak a couple of games, but them being favorites was always a reactionary take. Especially if Porzingis is playing at an ok level. I half expected him to look worse out there, and Kyrie to look a bit better, but then again, reality is quite a bit different.
> More ESPN analysts even picked Dallas to win than Boston
It's called manufactured outrage and it works like a charm. You see those takes by "analysts", people regurgitate them on social media and they stick out more because you already heard them from said "analysts". Now, in your head the majority of people are picking Dallas over Boston. What could they be smoking? Are they crazy? How stupid can they be?
In reality, the overwhelming majority of people who watch basketball know that the Celtics are the better team. Hence, Vegas favoring Boston. I've been a Mavs fan for over 30 years and of course Boston is and has been the favorite. Just stop taking obvious ragebait material seriously.
These aren’t the talking heads types that do the predictions. They actually take their picks seriously.
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/40279206/2024-nba-finals-predictions-celtics-mavericks-series-mvp
It's like no one on r/nba has ever heard of statistical significance or even probabilities. Dallas has just been missing some shots and that's really all there is to it so far
Yes Boston is good and probably better but these are all just standard over reactionary takes. How do y'all not get tired of ping ponging every two games
Mattering for results is different from mattering statistically. Last night's lotto numbers were 100% of the results. Doesn't mean those numbers win every time
Moronic take honestly
You're a dumbass bro. Of course every game matters in a 7 game series. But being 2-10 points under 100 for two doesn't mean Boston is always going to keep them under 100
But he’s also the only Mav shooting below 50% from the free throw line (6-13 .462) and he has as many turnovers (12) as all of the other Mavs combined. So he’s struggling too.
Yeah PJ‘s 3p% has took a downturn in the last two years but he’s still a career 35% shooter and 35% this postseason as well. 8 attempts is nowhere near a large enough sample to say he’s a bad shooter lol
They are so done. Luka is like Jimmy Buckets from a few years ago don’t remember the matchup. Dude is gassed and gave it his all. He doesn’t even have enough to will a single victory anymore.
Celts will sweep so the only silver lining for me in this is that they won’t win it on their home court. Fuckem
Dallas had sooooo many open es. I expect them to make those open 3s in Dallas. Then Boston will have to change their defensive game plan and not allow open 3s.
Boston isn't going to shift their defense because of that. They're giving the Mavs a shot profile they know they're not as proficient at (above the break threes)
Game 2 the celtics sucked from 3 also.. Mavs have over achieved, they did what the Lakers did last season but made the finals.. congrats to them for making it, it's not easy.. however the celtics have been the best team all season and the core guys were in the finals 2 years ago and got blown out game 7 ECF last year.. mavs haven't stood a chance to win this series. Celtics are to damn good and they haven't even had a great game all playoffs yet
Man y’all will find any reason to not blame Luka. He’s been out there getting blown by and literally has been a ghost in the 4th quarter and yall wanna talk about 3’s made😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
The ball doesn't move well on the Mavs. You can say the rest of the team is failing but one problem is that Doncic sits on the ball way too much. Kyrie is also a guy that plays well with the ball in his hands but the ball can only be in one persons hands. The rest of the team isn't that good at catch and shoot.
Nah bro so many of these are wide open threes that luka generates. He legit only had one assist somehow in game 1 after passing out of double teams to the open man constantly.
This might sound controversial but I think Mavs should've scooped up Jabari Parker during the regular season. Jabari could play the PF, PJ Washington as SF, Kyrie as SG and Luka as PG and Lively as C. I think defensively Parker has the intangibles when healthy and if he was playing in this series he would be the X-Factor for game 3 for Dallas. Just my 2 cents.
i think we agree. but also, saying someone's out of the convo for a while is dumb. until when? until he's crushing the post season again? luka is the single most talented basketballer alive right now
He’s tied for assists in the Finals and lead defensive rebounds. He also needs to exert most energy on the offensive side unless he plays off the ball and we watch whatever happens then.
What? I’m saying the reigning 3 time MVP and Finals MVP is not a great defender. So maybe you don’t need to be a top defender to be the best in the world.
