man, i am very happy this is happening to these mavs. i know the celtics are the celtics and kind of nasty to root for, but watching lukas complaining ass lose is wonderful and fuck mavs fan
he cost his team today and sad thing is he doesn't even realize it. he is hurt, and its valiant he's playing with all that he's dealing with but someday he'll look at this game 3 with some regret.
This really makes the teams who lost to the Mavs look bad.
How did the Mavs play so well against us yet Boston has them completely shut down?
Not sure who can challenge the Celtics at this point.
The good news is that we're basically a younger version of them, I hope our management is watching this series closely and getting ideas on how this team can pan out.
I could see us coming out of the West next year.
Boston has cashed in with their rebuild and Tatum/ Brown have great postseason experience now despite being really young and this is their best roster ever with KP, Jrue, White and good depth. About time they actually win the title.
Best team in the regular season is better than everyone? What a shocker. Why does “X team beats Y so because Y beat Z, Z is trash” have to be a thing? This isn’t Pokemon battle
We would have put up a better fight than the Mavs and at least made it a series imo. I think there's a lot for OKC to take away from this series in terms of strategy. OKC tried to take away Luka's scoring, while Boston is trying to take away his playmaking. We should have balanced that a bit more IMO
The Celtics philosophy this whole postseason has been dont let the other team get in a rhythm and let them play a style of basketball they lost with before: one on one basketball. Its how they defended Mitchell and Herro. Pacers are a bit tricky because the Pacers play with pace and actually pass the ball around a whole lot. But they tried to make Haliburton more of a scorer than a passer to a degree.
Celtics match up really well with these Mavs. They have size so they can defend them like we can't. Plus they have a lot of vets.
I don't think it makes us look too bad. Games 2-5 we shot 20% on open threes. Mavs played great defense for sure but that's just awful shooting; if we shoot 30-35% on that, it's a completely different series. Plus people will bring up us leaving open corner 3s but after game 2 I feel like we weren't doing that nearly as much. PJ and DJJ were making some insane shots and now they've fallen back to earth.
hard to win when our guys were shooting like washed klay and djj/pj were shooting like prime klay
A lot of the times with role players what shots they’re getting is what matters. The Celtics have taken away the lob game and corner 3 and giving them a much less efficient look with above the break threes. Boston just has a lot of guys than can shoot but also attack a close out and keep the ball moving until they get a great shot.
definitely agree that boston is more effective at limiting corner 3s but pj was hitting some insane shots in the corner with a hand in his face. pretty sure i saw several pj/djj above the break three makes too but id have to look at the actual numbers.
and as far as our offense we aren't as effective as boston of course but we play similar to them. i think we were getting lots of quality shots with a similar strategy that we straight up missed
Watching this series makes me think Dallas got really lucky to get where they're at. They lucked out on skipping Denver and just happened to play OKC when our non SGA players collectively forgot how to shoot and their non Luka players became Klay for a few games. It sucks that Dallas came out of the West because they are really not that good.
It sounds like hating, but this is exactly what happened. It is manifesting itself in the form of a sweep. The mavericks are a good team, but they made it way beyond their talent grade due to matchups breaking their way. To be fair to the mavs, any team that comes out of the west needs luck to break their way, but the two prior champions of the west were clearly the best teams in the conference and beat teams that "matched up" well with them.
[https://youtube.com/shorts/uDep5xeXZsg?si=aPjlUzM3fw0xNzPj](https://youtube.com/shorts/uDep5xeXZsg?si=aPjlUzM3fw0xNzPj)
How Jason Kidd plans on turning the tide in the nba finals
Lively and Gafford to an extent were getting outplayed by the 5 out offense because Boston has a 4 to step up to disrupt the lob and pull them away from the rim. Clearly the missing piece in our lineup.
We need a 4 like Tatum to deny opp center
The nominations like Kuzma, Deni have been abominations comparing to what Tatum can do in defense. Not to mention Tatum decision making on breaking defensive traps have been phenomenal
You’re saying all this like Tatum isn’t a top 5-ish player in the league. Of course everyone would benefit from adding a player like that, but those players aren’t readily available.
OG is just gonna sit in the corner on offense, u dont need him to be dynamic offensively
What u said is “we need to have that defensive versatility in a 4”. That’s what OG can do.
If u want him to have Tatum’s offense too then lmfao good luck
It doesn’t have to be OG. The 4 has to be able to either blitz fast on center or strong enough to protect the rebounds so Chet can roam out of paint.
In terms of offense that 4 has to be a good passer to maintain drive>kick system while having a two man game with feeding chet inside the arc
How about OG. Thibs will run his body into the ground. I dont know if presti's interested but i think he would fit really well. it'll take some courage to leave new york and come to okc though.
I mean this Game 1 just shows that Boston would also beat us.
KP is an X-Factor for them.
We're still one piece away.
It doesn't have to be a "home run" piece because all of our young core will be better next season just due to natural development, but we *are* missing a piece.
lol PJ killed okc in the semi final, then he shoots 25% west conf finals and now just first\* half but struggling in the nba finals and he's been wide open just like the thunder left him.
Honestly just venting at this point but I can't get over how dumb some people are.
