Dallas or OKC?

On another note, as KD walked off the court and raised his fist he looked like he wanted to give the hook'em sign, but then remembered where he was. lol
 
.. and also keep in mind the Thunder had to play 7.5 games, because of all the overtimes they played.

Sounds small, but add in even the slightest bit of fatigue, and the Mavs get an advantage, IF they can win the first game.

OKC is so hot right now, I kind of expect them to win the 1st half Tuesday night, by at least 10 points.

Btw, question about NBA travel, since the teams are so close,(45 minute plane ride), will they even bother staying in the opposing city?

I could actually see the teams flying in the day of the game, sleeping in your own bed every night has to help you feel like you're playing at home, I'm thinking.
 
While some have pointed out the lack of rest that OKC will get I have not seen anybody mention that Dallas could start game 1 a little rusty. This happens every year when a team gets too much rest and losses their momentum from the previous series. Dallas is an older team and needs the rest but they also need to play regularly to keep their bodies in game shape. I could see this aspect going either way and would not necessarily give either team an edge from it.
 
I actually did note that Mavs may be little slow out of the gate b/c of the long layoff.

As far as the short distance between cities, that will cut down on travel, but they will still come to town a day ahead of time. It may be part of the League Rules, but even not, they will want to practice on the other team's court.

Hook'em!!!
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The way LA was playing down the stretch, they are not a "much better team" than the Thunder. They just had a better resume of past performance.

That's not to say OKC will beat Dallas, just that LA wasn't all that.
 
Unfortunately, as a battered and bruised Mavs fan I will always predict doom for this team until they actually slide those rings on their fingers. They could be up 3 games and up (gasp) 13 points in the 4th quarter of game 4 and I will still be cautious to give my sports heart to this team which has been ripped out time and time again.

Love my Mavs, but I have just grown to be very cautious with anything positive about this team.
 
Nuclear, your points are well taken.

That said, a great point guard can make a bunch of average guys look great, because they don't have to beat a defender 1-on-1 (the guard already did that for them). Look at the TJ Ford teams at Texas and how many layups or wide-open 3's he created for role-player teammates.

There's no doubt that Dallas has more top-to-bottom talent than OKC... but I'm not sure who on that roster is going to keep Westbrook out of the paint. He was getting to the rim regularly against a Memphis backcourt that is younger and more athletic than Dallas'. Every time Kidd gets caught guarding Westbrook on a switch, the possession has a high probability of ending with a layup or a foul on a Dallas big man who has to stop a drive to the rim.

Dallas should win the series, but if the OKC role players (Hardin, Ibaka, Collison, Perkins) can cash in on what Westbrook creates for them, they'll give the Mavs all they can handle.
 
Horn89.

You are focused on what OKC can do offensively, but I don't see how they stop Dallas. Who's going to keep Dirk out of the lane? Who's going to keep Chandler off the boards? Who stops Terry on the pick and roll or off double screens. Dallas is pretty simple now. Pick and roll off Dirk, or spread the floor and get penetration either from Dirk or Terry and hit the open man. Dirk sets everything up and OKC has no one that can stop what he does.

The Bulls with Noah I think will give them the most trouble. Noah is a bigger Bruce Bowen, but the kind of player that can really bother Dirk.
 
Of course, Nuclear Bear, you could do the same thing with Memphis .... just lineup a list of players in order of talent and that team doesn't look very impressive, and yet three times they were within an OT shot of making it to the conference finals.

In reply to:
Click to expand...
 
wadster, I was just trying to offer the opposing view to the multiple posters in the thread who were looking from the game only from the perspective of when Dallas has the ball.

To be clear: Dallas has been the most impressive team this post-season, they didn't get enough credit for playing well vs. LA, and they should be favored in the OKC series. I agree with all of those comments in this thread.

I'm just pointing out that no one has said anything about defending Westbrook. Memphis has some of the best perimeter defenders in the league (Battier, Tony Allen) and the rest of the backcourt is young and athletic (Conley, OJ Mayo). Despite that, Westbrook had a monster series including a triple double in game 7. Now I understand that Dallas has better defensive big men to come over and help, but the perimeter defense that Westbrook and Durant saw vs. Memphis is undoubtedly better than the Mavs'.

And I'll say it again: if Jason Kidd finds himself matched up vs. Westbrook, either a Dallas big man is going to get a foul on the help defense, or else someone on OKC is going to get a good look (either Westbrook or one of the OKC role players... obviously they won't be doubling off Durant).

What the OKC role players do with their open looks will dictate whether they can hang with Dallas or not. If Hardin is hitting threes and Ibaka and Collison are hitting open 10-footers, I just don't see this series as the walk in the park that some are predicting.

Either way, I'll be rooting for the winner of this series in the finals. Fair enough?
 