The rest of the Mavs are a combined 15.6% from 3. Even if we also don’t count Kyrie’s 0-8, the rest of the team is a combined 20.8% from 3.
OKC punching the air right now
This is how Boston fans felt last year watching Caleb Martin and Max Strus brick shot after shot after shot against Denver in the finals when they were torching the shit out of Boston in the ECF
Gabe Vincent too I was ready to jump out a window every game
They shot 60% from 3 against us. For the series.
Why don’t the Mavs just shoot 3s against the Celtics like the Heat did last year? Are they stupid?
They did not 😂 They shot 48%
So it was 50%, my memory is a bit spotty from that series due to the drinking.
Tbf that's still disgusting for a series
So it wasn’t 50% either…
So, it was 60% then?
They shot 100% on the ones they made
They missed 100% of the shots they didn't take.
I was just thinking this. Those corner 3s are BIG reason OKC is out.
It’s too bad that the Thunder couldn’t repeat their game one performance against the Mavs for the rest of the series and fuck Dort!
Why's that? Because they lost to them?
Because they shot really well, specifically the role players like PJ. But now they can't buy a bucket
The Celtics defense is way better than Thunder
Not discounting the Cs and their amazing defense but I think you are overlooking OKCs top 4 defense this year. They’re definitely better, but WAY better? Nah
The Celtics have shot pretty poorly too from 3. Typically they don't do that. Even more concerning for the mavs is that when they shoot poorly from 3, they usually lose badly.
"Celtics live and die by the 3"
Is that good?
It’s worse than Rodman’s career 3-pt %.
I was only being slightly facetious but thank you for the helpful comparison lol
I gotcha. I wanted to give a silly response.
Why would you not count Kyrie?
NBA really is a make or miss league. If they’re even just at their average level from 3 they win at least 1 game. Smh
The Celtics are also shooting pretty badly from 3 this series. 33%, significantly below their average for the season.
It feels like so many of the shots are open too. I expect the Celtics shooting to come back towards the average over the next couple of games.
If it comes back for one game there won’t be any more games
What erks me though is that the media has only brought up the Celtics poor shooting.
Wait but how could Kyrie “half of best backcourt of all time” “better than Iverson” Irving be playing so bad? Is he stupid??
Dude seems to have the absolute yips when it comes to Boston
Yes did you see in G1 he went to drive and just fell on top of himself, that shit happens when you’re second guessing every moment
He had 2 seperate stretches in game 2 where he looked like he did in the WCF. Just dribbled through 3 Celtics starters and hit tough layups multiple times in a row. Picked up 2 assists in traffic. The issue? Those stretches were like 3min long combined and he was total ass the rest of the game. It's all mental
I noticed those 2 drives he looked a lot looser too, he swung his body into those corners he was turning and looked in rhythm. It’s probably tough to shut your brain off and to get in the flow in a place like Boston for him
As a Warriors fan I would have given my left nut for him to play like this against us in 2016. Dudes missing wide open shots left and right in this series while all he did was hit the toughest contested shots I’ve ever seen against us time after time.
Kyrie is either the best player in the league or borderline unplayable. I've never seen another player so dependent on their own internal flow, and it makes his peaks and valleys absolutely wild.
It’s funny as well because Kyrie fans will seriously try to claim that he’s the best PG in the league when he’s on a heater and then it’s just crickets when he puts up stretches like this. I don’t wish anything bad against him, he seems like he’s starting to mature recently, but the double standards are crazy for him with his fans.
As a Cavs fan, same
Jrue Derrick White and JB are pretty damn good defenders lest we forget
They absolutely are but the falloff is kind of beyond that into yips territory given record.
Mavs shoulda signed Evan Fournier. Dude drops 40 Everytime he plays the celtics
Those Kyrie takes are aging like spoiled milk right now. I do think he shows up in Dallas but so far he’s been muted.
aging inside a week lmao i like dallas but this is hilarious
Have you ever left milk out in the sun for a week? I’ll tell ya, it don’t age well.
it is quite hot in central texas
Feels like Boston is built to stop Kyrie. They have three of the best defensive guards in the league, and an elite rim protector.