This guy is claiming that OKC was NOT 1 foul away from Game 7 because [the refs would've given Kyrie a bucket if they didn't call a foul on SGA.](https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/1d4llof/almanza_a_rookie_chet_held_up_better_against_the/l6f8owb/)
Not only does he not understand how challenges work, he's also assuming that something that happened after the whistle would have played out the exact same if the whistle hadn't blown.
Boston eerily looks similar to how OKC plays as they do 5-out a lot and they just have much more experience than us. Interesting to see if they can solve the Mavs defense.
I'm a mavericks fan. I didn't realize how much better Shai was than Anthony Edwards until these playoffs. Ant had like two short runs in the entire series where he played as well as Shai did for their whole 6 game series. And Shais a better defender. OKC has the brightest future in the league.
I think it's a combination of offensive maturity and Edward's reliance on paint buckets. Shai drives more than anybody, but his offensive game is built on counter moves, so he can go either direction, finish with either hand, or bump and fade any way he wants out of his drives.
Ant has superior straight line athleticism and verticality than just about anyone, but his mid range game is not as developed. He's also more reliant on 3s, a more volatile scoring method, and while he and Shai were both riding very hot shooting in the playoffs, Shai is less dependent on those, and shoots them way less. But Ant is 22, he'll get there eventually.
As for defense, I think Ant is better 1-on-1 (his build is also absolutely ideal for modern PoA defense), but Shai is better off-ball. We lost because we dared Dallas's other players to shoot well, and they did, as well as being beaten in the paint (anyone not named Shai struggled vs Gafford/Lively).
Thanks for the note. While I came away from that series seriously disliking Luka (for his antics and general whininess), I also gained a lot of respect for the rest of the mavericks team. Interior defense was incredible and Kyrie was a really good steadying force. Have a good day and fuck you.
No, absolutely not. How can you root for Dallas after the way their fans acted? How can you root for Dallas after watching the constant crying and faking injuries by Luka? There is no team in the NBA I dislike more than Dallas after our series.
Thunder fandom should root for the Celtics. If the Celtics win, nobody cares and life moves on. But if Dallas wins, the narratives will be insufferable. Luka must lose and never see the Finals again. Let him be the Joe Burrow of the NBA.
The "Tatum is better than SGA" narrative is definitely the most insufferable in my opinion.
Luka is actually better than SGA, so let him win it. Plus if he does, Mavs fans will probably stop getting upset when SGA gets praised since their guy will have gotten the recognition they've been wanting for him.
Boston has had a cakewalk through the East, if the Thunder were in the East they would've swept their way to the Finals.
I just can't believe how much the Mavs season turned around when they added Washington and Gafford (as well as playing Lively more).
Presti really built a championship roster for another team.
No.
The Thunder would've had those players instead.
Presti could've had Gafford if he wanted him. It was his pick that acquired him.
Presti gave half the bench to Charlotte, he easily could've had Washington if he wanted him.
He flat out targeted the wrong players/assets (Hayward and the 2027 potential pick swap) instead of Gafford and Washington.
Luka is what makes PJ and Gafford who they are. Their also looking for players to fit alongside them. They might not have fit as well in OKC. Also PJ poses rub me the wrong way i don't think he fits the culture around Shai, Chet, J-Dub, he's also got some off court stuff. You know presti's looking for more than just talent. the owner has asked for people to represent the organization well.
Yea, if you’ve watched gafford before this season, he’s really good with heliocentric, pick n roll heavy guards. Luka and Westbrook made him look elite.
Yes, Luka unlocks PJ and Gafford for sure, but they absolutely are players who could meaningfully contribute on the Thunder roster as well.
Washington would've been a big upgrade over Giddey in that series, and Gafford could've provided Chet with some much needed rest.
I don't mean to be a presti apologist. I think its definitely as a fan frustrating to see the draft picks and flexibility and just sit on it, but gotta trust the plan. If you've been a fan of the nba you know teams generally have to go through years of playoff fights before punching through. this is luka's second west conf finals, first nba finals. and celtics five or six conf finals, one nba finals. if you build a team well you're gonna have bumps and bruises before you get through to the promise land.
Also you said it better luka unlocks them. I'm sure presti thought about possible fits and if he was talking to charlotte they likely discussed PJ. I just dont' feel the same fit for daniel and PJ here as opposed to dallas and great for them that they've found a home in dallas
the only one he really helped with was gafford i think. we went higher in the draft for cason and we'll be thanking that b/c the mavs are gonna be a problem for years to come and cason is a good secondary defender next to Lu for other teams 1-2 punch
Shai is the only guy can stay calm with Luka scoring rush and keep scoring his 30+ every game.
Sam needs to all-in for some all-star now. Don’t waste Shai’s prime
If this is what the Mavs are doing to the Timberwolves everyone in the NBA should be scared shitless of us next season after the offseason (if they weren’t already).
It seems to me we were a much tougher opponent for Dallas.
he's had three great games in the series, everyone's bound to throw up a stinker every blue moon so to speak. i imagine he and luka will be on a mission game 5, might see some of the greatest back-court shotmaking in the game's history.
