Jason Timpf reacts to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren, and the Oklahoma City Thunder's stunning 100-96 Game 4 win over Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, and the Dallas Mavericks to even their series at 2-2. Jason breaks down the biggest highlights from the game and shares his predictions ahead of Game 5 in OKC. #volume #Herd
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
The volume.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
The NBA playoffs are heating up, and so is the
action at DraftKings Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of
the NBA with same game parlays, live betting odds, boosts,
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(02:00):
All right, welcome to hoops to night here at the volume.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
Have you Monday? Everybody?
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Ohbal, You guys are having a great start to your week.
Got a jam pack show for you tonight. We're gonna
do a breakdown of that epic showdown between the Thunder
and the Mavericks. Really weird game, stuck in the mud,
but shake Gilles, Alexander makes a couple of big shots,
a couple of big kickout passes, case On Wallace and
chet holmg gonna hit some big threes and Oklahoma City
gets out of there with the win and we're two
to two, headed back to Oklahoma for Game five. We're
(02:26):
gonna be breaking that game down from the perspective of
both teams. And then at the end of the show
today I had mentioned I sent out a tweet with
a mail bag earlier today. We got a bunch of questions,
So I'm gonna go through probably a dozen or so
mail back questions at the tail end of the show.
You guys did the Joe before we get started. Subscribe
to Brandy YouTube channel so you don't miss any more
of our videos. Follow me on Twitter and underscore j
(02:47):
CNLT so you guys don't miss you announcement. Still, forget
about a podcast feed wherever you get your podcast under
Hoops tonight, and keep dropping mail back questions in those
YouTube comments. We keep hitting them throughout the rest of
the postseason. All right, let's talk some basketball. So this
was a bizarre game and what's been a pretty bizarre series.
Both teams are really really struggling to score. These are
two teams that have a plethora of perimeter speed and
(03:08):
outstanding perimeter defenders.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
Derek Jones Jr.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Has been probably the best veteran minimum signing in the
league this year. Just an outstanding perimeter defender that's doing
a good amount of damage in spot up situations and
in transition. On the other end of the floor, obviously PJ.
Washington's competing really well on that end, Josh Green's competing
really well on that end, Kyrie Irvings competing really well
on that end. Then you go to Oklahoma City, they
(03:31):
got a bunch of professional perimeter defenders like Lou Dort.
That's a guy that's going to be in this league
for a long time doing what he's doing to Luka Doncic.
In this series, same thing goes for case on Wallace.
Aaron Wiggins comes in the game and he brings perimeter defense.
Jalen Williams has done a really nice job as well.
And so all these guys are really struggling to get
their game off, and I really think it's coming down
to decision making in a lot of cases. We're going
(03:54):
to get into some of those details, but both teams
are really struggling to score. Both teams were below eighty
eight points per one hundred half court plays according to
Cleaning the Glass. According to Cleaning Glass, in this game,
these are two teams that were both over one hundred
points per one hundred half court plays during the regular
season for the series. Now through four games, Oklahoma City
(04:15):
is winning that battle rather convincingly. They're up ninety six
to eighty nine in terms of points per one hundred
half court plays. All four stars were struggling today. Kyrie
was having a poor shooting game. He was only four
for eleven, only scored nine points. JDub was five for nineteen.
Was really struggling with reading the floor, challenging rim protectors,
missing extra defenders that were coming over, a lot of
(04:37):
young basketball player stuff from Oklahoma City that they bought
through at the end of the day. But you could
see them struggling. With Luka Doncic was six for twenty.
He's just having a nightmare of a time dealing with
lou Dorort has him in the torture chamber right now.
Schaikyo just Alexander was really struggling up until about the
last fifteen minutes or so, and he was the one
guy who broke out, and that's really what determined this game.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
That said, as much as.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Shay broke out as a shot maker, I did think
that Luca and Kyrie were doing a much better job
hunting their teammates for spot up opportunities. This is an
interesting trend for Oklahoma City. A big part of how
they got going down the stretch of this game was
taking advantage of easy reads that are available when Dallas
is collapsing on them around the rim. And they've done
mostly a poor job in this series of making those
(05:24):
kickout raids, while even though Luca has struggled with missing
shots and with turnovers, he's making those kickout raads a lot.
Even though Kyrie hasn't been really scoring all that much,
he's been making those kickout raads. And again, like this
game was one hundred to ninety six and came down
to one, it was tied, It was tied late before
that last three that Chet Holmgren hit, So like this
(05:46):
game could have gone either way. And obviously the free
throws were a huge issue for Dallas in this game.