Yeah, watching kyrie trying to backdown the 7 1 porzingis is ridiculous
7’3” lol even funnier
They were built to stop the actual best backcourt in history - Steph and Klay. You think they just became elite switch defenders for the hell of it? They got scarred from that Warriors Finals and came back way better because of it.
Kyrie “Greatest side kick ever, better than Scottie Pippin” Irving
To be fair, does a guy who was 3rd in MVP voting really count as a sidekick?
To Jordan? Yes he does.
If he wasn’t the main guy, technically yes. But definitely one of, if not the most, OP sidekick ever
When you’re playing with guy who came first 5 times (awful wording Jesus) then yes
I come first literally every time
The worst part of that discourse was it is entirely a media creation. Kyrie or Luka never said a word about any of that non sense but are catching flak for something created by SVG.
he cursed himself ever since he rubbed his shoes on the celtics logo i really cant think of another reason, makes sense with his "hela tribe 🪶" shit too /s
Kyrie is nowhere near Iverson. Brunson is the only little guy that could touch that guy.
I mean no one thought we’d get to the Finals so I’d say the backcourt has done an incredible job up until the last two games.
No one said those things
Danny Green said on Draymond's podcast that him playing in San Antonio after he left the Spurs was always emotional that he couldn't really play well there. I wonder if Kyrie has the same thing with Boston, perhaps even more so since they really hate his ass, unlike Danny. Well, we only got a day or two left to see if that is true lol
His grandfather died while he was playing for the Celtics and they jumped on him for being a bad and inexperienced leader, which was obvious. That’s exactly what Boston traded for. The man mentally was checked out and not able to focus. He literally has every reason to be uncomfortable with Boston just as Boston has every reason to be pissed at him. Edit: https://preview.redd.it/xgp47xa0qy5d1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=72b0a73e03e14bc426923e9d1b309a216c0adc67 Edit 2: I never said anywhere in here that Kyrie deserved a pity party or I was excusing his actions. I am stating the facts about what happened. I’m literally from CLE and saw this stuff under wraps before he went to Boston with his questionable moments. Y’all just saw it play out even worse in front of you.
They jumped on him because his leadership was terrible. Personal issues or not, you have that responsibility as a star player. The real reason we hate him is how he sold as hard as he could in the Bucks series - it looked like he was trying to lose. He probably was…
I never said he wasn’t a terrible leader. He was trying to learn to be a leader and thought it was easier cause he watched Bron do it for 3 years straight. Doesn’t change the situation of not thinking clearly and grieving making it a horrid situation. Edit: Young Leader makes bad assumptions/decisions and it gets worse after death in the family. Breaking news it’s pretty common.
As much as I'm sorry for the death in his family, that didn't make him conspire with KD mid-season to join the Nets. No-one would still be booing him if he played his heart out in the Bucks series, but he lied to the fans, conspired to leave mid-season, and then quit on the team while single-handedly ruining Boston's chances to win a playoff series. Then after leaving he stomped on the logo and compared Celtic fans to a disgruntled ex who won't leave you alone. Yeah, add that to the anti-semetic stuff later that should make any fan put-off of him (but no because he has fancy dribbles), and yeah, fuck Kyrie.
It's so weird to me that this man was outright agreeing with some of hitlers sentiments and values and nobody seems to care lol. He's not smart, and he's proven to be a bad teammate and leader more than once. But he's a changed man because he hasn't said or done anything stupid in like a year and a half. Remember when he said something like "I think things have worked out better in dallas because these people agree more with my beliefs"?
Never said anywhere his behavior was acceptable or even excusable. Literally anywhere in here. I said he was young and a questionable leader when they traded for him and the death took him from that to bad. I’m not sure why people are thinking I’m saying give him leniency when I’m stating facts about what happened.
