Hung right there with them with Dirk going to the line 24 times.

With the Thunder's athleticism, I don't think that the Mavs can win the series with a bunch of games 121-112. I think that if the Mavericks get into a track meet with the Thunder then I think they'll lose the series.

All that being said, great win tonight. AMAZING performance from Dirk. If he continues to work as hard at getting the ball down low as he did tonight then the Mavs will be tough to beat. They have the shooters to make the Thunder pay if they double Dirk.

Scott Brooks will still be the coach though. It wasn't as close as the score at the end. I think the Mavs are feeling good about the series too.

OKC shot more ft's than Dallas, and they were 7-16 from the line. They played great tonight.

I meant 7-16 from the three line.

you would feel really good about losing game 1?

I, in fact, feel really good about winning game 1

I thought the Thunder had to win game 1 while the Mavs were potentially rusty in order to get this series.

Eh, we'll see.

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I don't think that the Mavs can win the series with a bunch of games 121-112

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Because the Mavs' last two games have shown that they cant shoot a ton and win.

That's true, Whistling. I guess that's a good point. I think that Barrea's run made me a little uneasy. Overall, the Mavs controlled the tempo pretty well and did a good job of playing at a manageable pace. When Barrea came in I thought that the tempo got to borderline frantic and things were fast for the last four or five minutes of the game when the Thunder was trying to play catch-up. I suppose that the score was more indicative of both teams having a really good offensive showing rather than the game being a total track meet.

You know the Thunder shot more free throws right? Durant had 19 free throws

Thunder in 4.

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Because the Mavs' last two games have shown that they cant shoot a ton and win.

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Fair enough. As whistling pointed out, both teams went to the line a ton and just shot pretty damn well. Just seeing the score and seeing the fast pace in the third quarter during Barrea's run and the end of the game when the Thunder were trying to catch up and taking lots of quick shots made the overall tempo seem quicker than it was.

And just FYI, I'm cheering for the Mavs to win. I'm not some Rockets or Spurs guy coming in trying to get a rise out of everyone.

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I meant 7-16 from the three line

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This is the result of the Mavs playing zone. If you look at Westbrooks shot chart: he wasnt driving as much as he has been, he had to settle for j's.

It seems like people say "if Westbrook had a good game they woulda won;" the problem is they need everyone to contribute to win. In college its all about consistency, and this young team has yet to learn it. During this series there will be a game where Durant shoots under 30% and they will lose, there will be a game where Haywood gets 16-22 points and the Thunder's interior will be blamed.

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there will be a game where Haywood gets 16-22 points and the Thunder's interior will be blamed

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wait wait wait...you mean BRENDAN Haywood?

OKC - 43 FTA
DAL - 36 FTA

Overall I would say that the officials called too many fouls on both teams.

I still think the key to this series is Westbrook. He had a "bad game" but quite frankly played out of control. He was lucky to get to the line and score as much as he did.

if Haywood gets 16-22 points...Ibaka, Collison, and Perkins will be taken out back and shot...Chandler getting 16-22 is more likely but even that's a snowball's chance...10 and 10 is what im looking for Chandler...even 10 and 12-13

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Hung right there with them with Dirk going to the line 24 times.

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You realize that Durant and Westbrook went to the line a collective 37 times, right? Durant scored 40 points on 18 shots, went 18 of 19 from the stripe, and the Thunder still lost by 9 points.

Dirk put up a Herculean effort for sure.

But so did Durant. I don't think he can play much better than he did tonight.

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there will be a game where Haywood gets 16-22 points and the Thunder's interior will be blamed

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agree with JeffDJohnson; not to take away from the Mavs win but there were a lot of tacky fouls and Westbrook played absolutely horrible!

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there will be a game where Haywood gets 16-22 points

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LMAO

There were way to many mavs who didn't contribute the way they should and have been contributing. Westbrook may play better for OKC, but dallas got little from their bigs and peja/Kidd can pour it in a lot more than they did tonight. Dirk was not rusty, but the rest of the team was for the most part, especially early.

The Lakers aren't out of this yet. They can still come back. I watch a lot of ESPN so I know this is true.

OK, seriously, anybody who feels good about facing a team on a seven-game playoff winning streak is nuts. I don't care who the team is or even what sport.

We'll see what happens if the flow doesnt get interrupted by a free throw parade. I don't see how you can feel good as an OKC game, if you get an epic game from durant and you still lose.

Its hyperbole. I was just demonstrating that there will always be a segment of OKC's game that will have a rough go, and people will continue to say if they shored up 'X' they woulda won.

(Haywood probably will not get more than 12 points in any game and half of em are dishes.)

If someone a month ago said that JET and JJ would account for 44+ points for one game in the playoffs, he would be considered crazy. If he said they would account for 44+ points in two games in the playoffs, he would be demoted to MassAg ridicule.

One thing that should worry OKC fans, Peja was only 1-6 from range. Thats way under his season and career averages. He was the biggest liability tonight being 1-8 FG. Hell Kidd only took 3 shots the entire night. He will make his presence known and get plenty.

The problem OKC has is they cant defend the Mavs, only hope they miss. Look if they go man, they get beat in the pick/rolls; if they go zone, they get torched by the threes. Its lose lose.

[This message has been edited by BillOnCapitolHill (edited 5/18/2011 12:10a).]

those were also pretty open looks for peja and kidd. Until we start forcing up 3's, i dont mind us taking them.

Haywood scored the same amount of points as Kidd and Peja. They all contributed just three points.

I hope the Thunder aren't counting on that happening again.

One thing to consider is Dallas had a week and a couple days to figure out how they wanted to play OKC.

Game 2 will be interesting to see how the Thunder respond, both in their play and mentally.


That said, you have to think the Mavs feel good too. They've won their last 6 or 7 playoff games in a row, and won a game where everyone was worried about "rust". I personally believe Game 1 was more critical than Game 2 because you didn't want the Thunder to come in and gain a lot of confidence right off the bat.

You make fun of Brooks as the coach ProAg, but against Memphis we got shellacked by the Grizz, and the rest of the series the adjustments Brooks made, particularly vs. Randolph, won them the series.

The Grizz aren't as good as the Spurs fans claimed them to be.

Dallas will make OKC play their style of game. Once their starters get into a slump, JJ Barea comes in to get easy buckets and find open shooters.

Even if I wasn't a Mavs fan I'd take Carlisle's game planning on both ends of the court. That was more my point about Brooks.

And you talked about his adjustments on Randolph but I'd be concerned about how he coaches the offense through struggles just as much in this series as I would be any defensive adjustments.

Carlisle is probably the best coach remaining.

Brooks seems like he doesn't have a clue sometimes.

Carlisle is by far the most experienced coach left. As with with players, having coaches who have been there before is an advantage when you are this deep in the playoffs.

Westbrook won't play that bad all series and Dirk won't dominate quite like that either. This thing will even out. If could be a home team only wins type of series.

Durant and Dirk cancel each other out. Westbrook had a horrible game and they lost by 9. If he even has an average game the outcome comes in question. This is gonna be a great series.

fair critique ProAg, and I agree Jim Carey is probably the best coach left

Westbrook had a mediocre night....but so did Kidd/Peja/Chandler.

I'm all for silver linings, but OKC needs to realize the Mavs didn't play their best game either.