Oklahoma City was struggling with their decision making, like everyone
was really struggling, but Shay was the one guy that
broke out. And a lot of those little short textbook
step back jumpers going left and right that is in
(06:07):
that short range that I talk about, like long tues
out by like seventeen eighteen, nineteen feet, Those can dip
in percentage considerably.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
But Shay gets good separation.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
Around like you know, fifteen fourteen feet, and he gets
to these looks that are actually pretty high percentage, and
he was struggling to make them for the most part
in this series. But really he caught a little hot
streak at the right time there in the fourth quarter,
and then he finally made some good kickout reads. This
is something like again when you are how many times
did it seem like you saw a thunder player, whether
(06:37):
it was Shay or Chet or a guy driving a
close out like get into the lane and then try
to try to just throw their body into traffic with
all of the rim protection that Dallas has and force
something up and then get blocked. Dallas had thirteen blocks
in this game. I pulled up the numbers in the
first three games of the series. Oklahoma City shot just
(06:58):
sixty two percent and they're restricted it. They were sixty
nine percent in the restricted area in the regular season.
It's a substantial dip from where they're usually the AD
And so again I put in my notes, Oklahoma City
has the talent to win this series, they have more
offensive talent in my opinion, they have more off ball shooting,
more guys that are better at attacking closeouts.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
Obviously, PJ.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Washington and Derek Johnes Junior have capitalized on the fact
that Luca and Kyrie keep hunting them and they're making shots.
But Shae and Jalen Williams, they've got to do a
better job of making those kickout raids. And finally at
the end of that game, Shay started making those raids.
There was a strong side corner help from Luca for
the big one that Cheed Holmgren hit. Luca was helping
a lot off of Kason Wallace on that week side
(07:40):
down the stretch of that game, and they were missing
that raid. So there's a lot more opportunity there.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
In that third.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
Quarter, there were a lot of plays where like Shay
would collapse the defense and like make the right read,
but he'd throw like a kind of a janky pass
that either get get deflected or he'd lose his balance
and throw a bad pass. I did a video on
the on the Nuggets Timberwolve series today where I talked
about the importance of making the pass to the shooting pocket.
(08:06):
And the reason why it's very simple because these are
elite defenses with a ton of speed that are closing
out at you. And so like, again, if I'm starting
twenty feet away from you, or let's say fifteen feet
away from you, and I throw the pass at your feet,
I'm gonna close out well and I'm gonna be able
to chase you off of the line. But if someone
throws the pass directly into your shooting pocket, it's really
(08:29):
difficult for me to get out there in time. And
so like, honestly, like there's a lot of room for
improvement for Oklahoma City, which is what's kind of scary,
is like like they're missing a lot of reads. They're
not making good kickout passes. Jalen Williams is still like
really struggling to read the floor out there. Totally predictable
for a guy in just his second year playing NBA
basketball and his first time playing in the playoffs at
(08:52):
this level. Right, Shay, his first playoff run, is the
number one option on the playoff team, and you know,
there's just so much more room for improvement there for them.
But Shay finally did make some plays down the stretch
of this game. Some good kickout passes, some good short
mid range jumpers, and on the other end of the floor,
like lou Dort just continues to with his like just
(09:12):
overwhelming physicality. Just you can tell it's really starting to
rattle Luca. He's starting to He's complaining at the rest constantly,
he's constantly on the ground, he's constantly The big one
for Luca that's the surprise to me is the turnovers
and what he's doing is he's over penetrating and then
he's getting himself surrounded by bodies and he's throwing kickout
(09:34):
passes when he's being swarmed that are getting deflected or
going right to the next guy in the rotation that
are getting it and running out the other way. Like
Luca really needs to just calm the hell down and
just kind of kind of like what we were talking
about with Jamal Murray early in the in the Wolves series,
where it's like, hey, you've handled ball pressure before. Luca
has seen a good perimeter defender before, he has seen
(09:55):
physical ball pressure before, he has seen a guy that
he can't overpower physic before. He's capable of handling this
a lot better than he has. And I'm going to
say the exact same thing to Luca or about Luca
that I said about Jamal Murray. When it comes to
Jamal Murray, yeah, I get it, you got a calf injury, man,
but everyone in the playoffs is hurt.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
You better just find a way.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
And when I went and looked at the tape, it
really looked like Jamal just wasn't handling the ball pressure well,
even though I know he can handle it. Then he
goes into the two games in Minnesota, does a masterful
job of handling the ball pressure and everything comes together.
