(1) OKC Thunder vs (5) Dallas Mavericks - 2024 WC Second Round

Kliq

Kliq

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OKC vs Dallas will be very interesting. The Clippers were a hugely experienced playoff team, but not with necessarily in a good way as playoff bugaboos for Harden, George and Westbrook all rememerged. OKC has way less experience, but also feel like a more reliable bunch.

Dallas' size and physicality with Gafford, Lively and Washington will be interesting against OKC, who really only have Chet as a reliable traditional big. They'll probably need some minutes from Jaylin Williams in this series.

As good as Luka and Kyrie have been, I don't love Dallas' offensive flow as it still seems iso-dependent and my turn your turn. There were some ugly offensive stretches for Dallas that a more competent offensive team should have punished.
 
InstaFace

InstaFace

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Well color me surprised - the Clippers team that couldn't stop or answer Dallas' runs was totally unlike the Clippers team who came in and stomped the Celtics back in January. Part of that was Kawhi, part of that was general offensive structure... but part of it was Kyrie and Doncic working together in ways that I was assured ("there's only one ball!") could not be done. And now we get to see how their franken-team does against a Thunder squad who have youth and energy and an unusually varied number of ways to attack you. And likewise, we get to see the Thunder against an opponent who isn't so outclassed that the Thunder's own weaknesses don't matter.

Grant Williams must be kicking himself for yapping his way out of Dallas.

NBA.com series preview here.

(times ET)
Game 1: Mavericks vs. Thunder, Tuesday, May 7 (9:30 p.m., TNT)
Game 2: Mavericks vs. Thunder, Thursday, May 9 (9:30 p.m., ESPN)
Game 3: Thunder vs. Mavericks, Saturday, May 11 (3:30 p.m., ABC)
Game 4: Thunder vs. Mavericks, Monday, May 13 (9:30 p.m., TNT)
Game 5: Mavericks vs. Thunder, Wednesday, May 15 (TBD, TNT) *
Game 6: Thunder vs. Mavericks, Saturday, May 18 (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN) *
Game 7: Mavericks vs. Thunder, Monday, May 20 (8:30 p.m. ET, TNT) *

Nice extra rest day between games 5 and 6.

Series odds: Thunder range from -115 (DraftKings) to -122 (FanDuel), and Mavericks -105 and +100 respectively, for a 53-55% implied chance for the Thunder - which I think is probably low, but there it is.

Mavs Fans' series preview:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=El4vp7LiiRA
 
HomeRunBaker

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wade boggs chicken dinner said:
Klieber out indefinitely with separated shoulder; may miss rest of playoffs. https://www.nba.com/news/mavericks-maxi-kleber-shoulder-out-indefinitely

I wzsn't able to watch a lot of this series but I heard from others there were times in the LAC series when his shooting from the 5 was really important.
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This is a big loss but most teams lose guys this this time of year or are already down guys by now. Bos-Porzingis, Cleve-Allen, Mil-everyone, Clippers-Kawhi, NY-Randle and Bogdan, Pacers-Mathurin.
 
PedroKsBambino

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Kleber an especially big loss vs OKC, who will tend to be smaller and to look to spread Dallas out.

They do have depth at the 5, so not likely to be series-altering but does hurt a bit
 
SteveF

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They'd do well to find some way to get Chet away from the rim, but they aren't a 5 out team without Kleber nor do they run DHOs (another way to force a big to be guarded closer to the 3 point line).
 
JCizzle

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Luka looking up for a foul after tripping and hurting himself. He's undoubtedly a great player, but I find it hard to love his game.
 
DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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Man I don't know how you can waste possessions like the Mavs just did there. OKC is handling them thus far so its crazy to see them not, at least, getting shots off. You can't rally if you aren't even getting looks.
 
DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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Now SGA hurt his left foot. Wallace went to the locker room earlier and looks hobbled to me. Maybe they are both fine because as Hill points out, they are young. The fourth is definitely going to be interesting to see if the Mavs can make a run here, especially if these guys are sore.
 
osori

osori

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You are 5/17, 1/7 from three and you shoot step-back threes early in the clock?
 
DeJesus Built My Hotrod

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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Luka's knee is fu3ksession'd. Mavs are going to need some good supplements or something else to hang with the Thunder.
 
lovegtm

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OKC is blowing them out, but a lot of the 3s they're getting have felt kind of "meh" to me. Not forcing tons of rotation; just hitting seemingly every shot, even when stagnant.

That said, it looks like injuries might determine this series more than shooting variance.
 
Kliq

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Luka looked heavy and had no lift or burst, even less than he usually has. They are probably going to need him to be awesome this series, especially if OKC's role players play with the kind of confidence they did last night and continue to hit shots.
 
HomeRunBaker

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Kliq said:
Luka looked heavy and had no lift or burst, even less than he usually has. They are probably going to need him to be awesome this series, especially if OKC's role players play with the kind of confidence they did last night and continue to hit shots.
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With Luka and Murray hurt, coupled with the Wolves and Thunder playing so well, we could see two sweeps in the WC. Plus a Boston sweep on the table…..if Knicks/Pacers then go 7 we’ll have an entire week of only one series taking placing. Brutal for the league, the network and the fans.
 
BigSoxFan

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HomeRunBaker said:
With Luka and Murray hurt, coupled with the Wolves and Thunder playing so well, we could see two sweeps in the WC. Plus a Boston sweep on the table…..if Knicks/Pacers then go 7 we’ll have an entire week of only one series taking placing. Brutal for the league, the network and the fans.
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If only there were a way for the NBA to solve this problem…
 
Auger34

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BigSoxFan said:
Some favorable whistles (tinfoil hat time). I don’t expect any sweeps this round.
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Yeah, I think there might be one sweep. I would expect all of them to go 5. Nuggets may go 6 if Murray gets healthier
 
SteveF

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Ben Taylor has a video up on the Thunder's defensive strategy in G1. It's not exactly groundbreaking and those of you who watched the game likely know all this already. Hell, you probably knew EXACTLY what OKC would do before tip-off and didn't even need to watch the game. But here's a video anyway!
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-NnjxkZEXA
 
DeJesus Built My Hotrod

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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Gafford heading to locker room with a hand injury, meanwhile the OKC avalanche is falling on the Mavs head. The half cannot come soon enough for Dallas.
 
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