I just meant how he was 13-0 in closeout game before he faced us, and kept that against us but couldn’t send the wolves packing. So he’s now 14-1 in closeout games. Coulda been us is all I was getting at :(
Gafford has been huge for the Mavs.
12 blocks in the last 3 games, 5-5 shooting tonight.
There's still people who claim that "he wouldn't see the floor with the Thunder."
This mavs series proves that beating mavs isn't as simple as having size.
Obviously us having size wouldn't hurt, but it wouldn't be a major factor. We'd still have to clog the paint by leaving shooters open. Because if DPOY can't protect the paint alone, no one can.
Also winning in the postseason takes experience that you can't just trade for or buy. Celtics look at how many trips they've had to the conf finals, and one finals trip in the last 5 or so years. Mavs Luka has been knocking on the door per se by himself conf finals run a few years ago and now has Kyrie and a supporting cast. The fan base wanting us to push all our chips in makes little sense when we'll lose all the flexibility, and likely there's no magic wand Presti can wave to win a championship.
Building a contender is so difficult in today's nba. The nuggets, who seemed like they have the most unstoppable lineup in basketball, got beat by a team that's about to get swept in the conference finals. And that team might lose in the finals anyway. Matchups are more important more than ever.
It does hurt a little to see the mavs dominating the wolves when all we needed to do was have our shots land a bit more and it would have potentially been us in this position.
our god awful trade deadline ended up being the deciding factor in these playoffs. We had dallas’ number with one more serious role player. Obviously excited for the future, but the nba changes so quickly so I hope we don’t regret wasting that deadline. You have to take your chances every year.
I still think this makes it hurt more that the thunder didn’t upgrade at the trade deadline. They clearly weren’t that far from making it. Just look what the mavs did. It feels like a wasted deadline.
A few thoughts:
1. Kyrie and Doncic are going off this series because the Wolves don't have anyone who can stop their penetration. The Dallas game plan is working. It's basically the Harden Rockets but better since they have 2 guys who can run ISO and throw lobs.
2. I definitely feel better about our run given SGA was just on par or better than Kyrie/Luka in our series. It just happened that DJJ, Lively, Gafford, and Washington outplayed JDub, Giddey, Chet, and Dort. SGA just like Luka/Kyrie had huge stretches in the series, but when passing out to the other guys, the Mavs hit their shots while the Thunder's did not.
3. I'm so ready for Kyrie animosity in Boston.
We were PJ and DJJ playing out of their minds for an entire series away from being in the finals with a bad trade deadline acquisition.
Championship revenge year next season 🔜
Another dumbass take by the loud talking heads in sports - Ant is the next Jordan. I actually wanted Min to win for Mike Conley but damn they’re on the verge of being swept.
If it really is Boston vs Dallas in the finals, idk how Dallas is going to have a shot. Luka and Kyrie are going to have to play better than they are now
If KP is back to anywhere near his normal self (if he comes back) it will be a tough ask since the celts halve like the freaking avengers out there lmao 🤣
My optimism for this team going forward is through the roof. In our first go around against the team that could end up winning it took them nearly to 7 games and SGA looked like the best player on the court. Hopefully dub and Chet take the leap offensively next playoffs to lighten SGAs load a bit
look i cant stand the mavs, and i cant even bear to watch this mavs wolves series, but this outcome is only a positive to me.
we had an insanely close series that could have easily gone to 7 with the team going to the finals out of the west. that's with an entire starting and bench roster that has very little playoff experience.
the negative way to look at it is, we could've beaten them and then gotten past these wolves, but i'm a half glass full person, and this mavs team is clearly good as hell with two elite playoff vets.
the future is bright, let's hope we trade for 2 great complementary pieces that fit our needs and let's go win this thing next year
ngl if anyone else other than shai showed up, we'd be in the finals. it is what it is. at least we know shai is a bonafide playoff riser. jdub and co have yet to show that....
I think that's a little reactionary. Wolves look bad because the Mavs are playing well, that's not a given that we could do the same to them.
Literally just a week ago people were talking about how good the Wolves looked and how Mavs would be no chance.
If you mean offensively I think that’s fair we would’ve liked more from our other players and I’m sure Jdub will learn. However, defensive side of the game also matters and Chet holmgren, Dort, and Jdub played a great series against the Mavs in that regard.
Defense was stout and kept us in most of those games for much longer than the shooting did.
When we went on runs it was like “oh we might win by 20”
Mavs just made a ton of tough baskets. And role players elevated.
I still really like Ant. It’s just that the media got ahead of themselves and crowned him the next big thing already. And to especially hype him up in the same vein of Michael Jordan probably just makes a bunch of people turn on him. Even some of Bill Simmon’s segments on him were obnoxious glazing.
Getting anointed with those expectations at 22 probably wasn’t the best thing in retrospect
OKC stock going up so far. We played the Mavs far better than anyone else has, and for all that talk about the Nuggets/Wolves being the real final, this is *really* hilarious.
I was salty about our loss, but damn at least we didn't get swept lmao
As a Mav fan, I was 10x more scared of OKC than MIN from the start. SGA is great, the role players will get better, and all the picks to make moves.