Luca's in that phase kind of where Jamal Murray was
in Game two, where he's getting super worked up and
he's super involved with the officials, and he is capable
(10:39):
of handling this a lot better than he is not.
Over penetrating better shot selection, playing and taking what the
defense is giving you. He's capable of turning this series around.
Both teams are capable of playing a lot better than
they have been. But I did think it was super
impressive that Shade broke out. It felt like his first
(11:02):
real kind of playoff moment, didn't It Obviously hit that
game winner against the Pelicans, but the Pelicans are the
worst team out of all the Western Conference teams that
got into the playoffs. Right, So, like, given the stakes,
given the situation, down to one on the road, you're
trailing in the second half. I think it went down
by thirteen fourteen points in the early portion of the
third quarter, if I remember correctly, Like they were really
(11:23):
in a tough spot, and they just kept chugging along
and they kept making plays and then Shaye hit a
level there in that fourth quarter run that was able
to carry his team home to the finish line. Again,
Oklahoma City does have the talent to win this series.
It's all going to be about being sharper with their
decision making. When you get into the lane and multiple
bodies converge on you, your percentages will dip. And again,
(11:45):
like it's all about shot value, right, You don't want
to just take threes if they're chasing you off the
three point line and they're not high quality threes. Yeah,
three points is worth more than two, but not if
it's contested, and not if it's a good shot. Same
thing goes for the rim. The rim is the highest
value shot in the NBA, but you're not if you're
shooting like fifty nine percent down there, right, or I
(12:06):
think of sixty two percent or whatever. I'll have to
pull the numbers from from this particular game. But they
shot thirty eight percent from the field in this game.
I would imagine after they got blocked thirteen times. I
would imagine after I go back and look at the tape,
or excuse me, look at the numbers when the when
the analytics update, I would venture to guess that they're
they're shooting percentage in the restricted area has dipped below
sixty percent.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
Now we're not talking about you know.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
One point three or one point four points per shot
down there. Now, we're talking about barely over a point
per shot, and that that's not the best value that's
available there on the floor. You have the talent, you
just have to make those kickout passes. Play advantage basketball again,
Like it's very simple. If you are playing one on
one against an elite perimeter defender, it's generally going to
(12:50):
be a pretty low percentage shot. If you're challenging athletics
seven footers at the rim, it's generally going to be
a low percentage shot. But if I give case on
Wallace or lou Dord or any of these guys a
defender closing out at them, it infinitely increases their or
dramatically increases their efficiency on those plays. And so that
(13:10):
to me is the encouraging part for Oklahoma City. You
played like shit most of this game, and you got
out of there with the win and tied the series.
Shout out to kase On Walla's a bunch of big
shots there down the stretch. Shout out to Chet Holmgren
as well. He was getting He was a victim of
a lot of that physicality as well. There's a swim
move that Derek Lively hit him with in the second
half where he just elbowed him right in the side
of the temple and just kept hanging around, kept making plays,
(13:33):
hit that big three, and then ice the game at
the foul line late on the Dallas front again. Luca
the shot, the shot selection. I understand why he's taking
those shots. He's trying to get his rhythm back.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
I get it.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
I think he can be a little bit better there.
The big one is the mistakes. I think Kyrie and
Luca are both doing a really good job of what
Oklahoma City's not doing, which is making those kickout passes
and generating closeout opportunities for their teammates which they are
taking advantage of. For Luca, it's the mistakes against Oklahoma City.
With how good they are in transition, turnovers are a
death sentence. That is the entire way their offense. I
(14:07):
shouldn't say the entire way. That is a significant significant
portion of their basketball identity, playing passing lanes, physical aggression
on the ball and in passing lanes, forcing turnovers, getting
out in transition and getting easy looks. Luca has to
cut down on his mistakes. And I know what every
Mavericks fan in the world is going to be saying,
Luca's knee is hurt. Yeah, you're right, everyone's hurt.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
Though.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
He's got to find a way to play right Blue
George's fouling them, Yeah, you're right. So is every elite
perimaterive veender in the league. In every series. Everyone's found
the hell out of everybody. Luca is not the only
primary ball handler out there who's getting hacked and slashed
on every single drive to the basket. It's happening to everybody.
