The volume. No, Oh my god, how could he do that? By don't want what Charles Darwin, The nerves is where it's at.

The volume. No, Oh my god, how could he do that? By don't want what Charles Darwin, The nerves is where it's at.

Welcome everybody back into Nerd SESSH as always, I'm Carson Breburn. Alongside me is Logan Kandid and we are back baby live on YouTube again. As we said, we are gonna be doing this consistently throughout the playoffs, and this was another fun day of action. A couple of blowouts in there, but we ended the night on a real high note with that awesome just classic rock fight Pel's OKC game test who ultimately is just gonna grind this one out. We're gonna talk about that. Of course, we're gonna talk about all today's games, but we're gonna start Logan with what was like the premiere matchup on paper, that being MAVs Clippers, the series that a lot of people had been most excited for with the history there and just the caliber of these two teams. Kawhi Leonard out for this game with the right knee inflammation that kept him out down the home stretch of the regular season, and yet La gave Dallas a beat down anyways, and the star of the show Logan was your nemesis, James Harden. Do you have anything you would like to say to James at this time?

Welcome everybody back into Nerd SESSH as always, I'm Carson Breburn. Alongside me is Logan Kandid and we are back baby live on YouTube again. As we said, we are gonna be doing this consistently throughout the playoffs, and this was another fun day of action. A couple of blowouts in there, but we ended the night on a real high note with that awesome just classic rock fight Pel's OKC game test who ultimately is just gonna grind this one out. We're gonna talk about that. Of course, we're gonna talk about all today's games, but we're gonna start Logan with what was like the premiere matchup on paper, that being MAVs Clippers, the series that a lot of people had been most excited for with the history there and just the caliber of these two teams. Kawhi Leonard out for this game with the right knee inflammation that kept him out down the home stretch of the regular season, and yet La gave Dallas a beat down anyways, and the star of the show Logan was your nemesis, James Harden. Do you have anything you would like to say to James at this time?

I would like to issue heartfelt apology to a mister James Harden. I did, in fact, in the weeks leading up to the playoffs, I slandered you on many different podcasts, not just this one. I called him wash. That is verbatim. I called James Harden completely washed. I expected absolutely nothing from him in this series, and I predicted and anticipated Harden getting benched somewhat early in this series.

I would like to issue heartfelt apology to a mister James Harden. I did, in fact, in the weeks leading up to the playoffs, I slandered you on many different podcasts, not just this one. I called him wash. That is verbatim. I called James Harden completely washed. I expected absolutely nothing from him in this series, and I predicted and anticipated Harden getting benched somewhat early in this series.

So and I remember we were talking about, oh, what lineup configurations can the MAVs go with? So they have three strong point to attack defenders. You said, what do they need a third for? I don't care. You put on James Harden.

So and I remember we were talking about, oh, what lineup configurations can the MAVs go with? So they have three strong point to attack defenders. You said, what do they need a third for? I don't care. You put on James Harden.

I did, and you know what, man, he kind he kind of abused having that third matchup. You know, the role does make a lot of difference. Harden also just had a great game, and I think my criticism of James was deserved for the stretch he was on. I think I may have gotten a little over zealous with how far I took the line there. Harden was having an abysmal stretch of this season. I recited a lot of the numbers during our shows. He was shooting below thirty percent on catching shoot jumpers, he was hovering around thirty percent on wide open threes, on open threes, and he had been a real non factor in terms of, you know, shots outside of his jump shot, in terms of creating rim pressure, in terms of getting to his midrange looks. In this one, Harden just didn't miss, you know. He got to that step back three on a lot of guys and was hitting everything in the first half. I also think Harden just did a phenomenal job of setting his teammates up for success. And that's the real stretch to look at, man that first half where the Clippers just pull away, Mavericks really can't get anything going and Harden is draining everything. You know, I was disappointed in the Mavericks defensive effort. I thought they could have tried a little better. I was disappointed with that. So I think it'll be a little tougher on Harden. But he was the start of the show. We got in that early lead and the Clippers never really looked back. And he made me a big fat humble pie today, Carson. He made me long and hard in that first half. I don't think he's gonna do this every game, but there are things that are abundantly clear. James Harden is still skilled and talented enough to do this. In an individual game setting. He is still impactful on the game in terms of betting his teammates for easy looks. And you know, he may not be the most consistent player, but in this role he can thrive and he can succeed. Man, And if we get this version of James Harden the rest of the series, it is very, very encouraging for the Clippers in their playoff hopes this season. Carson, Again, this is like you mentioned, without Kawhi Leonard, the Clippers were twenty and five this season when Harden scored twenty or more points. They were eight and one when he scored more than twenty five. In a lot of ways, James Harden helps this team raise their baseline, but in a lot of ways, he's the cherry on top man. If he produces, the Clippers normally succeed. And this one without Kawhi Leonard, Man, you couldn't pick a better game for him to step up in a very big way. So hat off to you James, I apologize and I'm gonna walk back my comments a little bit man. That man is not in fact was he looks he looks very clean, man. He looks he looks real fresh too. So I apologize hard and you made need a big fat, humble pie today.