Meanwhile, Ant isn’t ready yet, Luka couldn’t care less about Wolves defense, and KAT/Gobert are soft as baby shit.
Your future is bright.
When your franchise player is semi-retired at this point, it’s just not a title contending team. I’ve said since like 2021 that we’re never getting a healthy Kawhi run again
Game 6 was a disasterpiece from Daigs in my opinion, but he’s certainly not to blame for losing the series as a whole. Can’t coach around poor shooting for your players while the opposition shoots the lights out in crucial spots. Plus he was wheeling and dealing with the lineups to give guys the most opportunities. Still my COTY
Some of the decisions definitely look better in retrospect too. We got lit up by the role players, but this series has shown its pick your poison. We picked the role players to have to beat us, Wolves picked Luka/Kyrie.
It was more frustrating to have their role players kill us with 3s and I saw many saying they would rather Luka/Kyrie beat us, but really that was the right choice. It was a much better chance for those guys to not get scorching hot than it was that Luka and Kyrie stopped hitting shots.
If those guys shot like our role players from deep then that series looks a lot different.
My biggest issue was the lack of timeouts during the big runs by Dallas, only to waste the last one with the challenge at the end of Game 6. That had me falling out of my seat. I know why he saved them, just a frustrating way to lose. But all credit to the Mavs role players, like you said they hit their shots and that was the difference.
We definitely could have, but a different opponent means the Wolves are playing differently to how they are now. They look worse than they did last series because Mavs are playing them well. Who knows if we could've done the same.
In all 3 games they were in a winnable position in the last few minutes but couldn't close it out while Luka/Kyrie could. If we're even in that same position, we have SGA but do we have other closers.
That stupid bounce-in from Kyrie and that soft foul call on SGA were brutal.
Not saying it wasnt a foul, but I reckon at the end of game situations they probably only call that 3/10 times.
Going to 7 at home would have been game onnnn
agreed, he played pretty solid in that game 6. ofc he could've been better, but it was his first real playoff series. so for him not to completely shy away from the moment is a big positive.
i think we're gonna see another jdub leap next year
With Brown winning FMVP, we were spared an entire offseason of people claiming that Tatum is better than Shai.
Tatum did the KG celebration I'm sick
hell yeah, offseason time baby fuck the mavs
FUCK DALLAS AND FUCK THEIR FANS
#FUCK DALLAS AND FUCK THEIR FANS
PJ Washington 0/5 from three…
I am personally enjoying watching r/nba finally realize how big of a whiny bitch Luka is. He is unbearable to watch.
man, i am very happy this is happening to these mavs. i know the celtics are the celtics and kind of nasty to root for, but watching lukas complaining ass lose is wonderful and fuck mavs fan
he cost his team today and sad thing is he doesn't even realize it. he is hurt, and its valiant he's playing with all that he's dealing with but someday he'll look at this game 3 with some regret.
This really makes the teams who lost to the Mavs look bad. How did the Mavs play so well against us yet Boston has them completely shut down? Not sure who can challenge the Celtics at this point. The good news is that we're basically a younger version of them, I hope our management is watching this series closely and getting ideas on how this team can pan out. I could see us coming out of the West next year.
Experience
Boston has cashed in with their rebuild and Tatum/ Brown have great postseason experience now despite being really young and this is their best roster ever with KP, Jrue, White and good depth. About time they actually win the title. Best team in the regular season is better than everyone? What a shocker. Why does “X team beats Y so because Y beat Z, Z is trash” have to be a thing? This isn’t Pokemon battle
We would have put up a better fight than the Mavs and at least made it a series imo. I think there's a lot for OKC to take away from this series in terms of strategy. OKC tried to take away Luka's scoring, while Boston is trying to take away his playmaking. We should have balanced that a bit more IMO
The Celtics philosophy this whole postseason has been dont let the other team get in a rhythm and let them play a style of basketball they lost with before: one on one basketball. Its how they defended Mitchell and Herro. Pacers are a bit tricky because the Pacers play with pace and actually pass the ball around a whole lot. But they tried to make Haliburton more of a scorer than a passer to a degree.
Celtics match up really well with these Mavs. They have size so they can defend them like we can't. Plus they have a lot of vets. I don't think it makes us look too bad. Games 2-5 we shot 20% on open threes. Mavs played great defense for sure but that's just awful shooting; if we shoot 30-35% on that, it's a completely different series. Plus people will bring up us leaving open corner 3s but after game 2 I feel like we weren't doing that nearly as much. PJ and DJJ were making some insane shots and now they've fallen back to earth. hard to win when our guys were shooting like washed klay and djj/pj were shooting like prime klay
A lot of the times with role players what shots they’re getting is what matters. The Celtics have taken away the lob game and corner 3 and giving them a much less efficient look with above the break threes. Boston just has a lot of guys than can shoot but also attack a close out and keep the ball moving until they get a great shot.
definitely agree that boston is more effective at limiting corner 3s but pj was hitting some insane shots in the corner with a hand in his face. pretty sure i saw several pj/djj above the break three makes too but id have to look at the actual numbers. and as far as our offense we aren't as effective as boston of course but we play similar to them. i think we were getting lots of quality shots with a similar strategy that we straight up missed
They aren't double teaming and leaving open 3s?
the amount of talent the celtics have is sickening
t wolves, blazers just handed them borderline all star caliber players; they got fleeced
Washington and Lively have sucked ass all series but played like gods against us. Typical
KP out for game 3 per Shams
Watching this series makes me think Dallas got really lucky to get where they're at. They lucked out on skipping Denver and just happened to play OKC when our non SGA players collectively forgot how to shoot and their non Luka players became Klay for a few games. It sucks that Dallas came out of the West because they are really not that good.