He has to find a way to weather through that
and make them a bigger impact on this game. I
(14:47):
also thought Jason Kidd, it was interesting that he leans
so much on Tim Hardaway Junior late. Derek Jones Junior
is playing really well seventeen points in this game, he
had four blocks, he was plus nine, only played twenty
seven and I get it, Tim Hardaway hit a huge
three late in the game. But Derrek Jones Junior is
the guy that's been doing the best job guarding Shay and.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
Tim Hardaway.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
Tim Hardaway Junior made a critical mistake at the end
of the game on that little post entry to Luka
Doncic up on the right wing, so like, like I
just I didn't really understand that specific move there. I
get kind of the offense defense sub angle, but like
Derek Jones is, in my opinion, like someone that has
to be on the floor as much as possible when
you get into these situations. So tough to get a
(15:31):
real feel for this game at this series. Because here
this is I'll just put it this simply. Both of
these teams have so much room for improvement that I
really could see this series going either way. Like Dallas
is capable of playing so much better, Like Kyrie and
Luca combined for twenty seven points tonight, Like you bet
your ass they're due for a fifty five to sixty
(15:52):
point night between those two, right, And also Oklahoma City
is capable of much better offensive process, getting more more
advantage basketball type of possessions where guys are attacking closeouts
and it's just gonna be the simple. Whichever team snaps
out of it and starts playing more to their to
their advantages is going to win this series. No one's
(16:16):
playing well and it's two two, so like this is
there for the taking. Somebody's just got to rise from
the pack. Tonight Shae was the guy who rose. We'll
see what happens in Game five obviously will be their
live on YouTube after the final buzzer on Wednesday night.
(16:54):
The volume
The volume.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
The NBA playoffs are heating up, and so is the
action at DraftKings Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of
the NBA with same game parlays, live betting odds, boosts,
and so much more. Don't miss out as the NBA
postseason winds down, so lots of great odds for the
second round. If you still think the Nuggets are gonna
come back and beat the Timberwolves, you can get them
right now at plus one oh five. Thunder MAVs starts
(00:27):
here shortly, and if you like the MAVs to win
that series, you can get them at minus one oh five.
And if you're new to DraftKings, you gotta check this out.
New customers bet five bucks to get one hundred and
fifty in bonus bets. Instantly download the DraftKings Sportsbook app
now and use code hoops that's h oops, that's code
hoops for new customers to get one hundred and fifty
(00:49):
in bonus bets when you bet just five bucks only
on DraftKings. The Crown is yours gambling problem called one
eight hundred Gambler or in West Virginia, visit www dot
one eight hundred gambler dot net. In New York, call
eight seven seven eight hope and why, or text hope
and why to four six seven three six nine. In Connecticut,
(01:11):
help us available for problem gambling call eight eight eight
seven eight nine seven seven seven seven or visit CCPG
dot org. Please play responsibly on behalf of Boothill Casino
and Resort in Kansas twenty one plus age varies by jurisdiction.
Void in Ontario. Bonus bets expire one hundred and sixty
eight hours after issuance. See DKNG dot co slash bball
(01:36):
for eligibility and deposit restrictions, terms and responsible gaming resources.
(02:00):
All right, welcome to hoops to night here at the volume.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
Have you Monday? Everybody?
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Ohbal, You guys are having a great start to your week.
Got a jam pack show for you tonight. We're gonna
do a breakdown of that epic showdown between the Thunder
and the Mavericks. Really weird game, stuck in the mud,
but shake Gilles, Alexander makes a couple of big shots,
a couple of big kickout passes, case On Wallace and
chet holmg gonna hit some big threes and Oklahoma City
gets out of there with the win and we're two
to two, headed back to Oklahoma for Game five. We're
(02:26):
gonna be breaking that game down from the perspective of
both teams. And then at the end of the show
today I had mentioned I sent out a tweet with
a mail bag earlier today. We got a bunch of questions,
So I'm gonna go through probably a dozen or so
mail back questions at the tail end of the show.
You guys did the Joe before we get started. Subscribe
to Brandy YouTube channel so you don't miss any more
of our videos. Follow me on Twitter and underscore j
(02:47):
CNLT so you guys don't miss you announcement. Still, forget
about a podcast feed wherever you get your podcast under
Hoops tonight, and keep dropping mail back questions in those
YouTube comments. We keep hitting them throughout the rest of
the postseason. All right, let's talk some basketball. So this
was a bizarre game and what's been a pretty bizarre series.
