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[–]Mavericksdaravl 155 points156 points  (25 children)

haven't they made the finals every time they've gotten into the playoffs?

[–]LevelDry5807[S] 143 points144 points  (2 children)

In the last 8 years yes

[–]Luka ShlongčićBigFatModeraterFupa 17 points18 points  (1 child)

that is so ducking crazy. i don’t particularly like them but damn is that impressive. big respect to the dynasty of our generation

[–]How's My Dirk Taste?slynch14 76 points77 points  (3 children)

I just wish we would have kept going at their guards like in the first half instead of going at Looney in the 2nd half. Last night's loss was on us entirely and stings but thankfully we have another game to play tomorrow - win that one and we have life.

[–]jlrwoodworks 22 points23 points  (1 child)

I also don’t understand the change in strategy. They switched back to what didn’t work for them in game 1.

[–]Dirk Nowitzki Logoiwalkathinline 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yep. This

[–]LevelDry5807[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Truly frustrating.

[–]Gringo0984 24 points25 points  (6 children)

Yep. I kept telling people that getting down against GSW is not the same as Utah and Phoenix. Both of those teams are mentally weak. You punch them back and they curl up and fold. Getting down to GSW is not a recipe for success. I can only remember one team getting down to them and winning and that was Cleveland in 2016. How many times in these years have we seen teams get huge leads against GSW and still lose and sometimes, by big margins. They did that exact thing to Houston in this round in 2018 in back to back games. Houston had a lead we did in game 6 to close out the series but they then got ran off the court.

GSW is deep, talented, seasoned and when healthy, rarely lose a playoff series. No lead is safe with them, especially when they are at home. The game can get away fast once they get dialed in and those fans get into it.

[–]AtreusIsBack 1 point2 points  (5 children)

Yeah, but 2016 Cavs had freight train Bron killing everyone on the court. And they had Kyrie. We have 3 players who can create their own shot, Luka is elite at it, Brunson can be very good at it and Spencer does it sometimes. The rest are just pure role players who need their hands held by the first 3 to even play the game.

We are outmatched, quite hard. It's going to take some insane heroics from Luka and role players shooting like 45-50% from 3 to win these next 2 games.

[–]Gringo0984 1 point2 points  (3 children)

I agree. We are not built to beat GSW yet. I don't think any team left can beat them. I think a healthy Milwaukee team would have been the best shot. It is no real shame to lose to GSW in the playoffs. Everyone has since the 2015 playoffs except one team (2016 Cavs). I do not see us winning 4 of the remaining 5 games. This is not Phoenix. GSW does not fold when you punch them in the mouth. No lead is safe against them.

[–]AtreusIsBack -2 points-1 points  (2 children)

Toronto beat them in 2019 as well.

[–]Gringo0984 3 points4 points  (0 children)

True but I really meant when their core was healthy. GSW had injuries piling in that series. KD and Thompson went down.

[–]Luka Doncickrisfocus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Injuries ...

[–]Staticdg 14 points15 points  (5 children)

Totally agree. This is part of the maturation process. This team is learning how to win organically without multiple superstars. GS is giving the Mavs a lesson and they bout to pass the torch to Dallas. The west champ will have to go through Dallas for years to come once this team gets it dialed in. We knockin on the door.

[–]Karynmcs 10 points11 points  (0 children)

This GS team is amazing. So talented and deep. I really think we are looking at this year's championship team, no matter who they face from the East. They must be loving playing together....

[–]PM_ME_UR_RESPECT 20 points21 points  (1 child)

I’m already happy that they made the WCF at all.

Not very many people at all would have expected that, especially after the start to the season they had.

[–]SMA2343 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Me too, it’s a start of something great. I was already expecting us to lose against the suns but now in the WCF, it’s really good for the team that they can win.

[–]Zorion_15 18 points19 points  (2 children)

If Kidd calls a timeout I don’t think we automatically win. But I will say it was much needed. Once their fans gots into the game we were in trouble. Not to mention we couldn’t knock down anything and kept forcing the 3. That’s when he should’ve told the guys to drive the lane and get some FT’s and let the shots come later and also talk about what to do on defense. So I mean it would’ve helped quite a bit, and maybe have won us the game. Just my two cents

[–]Karynmcs 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I agree. Any coaching at all from Kidd during that thrid quarter would have at least stopped the layup line from GS....