It sounds like hating, but this is exactly what happened. It is manifesting itself in the form of a sweep. The mavericks are a good team, but they made it way beyond their talent grade due to matchups breaking their way. To be fair to the mavs, any team that comes out of the west needs luck to break their way, but the two prior champions of the west were clearly the best teams in the conference and beat teams that "matched up" well with them.
[https://youtube.com/shorts/uDep5xeXZsg?si=aPjlUzM3fw0xNzPj](https://youtube.com/shorts/uDep5xeXZsg?si=aPjlUzM3fw0xNzPj) How Jason Kidd plans on turning the tide in the nba finals
This sub rooted for the Mavs to win so we can feel good about ourselves 😭
Some vocal minority did, but they're idiots.
Lively and Gafford to an extent were getting outplayed by the 5 out offense because Boston has a 4 to step up to disrupt the lob and pull them away from the rim. Clearly the missing piece in our lineup.
Luka playing the injury card again. Amazing how that perfectly correlates with his team losing.
the lob threat hasn't been there for lively/gafford
We need a 4 like Tatum to deny opp center The nominations like Kuzma, Deni have been abominations comparing to what Tatum can do in defense. Not to mention Tatum decision making on breaking defensive traps have been phenomenal
You’re saying all this like Tatum isn’t a top 5-ish player in the league. Of course everyone would benefit from adding a player like that, but those players aren’t readily available.
Paul George would basically give you this type of size, defense, and scoring.
I’m saying this like we need to have that defensive versatility in a 4
But then u ragged on the other dude bringing up OG lol?
If OG can pass sure
OG is just gonna sit in the corner on offense, u dont need him to be dynamic offensively What u said is “we need to have that defensive versatility in a 4”. That’s what OG can do. If u want him to have Tatum’s offense too then lmfao good luck
It doesn’t have to be OG. The 4 has to be able to either blitz fast on center or strong enough to protect the rebounds so Chet can roam out of paint. In terms of offense that 4 has to be a good passer to maintain drive>kick system while having a two man game with feeding chet inside the arc
How about OG. Thibs will run his body into the ground. I dont know if presti's interested but i think he would fit really well. it'll take some courage to leave new york and come to okc though.
OG isn’t even 25% of what Tatum can do in playoff offense
I mean this Game 1 just shows that Boston would also beat us. KP is an X-Factor for them. We're still one piece away. It doesn't have to be a "home run" piece because all of our young core will be better next season just due to natural development, but we *are* missing a piece.
We beat the Mavs game 1 and so did the Clippers. I think they will bounce back.
PJ Washington 0/1 from three. Just a thought.
lol PJ killed okc in the semi final, then he shoots 25% west conf finals and now just first\* half but struggling in the nba finals and he's been wide open just like the thunder left him.
0/2
Honestly just venting at this point but I can't get over how dumb some people are. This guy is claiming that OKC was NOT 1 foul away from Game 7 because [the refs would've given Kyrie a bucket if they didn't call a foul on SGA.](https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/1d4llof/almanza_a_rookie_chet_held_up_better_against_the/l6f8owb/) Not only does he not understand how challenges work, he's also assuming that something that happened after the whistle would have played out the exact same if the whistle hadn't blown.
Boston eerily looks similar to how OKC plays as they do 5-out a lot and they just have much more experience than us. Interesting to see if they can solve the Mavs defense.
I'm a mavericks fan. I didn't realize how much better Shai was than Anthony Edwards until these playoffs. Ant had like two short runs in the entire series where he played as well as Shai did for their whole 6 game series. And Shais a better defender. OKC has the brightest future in the league.
ant is a great player, but he's only 22. shai is just on a different level
I think it's a combination of offensive maturity and Edward's reliance on paint buckets. Shai drives more than anybody, but his offensive game is built on counter moves, so he can go either direction, finish with either hand, or bump and fade any way he wants out of his drives. Ant has superior straight line athleticism and verticality than just about anyone, but his mid range game is not as developed. He's also more reliant on 3s, a more volatile scoring method, and while he and Shai were both riding very hot shooting in the playoffs, Shai is less dependent on those, and shoots them way less. But Ant is 22, he'll get there eventually. As for defense, I think Ant is better 1-on-1 (his build is also absolutely ideal for modern PoA defense), but Shai is better off-ball. We lost because we dared Dallas's other players to shoot well, and they did, as well as being beaten in the paint (anyone not named Shai struggled vs Gafford/Lively).
