I usually don't watch the nba. When the Warriors were down by 19 My Cal experience created dread they could not win But then most college teams down 19 don't win.

The Warriors have more good players than Dallas. They always dig a hole then the other team gets tired in the 4 th quarter. Luk is amazing for a 6'7 guy. And he wasnt feeling well. Too bad Fox wont use a zone when we are getting abused down low. I recall losing to South Florida because Montgomery would not go to a zone until it was too late.

Then there was Ben Braun who refused to double team Eddy House.

Anyway, lets see if Warriors can get a win in Dallas.Who the hell knows.

If you're Dallas and you shoot 21-45 from 3 and still lose by 10, you're in some serious trouble.

Dallas has a gigantic problem at the Center position. You can't play Powell because he clogs the lane and he's playing soft. But Kleber and betrans are just a walking layup line. I mean, good on looney for scoring so many points but they're all setup from absolute blow bys. I mean even klay who can't even move anymore just blew by Kleber and dunked it.

I don't know what you do if you're Kidd. I'd actually consider playing 5 wings and no centers. Though I don't know if Dallas' bench has enough wing depth to do that.

The difference between Memphis' D and Dallas' D is astonishing.

It's another fun run by the W's.

I didn't think we could after their post all-star crash.

But 2 games from a 6th finals appearance in 8 years?
Curry is king.

what's amazing to me is how many weapons the warriors have ... Curry, Klay, Wiggins and now Poole which continues to impress, including his drives and finishes at the rim

when Looney and Porter are scoring, and Dreymond hits a 3, you just need to fold up your tent and go home

Otto Porter has to be happy, too!
Nice to see him contributing to a run to the finals for first time in his career.

Steve Kerr, man. Got these guys running together!

ducky23 said:

---

If you're Dallas and you shoot 21-45 from 3 and still lose by 10, you're in some serious trouble.

Dallas has a gigantic problem at the Center position. You can't play Powell because he clogs the lane and he's playing soft. But Kleber and betrans are just a walking layup line. I mean, good on looney for scoring so many points but they're all setup from absolute blow bys. I mean even klay who can't even move anymore just blew by Kleber and dunked it.

I don't know what you do if you're Kidd. I'd actually consider playing 5 wings and no centers. Though I don't know if Dallas' bench has enough wing depth to do that.

The difference between Memphis' D and Dallas' D is astonishing.

---

Boban! Sag off Dreymond, clog the lane.

Reaction: Spam that whip.

concordtom said:

---

Otto Porter has to be happy, too!
Nice to see him contributing to a run to the finals for first time in his career.

Steve Kerr, man. Got these guys running together!

---

Porter had been in a scoring funk for most of the 2nd half of the season but still doing all of the little things. Looks like he found his scoring mojo again at the perfect time.

ducky23 said:

---

If you're Dallas and you shoot 21-45 from 3 and still lose by 10, you're in some serious trouble.

Dallas has a gigantic problem at the Center position. You can't play Powell because he clogs the lane and he's playing soft. But Kleber and betrans are just a walking layup line. I mean, good on looney for scoring so many points but they're all setup from absolute blow bys. I mean even klay who can't even move anymore just blew by Kleber and dunked it.

I don't know what you do if you're Kidd. I'd actually consider playing 5 wings and no centers. Though I don't know if Dallas' bench has enough wing depth to do that.

The difference between Memphis' D and Dallas' D is astonishing.

---

The Mavs shouldn't need a center to play defense when they are playing a team without a center.

Maybe their shooters are limited on defense, or maybe their strategy was just to deny open looks from behind the 3-point arc, but either way there is no excuse for allowing the W's so many layups and dunks in the 2nd half.

Also, the biggest reason the W's cut the lead from 14 to 2 in the 3rd quarter was the Mavs only scoring 13 in the quarter. As Kidd said after the game, the way you stop a run is by making a few baskets, and they didn't.

BearSD said:

---

ducky23 said:

---

If you're Dallas and you shoot 21-45 from 3 and still lose by 10, you're in some serious trouble.

