(3) Golden State Warriors vs (4) Dallas Mavericks WCF

[DJ]

Pat Bev is great on tv man

Yep, he'll have a nice career after basketball. He has no problem countering SAS.

 

[Shanemansj13]

Warriors will have a real, real challenge to try to slow down Luka. The good news for the Warriors is that they don't have any big they have to cater to in terms of playing time. This means the Warriors can theoretically play more wings and more switching to try to diminish a lot of the drive and kick threes the Mavs were getting in both of their series.

On the other hand going smaller makes Luka a real problem on switches. Wiggins I think can hold his own(really the unsung hero in these playoffs), but there will be lots of times a double is required. How the Warriors adjust defensively will be the key in this series.

I think Kuminga may be a factor in this series. He fits really well into this because the Mavs don't have any real shot blockers, so he can attack the rim and for lobs. Also he's big and athletic and pretty decent already defensively. He may be tasked with some minutes on Luka.

I fully expect the W's to double Luka, not all the time - they will mix it up. Wiggins is going to need help, if Bridges was getting destroyed-at this point I'm not sure anyone can even remotely guard Luka. It's going to come down to Dallas' shooters. Make or miss league. They played great in the PHX series, at least for most of the last 4-5 games.

 

[Sir Robin Of Camelot]

I fully expect the W's to double Luka, not all the time - they will mix it up. Wiggins is going to need help, if Bridges was getting destroyed-at this point I'm not sure anyone can even remotely guard Luka. It's going to come down to Dallas' shooters. Make or miss league. They played great in the PHX series, at least for most of the last 4-5 games.

Yep. And all you have to do is look at those first two games in Phoenix. They weren’t good and the scoreboard reflected it.

 

[CitySushi]

I fully expect the W's to double Luka, not all the time - they will mix it up. Wiggins is going to need help, if Bridges was getting destroyed-at this point I'm not sure anyone can even remotely guard Luka. It's going to come down to Dallas' shooters. Make or miss league. They played great in the PHX series, at least for most of the last 4-5 games.

Yeah, it's going to be a tall task just to slow Luka down. There's no stopping him. He's getting 25 a game minimum. The difference becomes do you let him get 28-30 or 35-38.

I will say that having Draymond on the back line to call out the defense will be incredibly important. In the other series the Mavs have played, they haven't had anyone like that there. They constantly attacked the other bigs like Gobert and Ayton. But Draymond is different since he's not a natural big to attack. They will never put Draymond in the P&R action with Luka on ball, so Draymond will likely be there to help facilitate on defense. That's where their defensive edge will be as opposed to the Jazz and Suns, IMO.

 

[calsnowskier]

Not gonna lie....that concert sounds awesome.

Wouldn’t want to deprive the good people of Dallas such an epic concert.

I believe Chase is available that night. And Dallas can still be considered the home team, in order to keep the integrity of the playoffs.

 

[ChrisperJ10]

Hmmmmmm….

 

[calsnowskier]

Hmmmmmm….

This was my thought. But you worded it better than I ever would have been able to.

 

[Sir Robin Of Camelot]

Wouldn’t want to deprive the good people of Dallas such an epic concert.

I believe Chase is available that night. And Dallas can still be considered the home team, in order to keep the integrity of the playoffs.

Thank you for your courage...

 

[Shanemansj13]

Whatta we gonna do about this?

I will try to get tickets for Game 4. Will be on vacation for Game 3 which is unfortunate bc that sounds fun

 

[calsnowskier]

Thank you for your courage...

It is all about all of coming together and coming up with a solution that works for everybody.

 

[DJ]

Underrated storyline: The Phoenix Suns hired Luka Doncic’s Slovenian national team head coach, Igor Kokoskov, to be their head coach in 2018, and then a month later passed on Doncic in the draft. Kokoskov is now on the Mavs coaching staff watching this inferno.

 

[ChrisperJ10]

This was my thought. But you worded it better than I ever would have been able to.

I try my best.

Warriors in 6

 

[Tai Chi≈Surfing]

Underrated storyline: The Phoenix Suns hired Luka Doncic’s Slovenian national team head coach, Igor Kokoskov, to be their head coach in 2018, and then a month later passed on Doncic in the draft. Kokoskov is now on the Mavs coaching staff watching this inferno.

Then there's this bit of irony....

In his official head coaching debut in the NBA on October 17th 2018, Kokoškov led the Suns to a 121–100 victory over the Dallas Mavericks. However, they finished the season with a 19–63 record, tied for the second-worst record in the league. On April 22nd, 2019, the Suns fired Kokoškov.

 

[Robotech]

Underrated storyline: The Phoenix Suns hired Luka Doncic’s Slovenian national team head coach, Igor Kokoskov, to be their head coach in 2018, and then a month later passed on Doncic in the draft. Kokoskov is now on the Mavs coaching staff watching this inferno.

How about this storyline? Steph Curry as Rocky going up against Luka "Ivan Drago" Doncic. Luka looking at Chris Paul saying, "If he dies (of old age), he dies."

 

[AD2022MVP]

I think what we are all confused on is why is that an indication of whether Miami wins or not? Not saying they can't but again good players are going to get theirs regardless. The hope is to limit them as best you can.

They aren't going to do much to slow him down either if that helps you out more. He'll score in the high 20's, low 30's in this series.

 

[AD2022MVP]

No, they aren’t.

LeBron is not a great defender anymore and while AD was certainly in 2020, Butler is not a good matchup.

Smart and Grant Williams are ideal primary defenders for Butler, and Brown and Tatum can do the job also.

There isn’t another team in the NBA with more high quality options for the task.

Lebron was a great defender during the 2019-2020 season when he put in full effort. Remember that year when he guarded both Kawhi and PG13 on the last shot and neither was able to get off a good shot?

 

[AD2022MVP]

Nobody completely shuts down a top player.

But the Celtics match up great with anybody on the defensive end.

They aren't slowing him down much either. Tatum can't guard him much because he'll get in foul trouble and Smart is too short. Brown is hot and cold with his defense and offense, you never know when he's going show up.

 

[AD2022MVP]

Dude... Marcus Smart was just tasked to guard Giannis in Game 7 against Milwaukee.

(!)

Dude...Giannis and Butler have two very different styles of offense. Smart may be a good defender but he isn't worthy of being in the same tier as a prime Kawhi, Tony Allen, Rodman, etc who are levels above Smart. He really isn't a DPOY caliber player. His own teammate, Tatum, is better than him.

 

[Tai Chi≈Surfing]

The keys for the Dubs success will be protecting the ball...hitting the boards on both ends...and try to limit the damage Luka will more than likely do. ( he's gonna get his...just gotta find a way to minimize his teammates from getting theirs)Of course that's easier said than done...but the Dubs should be & will be up for the challenge.
And lastly....please...stay the hell out of early foul trouble, and FFS...make your damn free throws.

 

[Tai Chi≈Surfing]