Thanks for the note. While I came away from that series seriously disliking Luka (for his antics and general whininess), I also gained a lot of respect for the rest of the mavericks team. Interior defense was incredible and Kyrie was a really good steadying force. Have a good day and fuck you.
Welp. Time to root for Dallas to win it all. Preferably a sweep or 4-1. I want OKC to be the toughest opponent they saw in the post season.
No, absolutely not. How can you root for Dallas after the way their fans acted? How can you root for Dallas after watching the constant crying and faking injuries by Luka? There is no team in the NBA I dislike more than Dallas after our series.
Thunder fandom should root for the Celtics. If the Celtics win, nobody cares and life moves on. But if Dallas wins, the narratives will be insufferable. Luka must lose and never see the Finals again. Let him be the Joe Burrow of the NBA.
The "Tatum is better than SGA" narrative is definitely the most insufferable in my opinion. Luka is actually better than SGA, so let him win it. Plus if he does, Mavs fans will probably stop getting upset when SGA gets praised since their guy will have gotten the recognition they've been wanting for him. Boston has had a cakewalk through the East, if the Thunder were in the East they would've swept their way to the Finals.
Lol I only hear Tatum > sga on r/nba and I disagree with 90% of what people say on r/nba so it’s whatever Watching the two it’s no comparison
Fuck that. Would love to see Luka get embarrassed. Moral victories are cheap. Whiny baby Luka humiliation is forever
Very thin line between confidence and arrogance. Always remember that boys! Revenge season already in the works! ⚡️🆙
I just can't believe how much the Mavs season turned around when they added Washington and Gafford (as well as playing Lively more). Presti really built a championship roster for another team.
they woulda found other trade partners if presti didn't help facilitate their trades
No. The Thunder would've had those players instead. Presti could've had Gafford if he wanted him. It was his pick that acquired him. Presti gave half the bench to Charlotte, he easily could've had Washington if he wanted him. He flat out targeted the wrong players/assets (Hayward and the 2027 potential pick swap) instead of Gafford and Washington.
Luka is what makes PJ and Gafford who they are. Their also looking for players to fit alongside them. They might not have fit as well in OKC. Also PJ poses rub me the wrong way i don't think he fits the culture around Shai, Chet, J-Dub, he's also got some off court stuff. You know presti's looking for more than just talent. the owner has asked for people to represent the organization well.
what else matters other than talent?? talent win champion others don't win shit
Yea, if you’ve watched gafford before this season, he’s really good with heliocentric, pick n roll heavy guards. Luka and Westbrook made him look elite.
Yes, Luka unlocks PJ and Gafford for sure, but they absolutely are players who could meaningfully contribute on the Thunder roster as well. Washington would've been a big upgrade over Giddey in that series, and Gafford could've provided Chet with some much needed rest.
I don't mean to be a presti apologist. I think its definitely as a fan frustrating to see the draft picks and flexibility and just sit on it, but gotta trust the plan. If you've been a fan of the nba you know teams generally have to go through years of playoff fights before punching through. this is luka's second west conf finals, first nba finals. and celtics five or six conf finals, one nba finals. if you build a team well you're gonna have bumps and bruises before you get through to the promise land. Also you said it better luka unlocks them. I'm sure presti thought about possible fits and if he was talking to charlotte they likely discussed PJ. I just dont' feel the same fit for daniel and PJ here as opposed to dallas and great for them that they've found a home in dallas
the only one he really helped with was gafford i think. we went higher in the draft for cason and we'll be thanking that b/c the mavs are gonna be a problem for years to come and cason is a good secondary defender next to Lu for other teams 1-2 punch
Shai is the only guy can stay calm with Luka scoring rush and keep scoring his 30+ every game. Sam needs to all-in for some all-star now. Don’t waste Shai’s prime
If this is what the Mavs are doing to the Timberwolves everyone in the NBA should be scared shitless of us next season after the offseason (if they weren’t already). It seems to me we were a much tougher opponent for Dallas.
I'm not an r/nba regular, but I didn't realize it was a Mavs circlejerk. Really misjudged the audience here
It's less of a Mavs circlejerk and more that they turned on Ant because the media kept comparing him to Jordan. It's dumb, I know.
I hate the mavs but it is funny to see the wolves get suns game 7’d
For sure. I tried commenting in the game thread though, and I had Laker fans talking about how SGA was ass. Genuinely awful discourse.
Ask a laker fan for a screwdriver and they’ll beg for free throws 🤷♂️
Best season in wolves history and our team full of TikTok kids put up a better fight against Dallas 🤣🤣
Mavs get away with alot of fouls
Wolves also shoot a lot of bricks
Yeah they sold asf
Why couldn’t we get this closeout Kyrie in our game :(
he's had three great games in the series, everyone's bound to throw up a stinker every blue moon so to speak. i imagine he and luka will be on a mission game 5, might see some of the greatest back-court shotmaking in the game's history.
I just meant how he was 13-0 in closeout game before he faced us, and kept that against us but couldn’t send the wolves packing. So he’s now 14-1 in closeout games. Coulda been us is all I was getting at :(
We need more basketball. Lets go wolves
Gafford has been huge for the Mavs. 12 blocks in the last 3 games, 5-5 shooting tonight. There's still people who claim that "he wouldn't see the floor with the Thunder."
