Mavs-Wolves Reaction! How Dallas won Game 1 in Minnesota

Mavs-Wolves Reaction! How Dallas won Game 1 in Minnesota

game one of the Western Conference Finals goes to the Mavericks the road winners 108 105 at the Target Center Morgan Minnesota’s got a lot of love and they deserve it just sent the defending champs home but I do think big picture-wise people have been sleeping on the Mavs a little bit overlooking what they have accomplished in the playoffs and what they did tonight yeah was beyond impressive it it definitely was I I didn’t know people were sleeping on the maps because I feel like when you look at the Western Conference and the way people have been talk talking about the Western Conference all year long it’s like it’s stacked it’s this that whatever and then you saw the jump the leap that the Mavs took at the end of the regular season and into the postseason I know everyone’s so high on the tea wolves and what they’ve been able to accomplish at such a high level but yeah the Mavs they I mean I don’t think anyone’s sleeping on them anymore they shouldn’t be because tonight was a big time performance and it starts with their two stars Kyrie and Luca why are you looking at me like that because I didn’t even know that was an angle I didn’t even know that was a thing I was like I I I feel like now we’re at the point if anything if you look at the four teams that are left it’s like people been sleeping on the Pacers fine whatever I get that but with all the other teams it’s like no one sleeps on Luca everyone always has such high praise for Luca but I think the conversation going into the series was so much about hey the the Wolves depth I mean I talked about this their size the perimeter defense they got a lot that they can throw at the Dallas Mavericks does Dallas have enough can they get enough from the others to step up can Luca still be as productive game one the answer was yes and I think the biggest swing and it’s something we had talked about is Anthony Edwards wanted the task of Defending Kyrie Irving and he said that on national TV people are going to make that a big deal I don’t mind that Anthony Edward said that the guy Embraces is it he’s a competitor I’m cool with it but the challenge there is is he going to have enough on the other end and as this game went on the guy looked gas and he he could not stay in front of Kyrie Irving that’s not a shot at Anthony Edwards this is Kyrie Irving we’re talking about he needed to be aggressive Kyrie was and he torched him yeah and I think when you do look at that for ant I mean how many times did regie Miller go ant’s not okay he’s grimacing what’s going on with him and I’m like like is something wrong with him then finally he got to conclusion that he’s like okay he is exhausted he can’t be explosive right now and that’s what you started to see from Ant right he wasn’t being explosive on the offensive end but then going to the defensive end you know trying to obviously defend someone like Kyrie Irving this is someone this is something that we talked about in our preview was just like okay it’s I mean that’s it’s going to be a difficult task not from the standpoint of just oh you know Kyrie and his ability to score anywhere on the floor at The Rim in the mid-range from three-point L whatever but it’s the ball handling it’s having to move laterally having to Sprint back with Kyrie when Kyrie was the one who was pushing the out of the basketball to start this game and really keeping the Mavericks in it he was Sensational especially in that first half he had 24 points at the half finished this game with 30 points in the first half he’s 11 of 14 shooting he ends up finishing one of nine in the second half but Lucas stepped up but I sticking with Kyrie it felt like even when there were switches like he beat McDaniel’s back door on a beautiful play he’s getting to his spots and he is using his biggest asset and that’s right his ball handling his ability to push he knew that this Denver excuse me this Minnesota team was coming off a seven game series I mean he mentioned that after his the first quarter timeout he mentioned it after the game just now too and that’s why I love what Dallas did tonight I feel like Dallas took what Minnesota gave them of course Kyu is aggressive early but the big theme I know Stan Van Gundy I think said it 92 times drop coverage this is no secret Minnesota’s going to have drop coverage with Rudy goar but Dallas didn’t Panic you know what they did they just got to their spots they know that if Kyrie or Luca have the ball and there’s drop coverage the options are Limitless right it’s like hey they can look to score they can hit the the mid-range they could attack the rim or if you got gaffer or Lively in there you’re throwing the lob and they destroyed Minnesota in drop coverage absolutely I mean and and you you look at the way that especially when it was Rudy goar and drop uh it was taking one if you brought him up high enough you’re taking him away from the basket and even if he was going and drop it was never quick enough to recover on a lob threat like Gafford or Lively and then when you have um two people in Luca donic and KY Irving who can pass the out of the basketball and be super precise especially when it comes to an alleyoop I mean that’s exactly what was going down so Kyrie even when he had his looks in the mid-range or could get that little stutter explosive go to the basket right to left whatever hand he wanted to use he was still getting others involved I know he only finished with four assists but it felt like the way that he was getting others involved with whether it was with the pocket pass or even just being able to get that defense to have to think twice when they were collapsing on him in the middle I mean that’s exactly what Dallas wanted to do when they executed their game