Both teams are really really struggling to score. These are
two teams that have a plethora of perimeter speed and
(03:08):
outstanding perimeter defenders.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
Derek Jones Jr.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Has been probably the best veteran minimum signing in the
league this year. Just an outstanding perimeter defender that's doing
a good amount of damage in spot up situations and
in transition. On the other end of the floor, obviously PJ.
Washington's competing really well on that end, Josh Green's competing
really well on that end, Kyrie Irvings competing really well
on that end. Then you go to Oklahoma City, they
(03:31):
got a bunch of professional perimeter defenders like Lou Dort.
That's a guy that's going to be in this league
for a long time doing what he's doing to Luka Doncic.
In this series, same thing goes for case on Wallace.
Aaron Wiggins comes in the game and he brings perimeter defense.
Jalen Williams has done a really nice job as well.
And so all these guys are really struggling to get
their game off, and I really think it's coming down
to decision making in a lot of cases. We're going
(03:54):
to get into some of those details, but both teams
are really struggling to score. Both teams were below eighty
eight points per one hundred half court plays according to
Cleaning the Glass. According to Cleaning Glass, in this game,
these are two teams that were both over one hundred
points per one hundred half court plays during the regular
season for the series. Now through four games, Oklahoma City
(04:15):
is winning that battle rather convincingly. They're up ninety six
to eighty nine in terms of points per one hundred
half court plays. All four stars were struggling today. Kyrie
was having a poor shooting game. He was only four
for eleven, only scored nine points. JDub was five for nineteen.
Was really struggling with reading the floor, challenging rim protectors,
missing extra defenders that were coming over, a lot of
(04:37):
young basketball player stuff from Oklahoma City that they bought
through at the end of the day. But you could
see them struggling. With Luka Doncic was six for twenty.
He's just having a nightmare of a time dealing with
lou Dorort has him in the torture chamber right now.
Schaikyo just Alexander was really struggling up until about the
last fifteen minutes or so, and he was the one
guy who broke out, and that's really what determined this game.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
That said, as much as.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Shay broke out as a shot maker, I did think
that Luca and Kyrie were doing a much better job
hunting their teammates for spot up opportunities. This is an
interesting trend for Oklahoma City. A big part of how
they got going down the stretch of this game was
taking advantage of easy reads that are available when Dallas
is collapsing on them around the rim. And they've done
mostly a poor job in this series of making those
(05:24):
kickout raids, while even though Luca has struggled with missing
shots and with turnovers, he's making those kickout raads a lot.
Even though Kyrie hasn't been really scoring all that much,
he's been making those kickout raads. And again, like this
game was one hundred to ninety six and came down
to one, it was tied, It was tied late before
that last three that Chet Holmgren hit, So like this
(05:46):
game could have gone either way. And obviously the free
throws were a huge issue for Dallas in this game.
Oklahoma City was struggling with their decision making, like everyone
was really struggling, but Shay was the one guy that
broke out. And a lot of those little short textbook
step back jumpers going left and right that is in
(06:07):
that short range that I talk about, like long tues
out by like seventeen eighteen, nineteen feet, Those can dip
in percentage considerably.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
But Shay gets good separation.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
Around like you know, fifteen fourteen feet, and he gets
to these looks that are actually pretty high percentage, and
he was struggling to make them for the most part
in this series. But really he caught a little hot
streak at the right time there in the fourth quarter,
and then he finally made some good kickout reads. This
is something like again when you are how many times
did it seem like you saw a thunder player, whether
(06:37):
it was Shay or Chet or a guy driving a
close out like get into the lane and then try
to try to just throw their body into traffic with
all of the rim protection that Dallas has and force
something up and then get blocked. Dallas had thirteen blocks
in this game. I pulled up the numbers in the
first three games of the series. Oklahoma City shot just
(06:58):
sixty two percent and they're restricted it. They were sixty
nine percent in the restricted area in the regular season.
It's a substantial dip from where they're usually the AD
And so again I put in my notes, Oklahoma City
has the talent to win this series, they have more
offensive talent in my opinion, they have more off ball shooting,
more guys that are better at attacking closeouts.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
Obviously, PJ.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Washington and Derek Johnes Junior have capitalized on the fact
that Luca and Kyrie keep hunting them and they're making shots.
But Shae and Jalen Williams, they've got to do a
better job of making those kickout raids. And finally at
the end of that game, Shay started making those raids.