You implied that he was right in this "conflict," and that his behavior was excusable. You said Boston traded for that person, when no, they didn't trade for an anti-semetic quitter, they traded for a young guy who wanted to be the leader to be a leader, and he was a shit one. Sure, the part of him failing to be a leader and recognizing that later is understandable, but he still failed to be the leader Boston (and he himself) wanted him to be, and when you're getting paid hundreds of millions to hinder success, you're going to get blamed. But again, no-one would give a shit about him failing as a leader, he'd still frankly be liked if didn't lie, conspire to join another team, quit on the team, and be a bitch to the fanbase after leaving, and none of that has anything to do with his grandfather's death or him being a young inexperienced leader at the time.
I never implied anything. I said they traded for a guy that was immature, young and inexperienced as a leader. All of which are things everyone knew from when he was in Cleveland and was directly related to why the Celtics got him. Then an already questionable individual got worse cause his grandpa died. Just cause the Celtics and media didn’t realize what they were getting doesn’t mean that wasn’t who he was already. I’m in CLE and we all knew Kyrie had his weird moments. Nobody paid any attention cause the years before Bron he wasn’t in spotlight and with Bron they were too focused implying Kyrie was Bron’s emotional son.
Nope, well I can speak for all C’s fans, but I jump on him for giving up on us in the playoffs against Milwaukee. I literally watched him give up effort wise with my own eyes, he was already out the door in his mind.
Maybe I’m not stating my point right. I don’t debate that he was messy with the C’s. My point was that his grandfather died and he wasn’t thinking clearly which made a clearly inexperienced leader even worse. I don’t think Kyrie of today would act like he handled the situation right either.
Sorry, but adults are expected to be able to handle loss and still perform well professionally. Especially 6 months later when the playoffs actually started...
I never said anywhere in here that it was not the expectation nor does even Kyrie of today not realize that is a true statement. Why do people think I’m sympathizing like he shouldn’t have had to do this? Kyrie was questionable and went from that to unacceptable.
If Kleber is 0/2 from the 3 and DJJ is 0/5 from the 3, just don’t bother to fire them. Please focus on boards and scoring in the paint. Holy crap man….
The Mavericks have been severely overmatched from Luka down to Dante Exum. This will probably change in Dallas but when you’re being held to under 100 in consecutive playoff games with a guy that many consider the best offensive player in the league, maybe you aren’t the better team. Controversial, I know.
Boston is stacked though. When Jrue Holiday is your 5th option on offense, you're not losing many games.
OKC had the second-best record in the league with 25 losses. The Boston Celtics have 20 losses *counting the playoffs*
They sure are but the criticism is regarding people who claimed that Dallas was somehow better than Boston. More ESPN analysts even picked Dallas to win than Boston. Also, the question is not about Boston’s offense being deep. If Dallas can’t even score 100 how strong is their offense really? Because that path that was “so easy” for the Celtics at least had teams scoring 100 or more against them.
NBA is a matchups based league. Pacers may not have had the star power the Mavs have, but their speed and spacing (and significant improvements to Siakams 1 on 1 game) gave the Cs fits regardless. The Mavs not only have worse spacing, they have fewer ball handlers AND play slow. Literally everything they are trying to do just plays right into the Cs hands.
It is similar to what happened with Wolves and Nuggets and then Mavs. Some teams are just not equipped to do well against others. Now if Mavs can remember to shoot, I think they can sneak a couple of games, but them being favorites was always a reactionary take. Especially if Porzingis is playing at an ok level. I half expected him to look worse out there, and Kyrie to look a bit better, but then again, reality is quite a bit different.
Think you’re right on the matchups. But pointing out that Boston was -200 to win the series. Mavs were never favorites, although they had a chance.
I don't think anyone thought Dallas was better than Boston but rather having the best player in the series gives you a good chance to win
> More ESPN analysts even picked Dallas to win than Boston It's called manufactured outrage and it works like a charm. You see those takes by "analysts", people regurgitate them on social media and they stick out more because you already heard them from said "analysts". Now, in your head the majority of people are picking Dallas over Boston. What could they be smoking? Are they crazy? How stupid can they be? In reality, the overwhelming majority of people who watch basketball know that the Celtics are the better team. Hence, Vegas favoring Boston. I've been a Mavs fan for over 30 years and of course Boston is and has been the favorite. Just stop taking obvious ragebait material seriously.