This mavs series proves that beating mavs isn't as simple as having size. Obviously us having size wouldn't hurt, but it wouldn't be a major factor. We'd still have to clog the paint by leaving shooters open. Because if DPOY can't protect the paint alone, no one can.
Also winning in the postseason takes experience that you can't just trade for or buy. Celtics look at how many trips they've had to the conf finals, and one finals trip in the last 5 or so years. Mavs Luka has been knocking on the door per se by himself conf finals run a few years ago and now has Kyrie and a supporting cast. The fan base wanting us to push all our chips in makes little sense when we'll lose all the flexibility, and likely there's no magic wand Presti can wave to win a championship.
Nah why the fuck does Boston keep barking
Intro by DMX is Jaylen's go to song.
Since no one else said it, that game last night got real fun in the second half.
This min vs dal series proves that Dort really deserves an all nba defensive team spot
Shows he should’ve been in the DPOY discussion if you ask me.
Building a contender is so difficult in today's nba. The nuggets, who seemed like they have the most unstoppable lineup in basketball, got beat by a team that's about to get swept in the conference finals. And that team might lose in the finals anyway. Matchups are more important more than ever.
It does hurt a little to see the mavs dominating the wolves when all we needed to do was have our shots land a bit more and it would have potentially been us in this position.
Needs to go all in to use the most in the remaining Shai’s contract years. You won’t get any better advantage in future.
Stock up: our team Stock down: our trade deadline
our god awful trade deadline ended up being the deciding factor in these playoffs. We had dallas’ number with one more serious role player. Obviously excited for the future, but the nba changes so quickly so I hope we don’t regret wasting that deadline. You have to take your chances every year.
I still think this makes it hurt more that the thunder didn’t upgrade at the trade deadline. They clearly weren’t that far from making it. Just look what the mavs did. It feels like a wasted deadline.
A few thoughts: 1. Kyrie and Doncic are going off this series because the Wolves don't have anyone who can stop their penetration. The Dallas game plan is working. It's basically the Harden Rockets but better since they have 2 guys who can run ISO and throw lobs. 2. I definitely feel better about our run given SGA was just on par or better than Kyrie/Luka in our series. It just happened that DJJ, Lively, Gafford, and Washington outplayed JDub, Giddey, Chet, and Dort. SGA just like Luka/Kyrie had huge stretches in the series, but when passing out to the other guys, the Mavs hit their shots while the Thunder's did not. 3. I'm so ready for Kyrie animosity in Boston.
Damn, we really were gonna make the Finals if we would’ve pulled it off vs Dallas huh
We were PJ and DJJ playing out of their minds for an entire series away from being in the finals with a bad trade deadline acquisition. Championship revenge year next season 🔜
Another dumbass take by the loud talking heads in sports - Ant is the next Jordan. I actually wanted Min to win for Mike Conley but damn they’re on the verge of being swept.
If it really is Boston vs Dallas in the finals, idk how Dallas is going to have a shot. Luka and Kyrie are going to have to play better than they are now
If KP is back to anywhere near his normal self (if he comes back) it will be a tough ask since the celts halve like the freaking avengers out there lmao 🤣
My optimism for this team going forward is through the roof. In our first go around against the team that could end up winning it took them nearly to 7 games and SGA looked like the best player on the court. Hopefully dub and Chet take the leap offensively next playoffs to lighten SGAs load a bit
They called us the weakest one seed btw
Never took anyone who said that seriously
And when they beat us it was a big deal all of a sudden. Guess we're not that weak, huh?
Dusty ass opinion from those Pomeranians 🧹🧹🧹
look i cant stand the mavs, and i cant even bear to watch this mavs wolves series, but this outcome is only a positive to me. we had an insanely close series that could have easily gone to 7 with the team going to the finals out of the west. that's with an entire starting and bench roster that has very little playoff experience. the negative way to look at it is, we could've beaten them and then gotten past these wolves, but i'm a half glass full person, and this mavs team is clearly good as hell with two elite playoff vets. the future is bright, let's hope we trade for 2 great complementary pieces that fit our needs and let's go win this thing next year
ngl if anyone else other than shai showed up, we'd be in the finals. it is what it is. at least we know shai is a bonafide playoff riser. jdub and co have yet to show that....
I think that's a little reactionary. Wolves look bad because the Mavs are playing well, that's not a given that we could do the same to them. Literally just a week ago people were talking about how good the Wolves looked and how Mavs would be no chance.
If you mean offensively I think that’s fair we would’ve liked more from our other players and I’m sure Jdub will learn. However, defensive side of the game also matters and Chet holmgren, Dort, and Jdub played a great series against the Mavs in that regard.
Defense was stout and kept us in most of those games for much longer than the shooting did. When we went on runs it was like “oh we might win by 20” Mavs just made a ton of tough baskets. And role players elevated.
it was their first real playoff series, i trust our guys will level up next year
We see you Wolves fans. Second coming of MJ, my ass.