There was a strong side corner help from Luca for
the big one that Cheed Holmgren hit. Luca was helping
a lot off of Kason Wallace on that week side
(07:40):
down the stretch of that game, and they were missing
that raid. So there's a lot more opportunity there.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
In that third.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
Quarter, there were a lot of plays where like Shay
would collapse the defense and like make the right read,
but he'd throw like a kind of a janky pass
that either get get deflected or he'd lose his balance
and throw a bad pass. I did a video on
the on the Nuggets Timberwolve series today where I talked
about the importance of making the pass to the shooting pocket.
(08:06):
And the reason why it's very simple because these are
elite defenses with a ton of speed that are closing
out at you. And so like, again, if I'm starting
twenty feet away from you, or let's say fifteen feet
away from you, and I throw the pass at your feet,
I'm gonna close out well and I'm gonna be able
to chase you off of the line. But if someone
throws the pass directly into your shooting pocket, it's really
(08:29):
difficult for me to get out there in time. And
so like, honestly, like there's a lot of room for
improvement for Oklahoma City, which is what's kind of scary,
is like like they're missing a lot of reads. They're
not making good kickout passes. Jalen Williams is still like
really struggling to read the floor out there. Totally predictable
for a guy in just his second year playing NBA
basketball and his first time playing in the playoffs at
(08:52):
this level. Right, Shay, his first playoff run, is the
number one option on the playoff team, and you know,
there's just so much more room for improvement there for them.
But Shay finally did make some plays down the stretch
of this game. Some good kickout passes, some good short
mid range jumpers, and on the other end of the floor,
like lou Dort just continues to with his like just
(09:12):
overwhelming physicality. Just you can tell it's really starting to
rattle Luca. He's starting to He's complaining at the rest constantly,
he's constantly on the ground, he's constantly The big one
for Luca that's the surprise to me is the turnovers
and what he's doing is he's over penetrating and then
he's getting himself surrounded by bodies and he's throwing kickout
(09:34):
passes when he's being swarmed that are getting deflected or
going right to the next guy in the rotation that
are getting it and running out the other way. Like
Luca really needs to just calm the hell down and
just kind of kind of like what we were talking
about with Jamal Murray early in the in the Wolves series,
where it's like, hey, you've handled ball pressure before. Luca
has seen a good perimeter defender before, he has seen
(09:55):
physical ball pressure before, he has seen a guy that
he can't overpower physic before. He's capable of handling this
a lot better than he has. And I'm going to
say the exact same thing to Luca or about Luca
that I said about Jamal Murray. When it comes to
Jamal Murray, yeah, I get it, you got a calf injury, man,
but everyone in the playoffs is hurt.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
You better just find a way.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
And when I went and looked at the tape, it
really looked like Jamal just wasn't handling the ball pressure well,
even though I know he can handle it. Then he
goes into the two games in Minnesota, does a masterful
job of handling the ball pressure and everything comes together.
Luca's in that phase kind of where Jamal Murray was
in Game two, where he's getting super worked up and
he's super involved with the officials, and he is capable
(10:39):
of handling this a lot better than he is not.
Over penetrating better shot selection, playing and taking what the
defense is giving you. He's capable of turning this series around.
Both teams are capable of playing a lot better than
they have been. But I did think it was super
impressive that Shade broke out. It felt like his first
(11:02):
real kind of playoff moment, didn't It Obviously hit that
game winner against the Pelicans, but the Pelicans are the
worst team out of all the Western Conference teams that
got into the playoffs. Right, So, like, given the stakes,
given the situation, down to one on the road, you're
trailing in the second half. I think it went down
by thirteen fourteen points in the early portion of the
third quarter, if I remember correctly, Like they were really
(11:23):
in a tough spot, and they just kept chugging along
and they kept making plays and then Shaye hit a
level there in that fourth quarter run that was able
to carry his team home to the finish line. Again,
Oklahoma City does have the talent to win this series.
It's all going to be about being sharper with their
decision making. When you get into the lane and multiple
bodies converge on you, your percentages will dip. And again,
(11:45):
like it's all about shot value, right, You don't want
to just take threes if they're chasing you off the
three point line and they're not high quality threes. Yeah,
three points is worth more than two, but not if
it's contested, and not if it's a good shot. Same
thing goes for the rim. The rim is the highest
value shot in the NBA, but you're not if you're
shooting like fifty nine percent down there, right, or I
(12:06):
think of sixty two percent or whatever. I'll have to
pull the numbers from from this particular game. But they
shot thirty eight percent from the field in this game.