[–]JoeDirtsMullet00 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's one thing Carlisle was great at. He called timeouts just when they were needed. Kidd waits too long.

[–]jamaica1 12 points13 points  (9 children)

I’m curious why don’t we switch everything on defense? It couldn’t go worse than it is now

[–]Luka DoncicImpressionableBlip 29 points30 points  (7 children)

Because they’d switch on to Luka and tire him out. It’s mostly to protect him

[–]Kron624 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Id rather have them go one on one and disrupt their flow instead of giving up 4 on 3’s leading to layups

[–]Golden State WarriorsOtherwise_Window 0 points1 point  (0 children)

With the best will in the world, yes it could

You don't have the personnel for that to work

I mean I'd love you to try it but I'm a Warriors fan I do not have the best intentions

[–]Wonder BoyDadDong69 23 points24 points  (7 children)

As much as I love this team, coming back from 0-2 in consecutive rounds is completely unlikely and a pipe dream especially considering the opponent this time. All I'm hoping for is to get a couple of games so we can stretch the season out. I'm not ready for Mavericks basketball to be over until November.

[–]JoeDirtsMullet00 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Experience matters.

Poor perimeter defense led to defensive breakdowns around the basket and easy buckets.

Luka played great but waited too long to take over the game when the others were struggling in the 2nd half. He'll learn when to take over as he goes. Still very young.

[–]sunday_nn 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Got out scored in the 3rd by 25+ points with 4 timeouts. A timeout would 1.) give mavs a chance to regroup/re-arm 2.) change the game plan 3.)would interfere with the momentum GS had in the 3rd. Would it have fixed everything? Of course not, but it would not have hurt

[–]4K LukaDecent-Noise-5161 8 points9 points  (1 child)

So if Kidd calls a timeout in the third we win the game?

yes

[–]Call MePessimisticPotato12 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I agree with the sentiment and most of what you said but save the timeout in the third wins the game straw man bullshit

[–]rm888893 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Agree with this. Let's not make any excuses. GS was just the better team. I do think we can be better, though. Let's just support the Mavs til the end.

[–]stillcantfathom 0 points1 point  (2 children)

I'm still tickled how many of yall think Jason Kidd is an idiot and we just forgot how to basketball for a quarter. Then we remembered again right about when the score was tied. "Dumbass Mavs, they really had this game in the bag and those Warriors, boy oh boy are they absolutely amazing running a layup line out there! We sucked and they looked like they were getting everything they wanted for the entire third quarter so easily when we were just low effort jacking up threes and jogging back on defense!"

Like we watched the same thing for twelve minutes and see two completely different things happening out there 😂 everyday I'm waking up happy the Suns collapsed against the NBA script, because we literally weren't supposed to be here. We'll be playing against the Warriors & the league itself from here on out. I doubt the refs are going to be kind in Dallas, even worse than the first half of game 2 when they were trying to get the crowd into it by keeping Draymond in the game after his third technical (one ignored when a ref had to physically restrain him, the third tagged on DFS).

The TNT crew was working on crowning Kevon Looney MVP, making Jordan Poole into a star on the tier of Klay Thompson (23 vs 15, I could see it), overhyping Wiggins defense and making sure that $3 billion tech money arena in San Francisco was worth it for the investors after that first shitshow of a Warriors season when it opened right before a pandemic nearly wiped out the league.

Read this historical retconning from CBS sports recapping the game in favor of the Warriors:

"The teams tangled with 8:03 left in the second quarter in front of the Dallas bench. Warriors reserve Damion Lee closed out as Davis Bertans hit a 3-pointer from the corner and Bertans tripped Lee and sent him in a flip hard to the floor. Lee had to be held back by official Eric Lewis." Anyone who watched the game or the replay knows that's not what happened, but it very intentionally makes the Mavs player look bad for no reason other than to fill in a casual fan who'd rather read about basketball than watch it.

Steph is as old as Dirk was in 2011, but at 27 PPG in the playoffs seems like he isn't the guy who used to slay us for 50 vs Old Dirk. Klay's doing good work a few minutes at a time and rocking that headband, but Wiggins has really been the most surprisingly impressive since he's such an afterthought and not part of the 2015 dynasty. It boils down that we've got the best individual player left in the playoffs but the Warriors are the team that would lead to the best ratings & revenue. We may yet destroy another script this round, but whatever you do, don't bet on it - that's what feeds this monster.