Dallas has a gigantic problem at the Center position. You can't play Powell because he clogs the lane and he's playing soft. But Kleber and betrans are just a walking layup line. I mean, good on looney for scoring so many points but they're all setup from absolute blow bys. I mean even klay who can't even move anymore just blew by Kleber and dunked it.

I don't know what you do if you're Kidd. I'd actually consider playing 5 wings and no centers. Though I don't know if Dallas' bench has enough wing depth to do that.

The difference between Memphis' D and Dallas' D is astonishing.

---

The Mavs shouldn't need a center to play defense when they are playing a team without a center.

Maybe their shooters are limited on defense, or maybe their strategy was just to deny open looks from behind the 3-point arc, but either way there is no excuse for allowing the W's so many layups and dunks in the 2nd half.

Also, the biggest reason the W's cut the lead from 14 to 2 in the 3rd quarter was the Mavs only scoring 13 in the quarter. As Kidd said after the game, the way you stop a run is by making a few baskets, and they didn't.

---

Mavs strategy was to chase Warriors shooters off the line, and not allow Curry to beat them.

Warriors countered with passes inside, and taking it to the rack since Mavs had no rim protectors or even much help defense

Luka continues to impress, but he's a one man show

HoopDreams said:

---

BearSD said:

---

ducky23 said:

---

If you're Dallas and you shoot 21-45 from 3 and still lose by 10, you're in some serious trouble.

Dallas has a gigantic problem at the Center position. You can't play Powell because he clogs the lane and he's playing soft. But Kleber and betrans are just a walking layup line. I mean, good on looney for scoring so many points but they're all setup from absolute blow bys. I mean even klay who can't even move anymore just blew by Kleber and dunked it.

I don't know what you do if you're Kidd. I'd actually consider playing 5 wings and no centers. Though I don't know if Dallas' bench has enough wing depth to do that.

The difference between Memphis' D and Dallas' D is astonishing.

---

The Mavs shouldn't need a center to play defense when they are playing a team without a center.

Maybe their shooters are limited on defense, or maybe their strategy was just to deny open looks from behind the 3-point arc, but either way there is no excuse for allowing the W's so many layups and dunks in the 2nd half.

Also, the biggest reason the W's cut the lead from 14 to 2 in the 3rd quarter was the Mavs only scoring 13 in the quarter. As Kidd said after the game, the way you stop a run is by making a few baskets, and they didn't.

---

Mavs strategy was to chase Warriors shooters off the line, and not allow Curry to beat them.

Warriors countered with passes inside, and taking it to the rack since Mavs had no rim protectors or even much help defense

Luka continues to impress, but he's a one man show

---

No rim protectors is the big issue. No one on the Warriors is afraid of driving into the paint. Very different story against Memphis.

The three-point shooting is gets all the notice, but the real secret to the Warriors offense is how many dunks and layups they get.

BearSD said:

---

ducky23 said:

---

If you're Dallas and you shoot 21-45 from 3 and still lose by 10, you're in some serious trouble.

Dallas has a gigantic problem at the Center position. You can't play Powell because he clogs the lane and he's playing soft. But Kleber and betrans are just a walking layup line. I mean, good on looney for scoring so many points but they're all setup from absolute blow bys. I mean even klay who can't even move anymore just blew by Kleber and dunked it.

I don't know what you do if you're Kidd. I'd actually consider playing 5 wings and no centers. Though I don't know if Dallas' bench has enough wing depth to do that.

The difference between Memphis' D and Dallas' D is astonishing.

---

The Mavs shouldn't need a center to play defense when they are playing a team without a center.

Maybe their shooters are limited on defense, or maybe their strategy was just to deny open looks from behind the 3-point arc, but either way there is no excuse for allowing the W's so many layups and dunks in the 2nd half.

Also, the biggest reason the W's cut the lead from 14 to 2 in the 3rd quarter was the Mavs only scoring 13 in the quarter. As Kidd said after the game, the way you stop a run is by making a few baskets, and they didn't.