Stat, I think Memphis was greater than the sum of their parts. They play hard, they defend the perimeter extremely well, and they play team basketball on offense.

The Rockets had a team like that when they took LA to 6 or 7 games a few years ago (not coincidentally, also a team with Battier).
 
So, to sum up Nuclear Bear's points:

1) The Thunder are a lousy team that lucked into the playoffs, and

2) Not even the 1996 Bulls would have a prayer agianst this Mavs team.

Got it...


Look, I am a huge Thunder fan (formerly a Mavs fan actually), but I can see that the Mavs are & should be the favorites to win the series. However, I don't see Mavs taking it in a walk. KD, Russell & the Beard will have a couple epic performances in this series as they have in the previous two rounds.
 
Sooner, you are being silly. Nobody's dissing your Thunder team.

Nuke, on the "Mavs aren't getting any respect," for some reason it reminds me in a weird way of when they used to say "Mack can't win the big game." Playing Kansas State wasn't a Big Game until we lost it. Lakers were a great team until they lost to the Mavs, so it was more about them sucking than the Mavs playing great. The outstanding thing about sports, and specifically the playoffs, we'll get to see for ourselves on the Court.

The pessimism in me says "I hope this series doesn't turn into a Golden State." There's so many reasons why it SHOULDN'T, but young, fast players could make our team look old.

Either way, it's exciting, it's the Final Four of the NBA and I"ll be in my seat yelling tomorrow night!

Go Mavs!

Hook'em!!!
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Home court is the biggest reason most feel the Mavs win. Mavs haven't lost a game at home yet, and Jet tends to play lights out in Dallas. Thunder will have to take at least one, maybe 2 in Dallas and that's the hard part of not having home court. But hey, I thought the Mavs would lose to the Lakers, so you never know. We're not dissing the Thunder, but most just feel the Mavs are a deeper team with home court. That's a tough combo to deal with.
 
Another Spurs fan here to chime in on this series...

First of all, whining about respect is tired. Every team outside of LA and Miami has a beef with the way the NBA is covered. Ask any Spurs fan if they feel the Spurs got the respect they deserved in the past decade of winning championships and being a contender. You get respect when you close the deal. And even then, the national media are so seduced by the "sexy" big market teams, you still probably will never be satisfied with the "respect" you get. Win the whole damn thing and you'll suddenly care less about what Michael Wilbon and idiots like him are saying about your Mavs.

As for the series, I would have a hard time predicting OKC to win this series, but you have to be a real homer to be predicting a 4 or 5 game series. Dallas has been through the wars enough to be battle tested... moreso than OKC, although the Memphis series should help them against Dallas. I just think the Mavs have that look of "we're NOT going to get beat". I watched the Spurs tap into that mojo four times. The Mavs have a great mental advantage in this series, IMO. They are hardened against what the playoffs can throw at you. They are mentally strong. OKC's mental toughness through two series so far is different. The Mavs have a decade of experience and disappointments. The Thunder are a year or two away.

It's the Mavs time. They have the right mojo. They're playing their best ball of the year and have a leader in Dirk who simply won't accept anything less than a WC championship. I don't see that OKC has that kind of leader.... yet. This is the Mavs series to lose. And they better not lose it, because they may not get another shot this good. Injuries, chemistry, age etc. They have the magic and I expect they will take it down in 6 games.

I hope to see a good series. I'll be rooting for my fellow Texas team (something I suspect few Mavs fans have ever said about the Spurs... but nevermind that). I love KD, but his time is not now. They don't have the chemistry and mental toughness to get past a team like the Mavs this year.

Good luck to both teams. Hope everyone stays healthy and if it gets to a 7th game, Danny Crawford is nowhere near the Metroplex. Winning three series in the West is a hell of tough task, but the Mavs seem like the better prepared to do that.

Go Spurs Go (in 2011-12). This year is the year of the poor, disrespected, cheated Mavs. And they deserve it (did I just say that
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I completely agree that home court is huge in this one.

I think one of the more underrated aspect to this is the championship experience of the Thunder.

Yeah, I said it. The Thunder has far more championship experience than the Mavs.

KD- MVP of last summer's World Championship team.

Westbrook- key contributer on last summer's World Championship team.

Kendrick Perkins- Starter on 2008 NBA Champions.

Nazr Mohammed- Starter on 2005 NBA Champions (Yes, he started all 23 playoff games).

HC Scott Brooks- player on 1994 NBA Champions.

Asst. Coach Mo Cheeks- Starter on 1983 NBA Champions.

I think a lot of the above has been tremendously helpful so far in the playoffs. I think this is helps offset the youth issue for our players & coaches.


I don't think this experience flips the table for the series, but it is an overlooked issue. OKC is young, but not without Championship experience.
 
I had the weirdest dream that I was on hornfans and it was just me and this Sooner guy making the argument for the team with Kevin Durant on it.
 
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