plan early on because Kyrie Irving started setting the tone Kyrie shredded them in the paint too Dallas shredded Minnesota in the paint 62- 38 in the paint tonight 6238 and it’s because of their ability to attack that drop coverage they were Relentless with it and I thought they did a great job it got so bad that late in this game Minnesota abandoned it I mean even coming out starting with a HED and they start doubling they tried some different things and this is something that’s great for Jason kid to see is they made that adjustment in game well now we get to see what that Blitz looks like how we feel well guess what when you’ve got Kyrie and Luca two guys who are great decision decision makers they can handle anything you throw at them and tonight they attacked the drop and then when that Blitz came they made the right play and here’s the other thing that was going on you look at the three-point shots for Dallas six of 25 it’s not like they were even making all their three-point shots right so it’s not even like they were getting all these opportunities to make all these spray threes because Kyrie was driving or the defense was just having to miscommunication or whatever it was once they started to adjust in that second half and started blitzing and or like we said hedging a little bit more you saw Rudy goar coming up a little bit more trying to stunt uh the ball handler and it still wasn’t enough because the ball handler being mostly Kyrie but then in the second half being was making that quick decision and the quick decision wasn’t always making sure that someone was getting an open look from from three it was so much more than that sticking with a three-point shooting for a second if I would have told you coming into this game that Dallas would shoot 24% from three on the road they go six of 25 and that Minnesota would knock down 18 of 49 you’d be like H tough night for I would have told you Dallas mhm but Dallas outplayed them and I think every other aspect of the game and for the Mavs I think the hope is you you could start knocking down threes I don’t think it’s sustainable to win a series by knocking down just six threes in a game but I think PJ will hit a couple of more I think Luca can hit more Kyrie didn’t even make one he was 0 for three in this game so the fact that they could win a game being that six of 25 from three terrible from big deal you talk about where Kyrie was shooting a lot of his shots well you said this to me at the half he had 18 of his 24 points in the paint right at the half and so he was just doing a great job of being aggressive and this is something that I think everyone has talked about with Kyrie like oh he turns it on in the second half he’s averaging six points uh in the first half in the postseason right now what else can he do well he showed up and if he wasn’t there it was not looking good because I felt like Luca was not making Sharp decisions I mean how many times his body language looked down and out when he wasn’t getting a foul called for him and this was something we talked about too in our preview it was uh who which team was going to do less bitching and was going to have the better body language basically mainly looking at cat and Luca and I thought cat did a great job throughout this entire game Luca uh lacking whatever it was that he was doing mentally in that first half but then being able to turn it on in that second half and really be there for his team especially when uh it seemed like Minnesota started adjusting onto Kyrie and knowing what they want to do with him and also Luca knocking down a few threes which I feel like hasn’t been his best in this postseason either Luca uh especially in that fourth quarter was awesome 15 points for him in the fourth quarter I thought early on and I know he mentioned his postgame too and I completely agree I thought he was getting torched offensively I thought he was giving Jaden McDaniels too many clean looks at three and I know jayen McDaniel is not known as some you know Sharpshooter but he has the ability to knock down the three and once you knock down a couple I want to see better contest from Luca in that situation he just was really late and this guy’s in a rhythm he’s getting Corner threes that’s a great look for him well Jaden mcdels was able to knock him down Jaden in this game by the way ends up finishing six of nine from three his third straight game with 20 or more so he’s providing some offense for this team and still trying to do his thing defensively but going back to Luca and his defense and and you’re exactly right I just thought it it we had seen Luca donic pick up his defensive game to a whole another level and it felt like at times Kyrie Irving was leading the pack being like hey guys if I’m going to play this type of on ball defense all game you’re going to do it too you’re going to step up your defensive effort and Luca did not start the game like that but then I thought he did a fantastic job late in the game what he had a few deflections he broke up that lob to Rudy gole um he was up on uh Conley staying staying with him for a little bit like all these little things where I’m like that is effort it’s it’s not it’s not even like you’re tired in the beginning of the game it’s such an effort thing with him sometimes yeah but it’s also like the game plan was like hey let’s not probably trip as much with Jade McDaniel’s like we we’ll surrender a jadeen MCD and KY Anderson too yes and they were they were just like not defending Kyle Anderson that was the game play and then he kind of killed him for a stretch it was like we’re not going to defend him at all I don’t love that like I understand every team in the league has guys that they label hot Shooters right guys that can knock them down and cold Shooters and those guys may be more in the cold uh category from the