---

From the Athletic:

The Mavericks are deploying an aggressive but dangerous defensive strategy. They're blitzing way out past the 3-point line and staying connected at almost all times to Thompson on the perimeter, despite having no rim protection behind the play. That opens up the paint if the Warriors are patient enough to let the play develop and eventually attack.

ducky23 said:

---

Everyone is assuming Kidd (who has somehow become some adjustment genius) is going to just make these massive adjustments. I dunno. Let's see what adjustments are even possible:

When Mavs were on offense, I was extremely surprised to see how much they helped on Luka. They sent a ton of help whenever Luka started to drive into the paint.

I thought this would be a bad strategy because Dallas has so many shooters and Luka is a great passer. However, Kerr made an amazing move (that may be the key to guarding the Mavs) and put draymond on Brunson.

Going into the series, I was concerned because I assumed draymond would guard Kleber. I thought this was a problem because draynonds strength is playing a free safety role and helping on defense. But he can't help as much because kleber is an absolute knock down shooter.

So instead the warriors put draymond on Brunson, which was genius because it accomplishes two very important things. Brunson is not close to as good as a shooter, which allows draymond to roam and help on Luka. It also puts draymond on Brunson which completely neutralises the Mavs second best scorer. Brunson gets a lot of his points in the low post. That's not gonna happen against dray. If Brunson struggles, it's very hard for the Mavs to win. Plus putting a smaller player on Kleber is fine because he can't punish the warriors in the paint.

So how do the mavs adjust? I don't know. Making some shots will absolutely help. But beyond a couple open looks early, the warriors rotations were completely on point and almost every three was contested. If I were Kidd, I'd be as stubborn as possible trying to iso Steph/Poole. They tried in game 1, but Steph/Poole would hard hedge and recover and not allow the switch. But I think the Mavs need to attack the hard hedge more or be more stubborn with trying to get the switch.

One other thing the Mavs could do is more off ball movement, and cuts. If the mavs just stay stationary while Luka has the ball, it's way too easy for the warriors to help/recover/rotate. But beyond those things, I don't know what big adjustments can really be made. This is a 5 out team with a heavy usage superstar. They are what they are. And the warriors make a living beating these types of teams in the playoffs.

On defence, the Mavs are simply getting cooked in the paint. It's no surprise. Powell played small and Kleber instantly got in foul trouble trying to protect the paint.

Only thing the Mavs can do is try to over help and clog the lane. And then take their chances with open threes. They have no choice. You have to take away points in the paint. It's like if the opposing team is getting 8 yards a time running up the middle. You have to take it away. And since the Mavs don't have any shot blockers, the only choice is to overhelp and leave open threes and dare the warriors to make open shots. It's not a great strategy, but it's their only strategy.

Also doubling Steph at this point in his career seems kinda dumb. Constantly creating 4 on 3 matchups with no rim protection is a recipe for disaster.

We will see what happens tonight. The Mavs could still win this thing, but they're going to need to rely a lot on just making more contested shots and hoping the warriors miss open looks. It's not ideal, but it's really their only way forward. There are no grand schemes for Kidd to turn to.

---

And yet, Brunson smoked it in game 2.
So what went wrong for Dallas and what is the setup in game 3?

sycasey said:

---

HoopDreams said:

---

BearSD said:

---

ducky23 said:

---

If you're Dallas and you shoot 21-45 from 3 and still lose by 10, you're in some serious trouble.

Dallas has a gigantic problem at the Center position. You can't play Powell because he clogs the lane and he's playing soft. But Kleber and betrans are just a walking layup line. I mean, good on looney for scoring so many points but they're all setup from absolute blow bys. I mean even klay who can't even move anymore just blew by Kleber and dunked it.

I don't know what you do if you're Kidd. I'd actually consider playing 5 wings and no centers. Though I don't know if Dallas' bench has enough wing depth to do that.

The difference between Memphis' D and Dallas' D is astonishing.

---

The Mavs shouldn't need a center to play defense when they are playing a team without a center.

