Mavs vs Thunder in the Western Conference Finals?

[MC KAos]

you're not the only Spurs fan here

I was the only one commenting I thought u were referring to me

 

[MC KAos]

It's pretty obvious that Kidd is using some veteran Jedi mind tricks on Westbrook, that "advantage" is overrated

 

[MC KAos]

It's gonna be 2-2 after game 4 IMO, I'm leaning game 3 to okc, game 4 to dallas

 

[CATCH17]

Good game by okc. They played phenomenal. I tip my cap to them.

The refs kept them in it early and Harden handled the rest so good for them.

It's gonna be 2-2 after game 4 IMO, I'm leaning game 3 to okc, game 4 to dallas

I think OKC wins game 3 and Dallas gets game 4 and 5 and has 2 games to finish it.

 

[The30YardSlant]

Just gotta tip yout hat to OKC. Dallas played well, but the Thunder just hit some ridiculous shots down the stretch. Hardin won't hit that many contested fadeaway jumpers again.

The series will probably come back to Dallas 2-2

 

[danielofthesaints]

Just gotta tip yout hat to OKC. Dallas played well, but the Thunder just hit some ridiculous shots down the stretch. Hardin won't hit that many contested fadeaway jumpers again.

The series will probably come back to Dallas 2-2

Agree to tip your hat to OKC. Disagree to the Mavs playing well. They played horrendous. They looked lost all game.

 

[DFWJC]

Strong game by OKC, and espcially Harden. He was out of his mind.

It was bit funky with the fanthom fouls (that 4 point play was a biggie) there for awhile but I generally think that stuff evens out.

OKC played better and they won.

The road team won, so, series on!

Go Mavs

 

[MC KAos]

harden has been playing that well and making ridiculous shots since the green/perkins trade, thats not gonna change. what you guys gotta hope for is that steve javie refs one of the two games in OKC, he is the only ref with the balls to go against the crowds and even leans towards road teams. he is basically the anti- joey crawford.

im just glad they arent waiting 3 weeks to play the games like in the eastern conference!

 

[DFWJC]

Strong game by OKC, and especially Harden. He was out of his mind.

It was bit funky with the fanthom fouls (that 4 point play was a biggie) there for awhile but I generally think that stuff evens out.

OKC played better and they won.

The road team won, so, series on!

Go Mavs

new word I guess...

Yeah. OKC is a tough place to play, but the Mavs will need to win one of those, a being down 3-1 would almost insurmountable.

People tend to forget that Dallas, OKC, and LA all had about the same record. They're a good young team.

 

[EMMITTnROY]

Nice to see some credit being given to my Thunder finally. I think some of you guys got a little overconfident after Game 1.

As far as Harden goes, I know a lot of you are surprised, but any Thunder fan knows he's ridiculously talented. He's our third best player behind KD and Russ. He just wasn't given the minutes before the Jeff Green trade. He's flourished since the trade, averaging upwards of 17 points per game. He's a great playmaker and rebounder for a SG as well. And not to make you guys worry anymore, but he's even better at home than he is on the road.

I'll be in the OKC Arena tonight, and trust me, it will be LOUD. We have a great homecourt advantage, especially in the playoffs, but I also know that the Mavs are the best road team in the league. So these two games in OKC will be huge. If the Mavs can steal one, the series can go either way. If the Thunder hold serve, I think we got this.

Oh, and about the Russ thing... the media is blowing this WAY out of proportion. First off, he always rests at the end of the third, so it was his turn to sit. Secondly, he was upset about the play he was trying to run being botched. Third, he just spouted off for about 30 seconds and then he cheered on his teammates loudly all 4th quarter long. He's a team player. He's emotional and passionate, and we've seen this kind of thing all season long. It's just being magnified now. The coach went with the hot hand--- the bench was playing great. Notice that KD was the ONLY starter to play the 4th quarter. As Cowboys fans, you should know not to trust the media. ESPN kept replaying the 30 seconds that he was upset for the play being botched and made it seem like he was upset cause he was benched--- they never showed him in the 4th quarter cheering his teammates on and jumping up out of his seat. Russ is a great player and he's a team player. Such a non-issue, but ESPN and the national media are ridiculous.