I would imagine after they got blocked thirteen times. I
would imagine after I go back and look at the tape,
or excuse me, look at the numbers when the when
the analytics update, I would venture to guess that they're
they're shooting percentage in the restricted area has dipped below
sixty percent.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
Now we're not talking about you know.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
One point three or one point four points per shot
down there. Now, we're talking about barely over a point
per shot, and that that's not the best value that's
available there on the floor. You have the talent, you
just have to make those kickout passes. Play advantage basketball again,
Like it's very simple. If you are playing one on
one against an elite perimeter defender, it's generally going to
(12:50):
be a pretty low percentage shot. If you're challenging athletics
seven footers at the rim, it's generally going to be
a low percentage shot. But if I give case on
Wallace or lou Dord or any of these guys a
defender closing out at them, it infinitely increases their or
dramatically increases their efficiency on those plays. And so that
(13:10):
to me is the encouraging part for Oklahoma City. You
played like shit most of this game, and you got
out of there with the win and tied the series.
Shout out to kase On Walla's a bunch of big
shots there down the stretch. Shout out to Chet Holmgren
as well. He was getting He was a victim of
a lot of that physicality as well. There's a swim
move that Derek Lively hit him with in the second
half where he just elbowed him right in the side
of the temple and just kept hanging around, kept making plays,
(13:33):
hit that big three, and then ice the game at
the foul line late on the Dallas front again. Luca
the shot, the shot selection. I understand why he's taking
those shots. He's trying to get his rhythm back.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
I get it.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
I think he can be a little bit better there.
The big one is the mistakes. I think Kyrie and
Luca are both doing a really good job of what
Oklahoma City's not doing, which is making those kickout passes
and generating closeout opportunities for their teammates which they are
taking advantage of. For Luca, it's the mistakes against Oklahoma City.
With how good they are in transition, turnovers are a
death sentence. That is the entire way their offense. I
(14:07):
shouldn't say the entire way. That is a significant significant
portion of their basketball identity, playing passing lanes, physical aggression
on the ball and in passing lanes, forcing turnovers, getting
out in transition and getting easy looks. Luca has to
cut down on his mistakes. And I know what every
Mavericks fan in the world is going to be saying,
Luca's knee is hurt. Yeah, you're right, everyone's hurt.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
Though.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
He's got to find a way to play right Blue
George's fouling them, Yeah, you're right. So is every elite
perimaterive veender in the league. In every series. Everyone's found
the hell out of everybody. Luca is not the only
primary ball handler out there who's getting hacked and slashed
on every single drive to the basket. It's happening to everybody.
He has to find a way to weather through that
and make them a bigger impact on this game. I
(14:47):
also thought Jason Kidd, it was interesting that he leans
so much on Tim Hardaway Junior late. Derek Jones Junior
is playing really well seventeen points in this game, he
had four blocks, he was plus nine, only played twenty
seven and I get it, Tim Hardaway hit a huge
three late in the game. But Derrek Jones Junior is
the guy that's been doing the best job guarding Shay and.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
Tim Hardaway.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
Tim Hardaway Junior made a critical mistake at the end
of the game on that little post entry to Luka
Doncic up on the right wing, so like, like I
just I didn't really understand that specific move there. I
get kind of the offense defense sub angle, but like
Derek Jones is, in my opinion, like someone that has
to be on the floor as much as possible when
you get into these situations. So tough to get a
(15:31):
real feel for this game at this series. Because here
this is I'll just put it this simply. Both of
these teams have so much room for improvement that I
really could see this series going either way. Like Dallas
is capable of playing so much better, Like Kyrie and
Luca combined for twenty seven points tonight, Like you bet
your ass they're due for a fifty five to sixty
(15:52):
point night between those two, right, And also Oklahoma City
is capable of much better offensive process, getting more more
advantage basketball type of possessions where guys are attacking closeouts
and it's just gonna be the simple. Whichever team snaps
out of it and starts playing more to their to
their advantages is going to win this series. No one's
(16:16):
playing well and it's two two, so like this is
there for the taking. Somebody's just got to rise from
the pack. Tonight Shae was the guy who rose. We'll
see what happens in Game five obviously will be their
live on YouTube after the final buzzer on Wednesday night.
(16:54):
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