Maybe their shooters are limited on defense, or maybe their strategy was just to deny open looks from behind the 3-point arc, but either way there is no excuse for allowing the W's so many layups and dunks in the 2nd half.

Also, the biggest reason the W's cut the lead from 14 to 2 in the 3rd quarter was the Mavs only scoring 13 in the quarter. As Kidd said after the game, the way you stop a run is by making a few baskets, and they didn't.

---

Mavs strategy was to chase Warriors shooters off the line, and not allow Curry to beat them.

Warriors countered with passes inside, and taking it to the rack since Mavs had no rim protectors or even much help defense

Luka continues to impress, but he's a one man show

---

No rim protectors is the big issue. No one on the Warriors is afraid of driving into the paint. Very different story against Memphis.

The three-point shooting is gets all the notice, but the real secret to the Warriors offense is how many dunks and layups they get.

---

I've begun to look ahead to the finals, wonder how we match up vs the east.

I'm still fearful we lose then, too!

It would be nice to have a lead just for once at the end of the firstquarter

oskidunker said:

---

It would be nice to have a lead just for once at the end of the firstquarter

---

May I introduce you to Game 1 of this series.

concordtom said:

---

ducky23 said:

---

Everyone is assuming Kidd (who has somehow become some adjustment genius) is going to just make these massive adjustments. I dunno. Let's see what adjustments are even possible:

When Mavs were on offense, I was extremely surprised to see how much they helped on Luka. They sent a ton of help whenever Luka started to drive into the paint.

I thought this would be a bad strategy because Dallas has so many shooters and Luka is a great passer. However, Kerr made an amazing move (that may be the key to guarding the Mavs) and put draymond on Brunson.

Going into the series, I was concerned because I assumed draymond would guard Kleber. I thought this was a problem because draynonds strength is playing a free safety role and helping on defense. But he can't help as much because kleber is an absolute knock down shooter.

So instead the warriors put draymond on Brunson, which was genius because it accomplishes two very important things. Brunson is not close to as good as a shooter, which allows draymond to roam and help on Luka. It also puts draymond on Brunson which completely neutralises the Mavs second best scorer. Brunson gets a lot of his points in the low post. That's not gonna happen against dray. If Brunson struggles, it's very hard for the Mavs to win. Plus putting a smaller player on Kleber is fine because he can't punish the warriors in the paint.

So how do the mavs adjust? I don't know. Making some shots will absolutely help. But beyond a couple open looks early, the warriors rotations were completely on point and almost every three was contested. If I were Kidd, I'd be as stubborn as possible trying to iso Steph/Poole. They tried in game 1, but Steph/Poole would hard hedge and recover and not allow the switch. But I think the Mavs need to attack the hard hedge more or be more stubborn with trying to get the switch.

One other thing the Mavs could do is more off ball movement, and cuts. If the mavs just stay stationary while Luka has the ball, it's way too easy for the warriors to help/recover/rotate. But beyond those things, I don't know what big adjustments can really be made. This is a 5 out team with a heavy usage superstar. They are what they are. And the warriors make a living beating these types of teams in the playoffs.

On defence, the Mavs are simply getting cooked in the paint. It's no surprise. Powell played small and Kleber instantly got in foul trouble trying to protect the paint.

Only thing the Mavs can do is try to over help and clog the lane. And then take their chances with open threes. They have no choice. You have to take away points in the paint. It's like if the opposing team is getting 8 yards a time running up the middle. You have to take it away. And since the Mavs don't have any shot blockers, the only choice is to overhelp and leave open threes and dare the warriors to make open shots. It's not a great strategy, but it's their only strategy.

Also doubling Steph at this point in his career seems kinda dumb. Constantly creating 4 on 3 matchups with no rim protection is a recipe for disaster.

We will see what happens tonight. The Mavs could still win this thing, but they're going to need to rely a lot on just making more contested shots and hoping the warriors miss open looks. It's not ideal, but it's really their only way forward. There are no grand schemes for Kidd to turn to.

---

And yet, Brunson smoked it in game 2.
So what went wrong for Dallas and what is the setup in game 3?