perimeter but you also have to be honest with yourself when jadeen mcdel starting to knock them down like give a better contest the problem in that matchup too is jadeen mcdel is pretty athletic so if luuka comes out on him too hard jayen has the ability which he did a couple of times in that first half to put the ball on the floor and go make something happen I think like Lucas said post game like I think he’ll clean that up he understands that and you’re right fourth quarter this guy took over with big shots big defensive plays and I thought th those were swing moments I mean you had that stretch where it’s 102 101 I believe cat forces a turnover and you’re going oh man here comes Minnesota they’ve got the lead turnover we go the other way McDaniels gets caught under the basket and Lucas ready to go when MCD looks to kick it back out Luka is right there to grab that push the other way it leads to a PJ Washington Corner 3 all of a sudden it’s 104 102 just like that then you were just talking about the lob that was broken up that’s a tough play I thought we were watching I thought oh man goar got a clean lob Luca was there to break that up that was huge and then you talk about on the other end okay so they’ve been they started to Blitz more so Lively comes up like he’s going to set a screen for Luca but Retreats and Luca pulls back out goes ISO on McDaniels what did he do here give him a little bum mid-range Jumper in his face I like where are you going with that give give him a little bump little bum it was a big time shot okay yeah do you not remember it no I know exactly what you’re talking about and this is a thing he did that he started doing that throughout this game especially when Rudy continued to go into drop like even even when they SW they started switching it back up even in the second half and when that would happen what he would do he’d get McDaniels from the initial screen on his hip and what he’ do he’d keep screening screening him off and McDaniel’s tried to do a great job of recovering coming back around but Luca takes up so much space big guy there’s no there’s no joke there he takes up a lot of space and when he takes up that space and does a good job of shielding off his guy and then just kind of creating that space and going off to the side he feels them on him and he knows how to make sure he stays there a little bit whatever you said oh I’m just talking about the iso play though that ISO play was disgusting doing basically the same thing even with that trying to like create that space with getting him on his hip but my point is the drop coverage is he gets a little bit of a cleaner look in these situations this was taking Jaden one-on-one there’s been so much talk about that matchup and how Jaden could make life more challenging for Luca dude Luca thrives off making big shots and he made big shots it seemed like all the shot he made I felt like in some ways he especially in that fourth quarter when they went away from the drop coverage when he hit that three that was a contested three oh yeah he had a contested three that that was a tough shot well he had an open look but then he was like no no this is a little too open and I mean I’m sure it’s more like he likes to be in Rhythm and wants to shoot off the dribble and that’s exactly what it was and a at that point was exhausted maybe didn’t have the same um ability to get all the way up in his face or in his space so Luka felt confident it was fantastic he had 33 points eight assists six rebounds also three steals in this game he did on 12 of 26 he was three of 10 from downtown six of seven at the free throw line Luca was special and that’s really the difference of this game Luca and Kyrie Star level Star level the stars on the other end did not have star Knights cat was six of 20 and and was six of 16 before we get to them I think it’s very important though to give Derrick Lively oh yeah I wasn’t done I mean I was go back okay because I’m like I’m like I’m ready to go to the tea wolves and talk about what they didn’t do and especially when they came out looking like the better team but I felt like there were some others on this math Squad that was just doing a great job as well and Derrick Lively being able to grab 11 rebounds but then going four or four from the field just being efficient and everything it was great I broke my pen oh my God Lively Gafford combined tonight Morgan it was impactful for them 19 points 20 rebounds three blocks I thought Lively was fantastic I agree you know PJ Washington has a tough matchup trying to defend defend cat right yeah I felt like they did a fantastic job on cat like it seemed like every time he got a shot even if he got by PJ the help was there and Gafford and Lively were up to contest it it didn’t feel like cat got a lot of clean looks in this game and that’s a huge credit to Dallas’s defense for being on the string and this is kind of the honestly when you when you look at the series the big difference for this series for Minnesota versus the last series against Denver Denver doesn’t have Rim protection jic isn’t blocking shots who’s blocking shots when you look at this Dallas team they’ve got the length and size everywhere and you you mentioned liely and Gafford who were really good in this one PJ Washington I know he missed shots derck Jones J defensive impact Derrik Jones Jr dude is this guy’s getting paid this off seon because of what he is doing defensively he’s taking on the tough matchups and I think he’s done a great job with them there’s so many times where I’m not even questioning his presence in a game you know like and what he’s doing even on the offensive end he ended up with eight points four rebounds four of nine from the field but in his 35 minutes just his aggressive nature his energy it never goes away and it’s exactly what you need especially if