 

[The30YardSlant]

Agree to tip your hat to OKC. Disagree to the Mavs playing well. They played horrendous. They looked lost all game.

Dallas was down one going into the fourth and played well enough to win. They executed very well offensively and played pretty good defense, OKC just answered every Dallas score with a ridiculous, contested 20+ foot jumper it seemed.

 

[The30YardSlant]

Nice to see some credit being given to my Thunder finally. I think some of you guys got a little overconfident after Game 1.

As far as Harden goes, I know a lot of you are surprised, but any Thunder fan knows he's ridiculously talented. He's our third best player behind KD and Russ. He just wasn't given the minutes before the Jeff Green trade. He's flourished since the trade, averaging upwards of 17 points per game. He's a great playmaker and rebounder for a SG as well. And not to make you guys worry anymore, but he's even better at home than he is on the road.

I'll be in the OKC Arena tonight, and trust me, it will be LOUD. We have a great homecourt advantage, especially in the playoffs, but I also know that the Mavs are the best road team in the league. So these two games in OKC will be huge. If the Mavs can steal one, the series can go either way. If the Thunder hold serve, I think we got this.

Oh, and about the Russ thing... the media is blowing this WAY out of proportion. First off, he always rests at the end of the third, so it was his turn to sit. Secondly, he was upset about the play he was trying to run being botched. Third, he just spouted off for about 30 seconds and then he cheered on his teammates loudly all 4th quarter long. He's a team player. He's emotional and passionate, and we've seen this kind of thing all season long. It's just being magnified now. The coach went with the hot hand--- the bench was playing great. Notice that KD was the ONLY starter to play the 4th quarter. As Cowboys fans, you should know not to trust the media. ESPN kept replaying the 30 seconds that he was upset for the play being botched and made it seem like he was upset cause he was benched--- they never showed him in the 4th quarter cheering his teammates on and jumping up out of his seat. Russ is a great player and he's a team player. Such a non-issue, but ESPN and the national media are ridiculous.

The encouraging thing for Mavericks fans IMO is that Dallas is the best road team in basketball and is 2-0 in OKC this year with Dirk only playing 10 minutes in one of those wins. Dallas outscored OKC by an average of 13 points in the fourth quarter in those two games and held the Thunder offense in check when it counted, in fact they held the Thunder to a season low in points for a quarter in fourth of the second meeting in OKC.

As for Westbrook, the guy has all the makings of Stephon Marbury v2.0. He is very talented #2 scorer who thinks he is a #1. I think eventually he'll be traded and the Thunder will come out better for it. He'll go to some bottom feeder, score 25 PPG and never stiff the postseason.

 

[EMMITTnROY]

The encouraging thing for Mavericks fans IMO is that Dallas is the best road team in basketball and is 2-0 in OKC this year with Dirk only playing 10 minutes in one of those wins. Dallas outscored OKC by an average of 13 points in the fourth quarter in those two games and held the Thunder offense in check when it counted, in fact they held the Thunder to a season low in points for a quarter in fourth of the second meeting in OKC.

As for Westbrook, the guy has all the makings of Stephon Marbury v2.0. He is very talented #2 scorer who thinks he is a #1. I think eventually he'll be traded and the Thunder will come out better for it. He'll go to some bottom feeder, score 25 PPG and never stiff the postseason.

I think you can throw those regular season games out of the window now. For one thing, our arena in the playoffs is deafening. Secondly, our team is much different with Perkins/Mohammed/Ibaka instead of Green/Kristic. Thirdly, you guys don't have Caron Butler to put on KD anymore. So to me, those regular season games mean nothing now.