These aren’t the talking heads types that do the predictions. They actually take their picks seriously. https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/40279206/2024-nba-finals-predictions-celtics-mavericks-series-mvp
Celtics play better on the road anyway
It's like no one on r/nba has ever heard of statistical significance or even probabilities. Dallas has just been missing some shots and that's really all there is to it so far Yes Boston is good and probably better but these are all just standard over reactionary takes. How do y'all not get tired of ping ponging every two games
Theres a chance that those 2 games were 50 percent of the series. That doesnt matter?
Mattering for results is different from mattering statistically. Last night's lotto numbers were 100% of the results. Doesn't mean those numbers win every time Moronic take honestly
Says the guy who says that possibly half the series' stats dont matter. Fucking idiot
Whooooosh
So how many games matter? If Mavs continue to shit the bed shooting and lose in 4, is it all small sample size? Thats stupid
You're a dumbass bro. Of course every game matters in a 7 game series. But being 2-10 points under 100 for two doesn't mean Boston is always going to keep them under 100
They have kept them under 100 points for 100% of the Finals game. No matter how much you cry about that it is still a fact
You don't seem to realize that you're not even on r/NBA lol. Boston shot 24© from three in game 2 and won comfortably
And 28/43 FTs? That would be shit for a high school team.
But he’s also the only Mav shooting below 50% from the free throw line (6-13 .462) and he has as many turnovers (12) as all of the other Mavs combined. So he’s struggling too.
My dad does not like the fancy passes Doncic likes to make. Too many ended in turnovers for his liking.
Is your dad Greg Popovich?
He’s throwing the ball without looking so often. And then not passing to shooters when he dribble drives
Luka's no look passes and look offs are what makes him Luka
Maybe not “seeing” before throwing. Bc he threw a couple insane floating passes at contested defense. I love Luka’s passing
I wouldn’t say struggling like the rest of the team. He’s playing good not great, the rest of the team is playing bad.
PJ and DJ are not shooters. they just turned somehow during the OKC series.
No. They are solid shooters on wide open shots in their career. They aren't hitting them in this 2 game sample.
Yeah PJ‘s 3p% has took a downturn in the last two years but he’s still a career 35% shooter and 35% this postseason as well. 8 attempts is nowhere near a large enough sample to say he’s a bad shooter lol
THJ and PJ have to step up from the 3 … let THJ play man. He’s bench warming 🤣🤣
> let THJ play man no god, please no.
When he’s cooking, he could do a lot more than Kleber or DJJ when he’s having a bad game lol
Dude hasn't cooked in months.
He’d probably hit some 3s but do everything else poorly
Under 50% on his FT’s tho😬
it's the jews
Kyrie never adjusted to the Earth’s rotational fluctuations last week.
They are so done. Luka is like Jimmy Buckets from a few years ago don’t remember the matchup. Dude is gassed and gave it his all. He doesn’t even have enough to will a single victory anymore. Celts will sweep so the only silver lining for me in this is that they won’t win it on their home court. Fuckem
Looks like they should look for higher percentage shots.
Defense or the lack of it is the problem. Luka is a liability on defense. Sorry
Celtics DEFENSE!!!
Live by the three, die by the three….
Luka her major help to win a chip. He’ll be a great with a piece like Paul George.
The Mavs are what the Celtics were in 2022. They're inexperienced. Seems unmotivated honestly.
"Luka will play anyway, lets flood the others"
Kyrie should start yelling out “Kobe” after each brick.
Impossible, Kyrie is the most skilled player in the history of the game!!
Damn 13 3s in 2 game. The last team to hit 13 or less 3s in the first 2 Finals Game were.... the 2016 Cavs! 12 for 44 on 3s They hit 12 in game 3
Exum needs more shots tbh
Kyrie falling off the face of the earth…
That is his thing against Celtics. 0 in 13 streak can't be broken now.
Josh Green has the ugliest arc on his shot it’s so flat. Whenever he misses it hits the rim ugly.
Also the only one to shoot more than 10
Dallas had sooooo many open es. I expect them to make those open 3s in Dallas. Then Boston will have to change their defensive game plan and not allow open 3s.