you are switching your guys at times someone else is getting put on Ant you got to make sure you just always have energy a body a hand in his face because even when aunt was tired there at the end he started making some big threes too ant finishes with 19 points 11 rebounds eight assists he was six of 16 five of 12 from three and that jumps out to me 12 of his 16 attempts came from three in this game and I think partly is won when he did get inside the paint Dallas did a great job collapsing and how many times would you see Dallas Defenders come swiping down and make life hard he wasn’t getting a ton of clean looks at The Rim two I think especially in that second half when he was two of nine shooting in the second half two of seven from three he settled a little bit he didn’t have a lot left in the tank because of the matchup against Kyrie and that’s going to be tough for him now I do expect him to look better I think you’re coming off a seven game series now you know what’s in store what you have to bring I think he’ll look a little better in game two for sure well I think the broadcast was talking about how he didn’t even score in that third quarter right and you still saw Minnesota with go on that run I believe that ended up being in the fourth when they went on that run it’s like Mavs went on a run and then they went on a run and I’m like holy the Mavs are going to lose this game and it it felt like the mistakes that the te- wolves kept making toward the end and then the Mavs doing a good job of just their Stars really stepping up that was that was like the biggest thing that was factoring in at the end the stars were not giving enough at the end for the t-s and the Stars being cat and ant and again not acting like it’s easy I mean you saw how dead aunt’s legs looked there at the end especially after having to guard Kyrie throughout this game but yeah it wasn’t enough and I mean you can ask more from the other guys and the other guys NS Reed Kyle Anderson they were giving so much to start off this game too and I was like this team looks like the better team Until the End 2622 Dallas in the fourth quarter but Minnesota with five turnovers that turned into nine points for Dallas in the fourth quarter that was big I think this is going to be a close series it’s going to be fun but I’m I’m beyond impressed with how Dallas came out they win that points in the paint battle as we talk about they outrebounded him 48 to 40 they got him plus one on offensive rebounds 11 to 10 as well it was just an impressive outing and I think Dallas showed tonight it’s like hey they’re not scared of this moment you know I think their Road here people say is not as difficult as the road that Minnesota had they had some adversity with the Luca knee injury and they had to fight through that and they got through that just took on a talented OKC team and now they’re taking on the Minnesota te- wolves who have been playing the best basketball in the playoffs winning that game one is Big Time Stu it’s huge and it it is it’s interesting looking at this game for the t-wolves and I just keep thinking like you need a team win right like you need to make sure everyone’s involved I feel like that’s when you’re seeing some of these teams in the postseason really see success but you have to involve everyone while still doing your job as a star and that’s that’s the only cuz even Rudy goar a solid enough game for him you know with 12 points seven rebounds I felt like at time the only part that he was really maybe lacking there was his not his effort on defense but just his ability to adjust quicker right like I I know you you want to get that from your coaching staff but at the same time it just felt like too like as someone who is the defensive player of the year like why couldn’t he just make that shift at times as well and I just felt like for these leaders for cat for Aunt for gobear there’s just things out there that they really have to do better going forward they’ll clean it up they’ll make it interesting I think for sure I think for Minnesota defensively you definitely have to throw some different looks at Kyrie and Luca uh the drop coverage is fine but force them to make some decisions like they make great decisions but you saw it a couple of times when they had to Blitz and they forced it to livelier Gafford those guys are in a situation where they have to make a quick decision and if you’re help defense is there to collapse well you probably like the outcome of having Gafford or Lively try to make a play they can’t do get away with that all the time though like that’s just something that Dallas can adjust to that too but that’s what the series is about this is a seven game series it’s all about tweaks and adjustments hey that’s what we I mean we talked about going into this one exactly like how are you going to make this in series adjustments sure but it’s the ingame adjustments that are going to matter as well and we saw adjustments being made in this game one and it was it was fun to see because that’s what I think made it such a competitive battle between these two teams um but it was just coming down to the wire of like who isn’t going to make certain mistakes who’s going to be more Crisp And It Felt Like obviously the stars with the Mavs um we’re doing just a little bit more there at the end what did you guys think of game one what kind of adjustments need to be made do you think Dallas is like the favorite now cuz they’re up one nothing oh they finally win a game one give it up up to them uh make sure to comment below hit the Thumbs Up And subscribe de and they tell you what they know de and the that you know

Deuce and Mo react to the Mavericks Game 1 WCF victory over the Wolves at the Target Center and how Dallas was able to get the road win.
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