---

Draymond often overhelped and played like crap the entire game. Which explains Brunson.

In first half, Dallas kept picking on Steph (who was guarding bullock). When Steph showed hard on the screen, Luka would pass to Steph's man (bullock) and bullock got hot from 3. This caused all sorts of problems.

Second half, warriors adjusted and put Steph on finney smith instead. He's not the shooter that bullock is. Mavs stopped attacking Steph and went at looney instead. We know how that turned out.

On offense, with draymond in foul trouble, they could just put the ball in Steph and Poole'a hands and let them attack either Kleber or doncic. We also know how that turned out. Warriors scored something absurd like 1.4 points/possession without draymond.

I'm curious to see what Mavs do to adjust to curry now guarding finney smith. They can't keep isolating looney.

Also curious to see how they defend, because the warriors have too many weapons who can attack paint and the Mavs almost always have at least two defensive liabilities on the court AND no rim protection.

With that said, I don't have high hopes for game 3. It'll be one of those classic warrior let down games where the Mavs come out with a must win focus and the warriors will do their famous "no urgency" energy.

concordtom said:

---

sycasey said:

---

HoopDreams said:

---

BearSD said:

---

ducky23 said:

---

If you're Dallas and you shoot 21-45 from 3 and still lose by 10, you're in some serious trouble.

Dallas has a gigantic problem at the Center position. You can't play Powell because he clogs the lane and he's playing soft. But Kleber and betrans are just a walking layup line. I mean, good on looney for scoring so many points but they're all setup from absolute blow bys. I mean even klay who can't even move anymore just blew by Kleber and dunked it.

I don't know what you do if you're Kidd. I'd actually consider playing 5 wings and no centers. Though I don't know if Dallas' bench has enough wing depth to do that.

The difference between Memphis' D and Dallas' D is astonishing.

---

The Mavs shouldn't need a center to play defense when they are playing a team without a center.

Maybe their shooters are limited on defense, or maybe their strategy was just to deny open looks from behind the 3-point arc, but either way there is no excuse for allowing the W's so many layups and dunks in the 2nd half.

Also, the biggest reason the W's cut the lead from 14 to 2 in the 3rd quarter was the Mavs only scoring 13 in the quarter. As Kidd said after the game, the way you stop a run is by making a few baskets, and they didn't.

---

Mavs strategy was to chase Warriors shooters off the line, and not allow Curry to beat them.

Warriors countered with passes inside, and taking it to the rack since Mavs had no rim protectors or even much help defense

Luka continues to impress, but he's a one man show

---

No rim protectors is the big issue. No one on the Warriors is afraid of driving into the paint. Very different story against Memphis.

The three-point shooting is gets all the notice, but the real secret to the Warriors offense is how many dunks and layups they get.

---

I've begun to look ahead to the finals, wonder how we match up vs the east.

I'm still fearful we lose then, too!

---

Both Miami and Boston are going to be bad matchups. They can both play defense like Memphis but with better offense and much better basketball IQ/composure.

If I had to bet, I'd favor either Miami or Boston over the warriors if the series started today.

However, if that series goes 7 (and if dubs can finish in 5) I'm not sure either east team will have anyone left standing. It's a heavyweight fight and guys are dropping left and right. All it takes is for one key guy to be out to change the matchups entirely (plus if GP2 can come back that would be huge).

It's funny. Back in March, the dubs beat Miami in Miami with basically their G league lineup. Miami completely phoned that game in. That win ended up being the difference in giving GS home court for the finals against Miami

ducky23 said:

---

concordtom said:

---

sycasey said:

---

HoopDreams said:

---

BearSD said:

---

ducky23 said:

---

If you're Dallas and you shoot 21-45 from 3 and still lose by 10, you're in some serious trouble.

Dallas has a gigantic problem at the Center position. You can't play Powell because he clogs the lane and he's playing soft. But Kleber and betrans are just a walking layup line. I mean, good on looney for scoring so many points but they're all setup from absolute blow bys. I mean even klay who can't even move anymore just blew by Kleber and dunked it.