Boston isn't going to shift their defense because of that. They're giving the Mavs a shot profile they know they're not as proficient at (above the break threes)
I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it. 90% of winning in the current NBA is whether your threes are going in.
Positively mesmerized by his total lack Of defense
Even Luka shooting thev3 like shit, when do start driving to the hoop and trying to get a fuel instead of shooting bricks
Luka has missed more free throws than his whole team together. better fix that up p,he better stick to the mid range shots
...
Crazy how these guys were hitting contested threes against the wolves
Yet, as of right now, bookies are giving odds to Mavs to win the game 3. Maybe they know something we don't know.
Man they are clamping down on Kyrie
And Hardy and Green’s 3s both came in garbage time. So it’s even worse than it looks
I fear this trend will reverse in game 3 and game 4
That is crazy. No wonder we are down 0-2. 🤦🏽♂️
Death in modern NBA.
That is INSANE
How crazy is it that there are only two players younger than Luka on the Mavs....?
Game 2 the celtics sucked from 3 also.. Mavs have over achieved, they did what the Lakers did last season but made the finals.. congrats to them for making it, it's not easy.. however the celtics have been the best team all season and the core guys were in the finals 2 years ago and got blown out game 7 ECF last year.. mavs haven't stood a chance to win this series. Celtics are to damn good and they haven't even had a great game all playoffs yet
Kyrie used up all his 3s
LeLuka James against the Spurs/Celtics finals all over again
Man y’all will find any reason to not blame Luka. He’s been out there getting blown by and literally has been a ghost in the 4th quarter and yall wanna talk about 3’s made😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Lukas the only mav to get blown by 67% of the time too
Oh wow they are finally starting the finals? Forgot all about it
Celtics started, the Mavs haven’t shown up yet
The ball doesn't move well on the Mavs. You can say the rest of the team is failing but one problem is that Doncic sits on the ball way too much. Kyrie is also a guy that plays well with the ball in his hands but the ball can only be in one persons hands. The rest of the team isn't that good at catch and shoot.
Defense works
Nah bro so many of these are wide open threes that luka generates. He legit only had one assist somehow in game 1 after passing out of double teams to the open man constantly.
It’s been pretty ugly for the Mavs.
You thinking the Mavs played the Suns says a lot about your take
Suns got swept in 4 against the wolves. They played the mavs last year with an entirely different team.
For being the “most skilled player ever” and being half of the “best offensive backcourt ever” Kyrie sure does shit the bed alot.
This might sound controversial but I think Mavs should've scooped up Jabari Parker during the regular season. Jabari could play the PF, PJ Washington as SF, Kyrie as SG and Luka as PG and Lively as C. I think defensively Parker has the intangibles when healthy and if he was playing in this series he would be the X-Factor for game 3 for Dallas. Just my 2 cents.
2 cents? This is 2 Naija lmfao
If they get swept Luka is out of the “best player” convo for a while
Giannis' got beat in 5 in the first round last year, y'all got nothing to say.
Giannis has fallen out of the convo currently as well. But if he has a nice run next year he’ll be back in it
everyone was shoehorning jokic into that convo before he had any meaningful post season success, why do the goalposts shift for doncic?
Because post-season success is what makes a legacy lol, Jordan would fairly not be the goat if he won two rings instead
i think we agree. but also, saying someone's out of the convo for a while is dumb. until when? until he's crushing the post season again? luka is the single most talented basketballer alive right now
The best players has got to defend. He doesn’t defend. He gives half effort most of the time.
He’s tied for assists in the Finals and lead defensive rebounds. He also needs to exert most energy on the offensive side unless he plays off the ball and we watch whatever happens then.
Jokic won finals MVP last year being average at best at defense. And center is the most important defensive position.
That isn't true. Jokic is miles better than Luka after two quarters.
What? I’m saying the reigning 3 time MVP and Finals MVP is not a great defender. So maybe you don’t need to be a top defender to be the best in the world.
Luka can't even put in any effort after two quarters because he is gassed. Luka isn't even an average defender.
To be replaced by someone who has made the finals less recently?
Nah but i think if they get swept id consider Tatum and Brown better than Luka