And no, Russ isn't Marbury 2.0. Like I said, if you really followed this team instead of only seeing them in the playoffs and hearing ESPN talk about them, you'd know that Russ is a team player. He and KD are best of friends. It'd be like someone who doesn't watch the Cowboys until the NFC Championship seeing Romo go off on Witten one time and saying that they don't get along and he's a cancer and on and on. Cowboys fans would know that's not true, but ESPN would make it a story, and the rest of the world would believe it. Same thing.

 

[The30YardSlant]

I'm not basing that on what happened in game 2, I'm just basing it on the fact that Westbrook tries to hard to be the #1 guy in big situations and either needs to learn to defer to Durant (a better, more talented scorer) or go somewhere else. Game 4 of the Memphis series is a good example. OKC won the game, but down the stretch in the fourth and first two OTs it was Westbrook trying to take all the shots and win the game.

 

[EMMITTnROY]

I'm not basing that on what happened in game 2, I'm just basing it on the fact that Westbrook tries to hard to be the #1 guy in big situations and either needs to learn to defer to Durant (a better, more talented scorer) or go somewhere else. Game 4 of the Memphis series is a good example. OKC won the game, but down the stretch in the fourth and first two OTs it was Westbrook trying to take all the shots and win the game.

I get what you're saying, but as an OKC fan who watches every game and who follows the team closely, let me explain it from my perspective:

KD and Russ are the only two scoring threats with that starting 5. Perkins and Thabo are black holes on offense. Ibaka can hit a midrange shot if open and he'll get some put-back dunks. But when it's those 5 on offense, KD gets doubled and shoved and grabbed all the time. So what you'll usually see is Russ trying to go to KD, but he's locked up. And the called play usually doesn't have another place to go if KD is locked up. So Russ has to improvise and make something happen. That's where a good number of his turnovers come from. And that's why it's so huge to get Harden into the starting 5-- to take pressure off of KD and Russ offensively. And it's why you're starting to see Harden get more and more playing time.

 

[DFWJC]

The Mavs definitely lost their defensive focus over the long break. The intensity is not nearly what it was and they are not playing remotely at the level they were in either of the previous two series. Lots of lazy plays on D.

A more athletic OKC team is a bad recipe for a poor-helping D...espcially if they can hit some outside shots like they have been.

If the Mavs don't correct this, they're toast. They can't count on Dirk getting 48 to get them a win. The D has been great up until now, so I see them getting re-focused.

Looking forward to the next two in OKC. The fans there should be so pumped...what a fun, young team! Just hope they delay their NBA Final Series for a year or two

Go Mavs.

 

[danielofthesaints]

Whewww.... Why do the Mavs do this to me? Im gonna die early from heart problems. If anything, this was more of a team victory than I've seen awhile. Kidd, Marion, and Chandler played a solid game and Dirk and the others came through when we needed it. 2-1 MAVS FANS! HOMECOURT back to us!

 

[The30YardSlant]

Great win. That great Thunder crowd was a virtual non-factor. Now take game four and essentially seal their fate.

 

[The30YardSlant]

Also, and this isnt really complaining about the refs as OKC drove the bucket more than Dallas did, but the Thunder shot 36 FTs to the Mavs 18 (and six of those were intentional fouls at the end). As far as I can tell that's the largest FT disparity a team has ever overcome to win a playoff game. The fact that Dallas won while shooting 18 less FTs (and OKC made damn near every one of them) is one of the most amazing things I remember seeing ever in the playoffs.

They need to be more aggressive though, because that WILL NOT happen again

 

[jimmy40]

Also, and this isnt really complaining about the refs as OKC drove the bucket more than Dallas did, but the Thunder shot 36 FTs to the Mavs 18 (and six of those were intentional fouls at the end). As far as I can tell that's the largest FT disparity a team has ever overcome to win a playoff game. The fact that Dallas won while shooting 18 less FTs (and OKC made damn near every one of them) is one of the most amazing things I remember seeing ever in the playoffs.

They need to be more aggressive though, because that WILL NOT happen again

is it overcoming when they were winning the whole game?