I don't know what you do if you're Kidd. I'd actually consider playing 5 wings and no centers. Though I don't know if Dallas' bench has enough wing depth to do that.

The difference between Memphis' D and Dallas' D is astonishing.

---

The Mavs shouldn't need a center to play defense when they are playing a team without a center.

Maybe their shooters are limited on defense, or maybe their strategy was just to deny open looks from behind the 3-point arc, but either way there is no excuse for allowing the W's so many layups and dunks in the 2nd half.

Also, the biggest reason the W's cut the lead from 14 to 2 in the 3rd quarter was the Mavs only scoring 13 in the quarter. As Kidd said after the game, the way you stop a run is by making a few baskets, and they didn't.

---

Mavs strategy was to chase Warriors shooters off the line, and not allow Curry to beat them.

Warriors countered with passes inside, and taking it to the rack since Mavs had no rim protectors or even much help defense

Luka continues to impress, but he's a one man show

---

No rim protectors is the big issue. No one on the Warriors is afraid of driving into the paint. Very different story against Memphis.

The three-point shooting is gets all the notice, but the real secret to the Warriors offense is how many dunks and layups they get.

---

I've begun to look ahead to the finals, wonder how we match up vs the east.

I'm still fearful we lose then, too!

---

Both Miami and Boston are going to be bad matchups. They can both play defense like Memphis but with better offense and much better basketball IQ/composure.

If I had to bet, I'd favor either Miami or Boston over the warriors if the series started today.

However, if that series goes 7 (and if dubs can finish in 5) I'm not sure either east team will have anyone left standing. It's a heavyweight fight and guys are dropping left and right. All it takes is for one key guy to be out to change the matchups entirely (plus if GP2 can come back that would be huge).

It's funny. Back in March, the dubs beat Miami in Miami with basically their G league lineup. Miami completely phoned that game in. That win ended up being the difference in giving GS home court for the finals against Miami

---

Boston in particular is probably a younger, more talented team than the current Warriors. But I'm not sure I'm as impressed by their coaching/strategy.

I think Boston is more talented but Miami is way better coached. I honestly don't know who I'd prefer to play. Both are tough.

But right now Boston's two best defenders are pretty banged up (I doubt smart plays game 4, Williams maybe). Boston can't afford to lose game 4.

PAY THE MAN!

WIGGINS POSTERIZER!

ANDREW WIGGINS POSTER ON LUKA 🤯 pic.twitter.com/EMwNh6mnEY

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 23, 2022

Oh my!

He was overpaid before, a contract MN wanted to lose.
Now he's found the right environment for him to thrive, and he's finally living up to the salary.
Will be interesting to see where it goes from here.

DiabloWags said:

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PAY THE MAN!

WIGGINS POSTERIZER!

---

Can't believe they called that an offensive foul at first.

sycasey said:

---

Can't believe they called that an offensive foul at first.

---

The ref fell for the euro flop.

Big C said:

---

Another lousy call was the over-and-back near the half-court line they called on Draymond. Then there was the wrap-up of Curry as he went undefended to the hoop: Should have been a flagrant 1.

---

You mean the wrap-up of Poole. Even the announcers were surprise it wasn't a fragrant 1. Potentially a lot worse than Green's fragrant 2 he received in the Memphis game.

Anyone think This will go 7 games?

Down 13 with 4 minutes left, why doesn't Kerr bring in the starters?

Down only 8! 3:22 left.

Mavericks finally had a game where all their role players made threes. It was going to happen.

BearForce2 said:

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Down 13 with 4 minutes left, why doesn't Kerr bring in the starters?

---

they should have kept the bench players continue to play

They took 20 points off the Mav's lead

Agreed. I'm not sure they would have won the game, but they certainly made it very interesting and a lot closer than it should have been. And, they got significant minutes and experience, which should pay off later. Not to mention confidence. IMHO, Dallas is not that good. Dubs win going away Thursday.

oskidunker said:

---

Anyone think This will go 7 games?

---

No.
Nobody does.