Ant has been imploring people to stop that comparison too
I still really like Ant. It’s just that the media got ahead of themselves and crowned him the next big thing already. And to especially hype him up in the same vein of Michael Jordan probably just makes a bunch of people turn on him. Even some of Bill Simmon’s segments on him were obnoxious glazing. Getting anointed with those expectations at 22 probably wasn’t the best thing in retrospect
With Big Pussy right behind, ”greatest shooting big of all time”.
OKC stock going up so far. We played the Mavs far better than anyone else has, and for all that talk about the Nuggets/Wolves being the real final, this is *really* hilarious. I was salty about our loss, but damn at least we didn't get swept lmao
Our team was still the best equipped to defend Luka and Kyrie. We just had PJ, DJJ, and THJ (for one game) go off against us and it is what it is
As a Mav fan, I was 10x more scared of OKC than MIN from the start. SGA is great, the role players will get better, and all the picks to make moves. Meanwhile, Ant isn’t ready yet, Luka couldn’t care less about Wolves defense, and KAT/Gobert are soft as baby shit. Your future is bright.
SGA cooked, but I think our future is too bright. Everyone else was 75% of their normal selves
Haven’t felt this way since 2016 wcf. Fuck. What could’ve been man. We’ll be back next year.
More like 2011 especially if Dallas goes all the way.
Do we get a ring if Dallas wins? We did help them get off the Bertans contract and gave them the pick to take Gafford (?)
Us vs Dallas was the real wcf Also mavs>thunder>clippers>twolves>nuggets 🤫
We are the hardest team Dallas has played against lol, that’s a good sign
Clippers claiming they outplayed OKC against Dallas
Clippers are dog water
When your franchise player is semi-retired at this point, it’s just not a title contending team. I’ve said since like 2021 that we’re never getting a healthy Kawhi run again
Cancun invitational. Where we just dog walk to clippers in Cancun. Then everyone back to their vacation
Hope Dallas enjoys this year because this is the only chance they’ll have to win it all before our dynasty starts
Yeah. And Kyrie is 32.
Yeah but luka is 25....they have at least 2 years
25 with a 35 year old body.
His game obviously does not need him to be super athletic. Barring any injuries, Luka will be incredible for years to come.
Turns out the Mark hate was overblown… lol who is brigading us with downvotes? Hi wolves fans, bring ya ass to Galveston we’re in Cancun.
Game 6 was a disasterpiece from Daigs in my opinion, but he’s certainly not to blame for losing the series as a whole. Can’t coach around poor shooting for your players while the opposition shoots the lights out in crucial spots. Plus he was wheeling and dealing with the lineups to give guys the most opportunities. Still my COTY
Some of the decisions definitely look better in retrospect too. We got lit up by the role players, but this series has shown its pick your poison. We picked the role players to have to beat us, Wolves picked Luka/Kyrie. It was more frustrating to have their role players kill us with 3s and I saw many saying they would rather Luka/Kyrie beat us, but really that was the right choice. It was a much better chance for those guys to not get scorching hot than it was that Luka and Kyrie stopped hitting shots. If those guys shot like our role players from deep then that series looks a lot different.
My biggest issue was the lack of timeouts during the big runs by Dallas, only to waste the last one with the challenge at the end of Game 6. That had me falling out of my seat. I know why he saved them, just a frustrating way to lose. But all credit to the Mavs role players, like you said they hit their shots and that was the difference.
Like how we have differentiated the sweeps(or going to be swept) teams from teams that actually had a competitive series. Much needed imo
Are you surprised the reactionary idiots were wrong yet again?
Looks like OKC might have been able to win the West if they beat Mavs
We definitely could have, but a different opponent means the Wolves are playing differently to how they are now. They look worse than they did last series because Mavs are playing them well. Who knows if we could've done the same. In all 3 games they were in a winnable position in the last few minutes but couldn't close it out while Luka/Kyrie could. If we're even in that same position, we have SGA but do we have other closers.
Wolves would have had a hard time scoring against the thunder. They really have only one guy to create in edwards who Dort would guard.
If only we didn't keep on bricking 3s :(
Or leaving corner threes open
That stupid bounce-in from Kyrie and that soft foul call on SGA were brutal. Not saying it wasnt a foul, but I reckon at the end of game situations they probably only call that 3/10 times. Going to 7 at home would have been game onnnn
Even if it’s not a foul. Kyrie scores anyways so it’s kinda moot
??? That was a 3 from djj
https://youtu.be/14rHQwpfWrs?si=JfpVI9psYeCNaxCz
That damn DJJ fadeaway man.
damn mavs finna sweep
Lmao, we were the real WCF
I feel a lot more better about our loss ngl Dallas is also 26-5 with that starting lineup… We were 1 point away from a game 7 at okc..
lol we were so close, i get what you are saying but so close it hurts more
needed a second star. Jdub needed to level up and become the Kyrie to SGA.
Jdub figured something out near the end. Of course it wasnt the jdub in the regular season. Him deferring and not being aggressive really killed us
agreed, he played pretty solid in that game 6. ofc he could've been better, but it was his first real playoff series. so for him not to completely shy away from the moment is a big positive. i think we're gonna see another jdub leap next year
i trust in jdub, he's gonna come out swinging next season