I did, and you know what, man, he kind he kind of abused having that third matchup. You know, the role does make a lot of difference. Harden also just had a great game, and I think my criticism of James was deserved for the stretch he was on. I think I may have gotten a little over zealous with how far I took the line there. Harden was having an abysmal stretch of this season. I recited a lot of the numbers during our shows. He was shooting below thirty percent on catching shoot jumpers, he was hovering around thirty percent on wide open threes, on open threes, and he had been a real non factor in terms of, you know, shots outside of his jump shot, in terms of creating rim pressure, in terms of getting to his midrange looks. In this one, Harden just didn't miss, you know. He got to that step back three on a lot of guys and was hitting everything in the first half. I also think Harden just did a phenomenal job of setting his teammates up for success. And that's the real stretch to look at, man that first half where the Clippers just pull away, Mavericks really can't get anything going and Harden is draining everything. You know, I was disappointed in the Mavericks defensive effort. I thought they could have tried a little better. I was disappointed with that. So I think it'll be a little tougher on Harden. But he was the start of the show. We got in that early lead and the Clippers never really looked back. And he made me a big fat humble pie today, Carson. He made me long and hard in that first half. I don't think he's gonna do this every game, but there are things that are abundantly clear. James Harden is still skilled and talented enough to do this. In an individual game setting. He is still impactful on the game in terms of betting his teammates for easy looks. And you know, he may not be the most consistent player, but in this role he can thrive and he can succeed. Man, And if we get this version of James Harden the rest of the series, it is very, very encouraging for the Clippers in their playoff hopes this season. Carson, Again, this is like you mentioned, without Kawhi Leonard, the Clippers were twenty and five this season when Harden scored twenty or more points. They were eight and one when he scored more than twenty five. In a lot of ways, James Harden helps this team raise their baseline, but in a lot of ways, he's the cherry on top man. If he produces, the Clippers normally succeed. And this one without Kawhi Leonard, Man, you couldn't pick a better game for him to step up in a very big way. So hat off to you James, I apologize and I'm gonna walk back my comments a little bit man. That man is not in fact was he looks he looks very clean, man. He looks he looks real fresh too. So I apologize hard and you made need a big fat, humble pie today.

Without Kawhi out there, he is not just the cherry on top. They need him to be the Sunday And he was like, he was awesome, And I was with you on a lot of the hard and criticism. Man, it was a super concerning level that he was playing at down the stretch, and we have seen some clear regression from him. We saw it in last year's playoff run. Even when he had these explosions, there was a level of volatility there because of his lack of quickness in rim pressure and then his struggles finishing around the room against bigger, longer athletes than met night tonight, he was not going to be the consistent offensive force that we're used to. But my feeling has always been as a third option, drawing the opposing team's third best perimeter defender, he's gonna cook, and even in this game, as like the number one option and one of only two stars out there on the floor when his pull up jumper is falling, which it usually is. He also just had a really bad shot making stretch at the end of the season, which I didn't expect to hold up. Then he's this awesome decision maker who can just kind of brutalize you in isolation and out of pick and roll with that pull up shooting, and that's what he did in this one. It was like a vintage step back clinic from him, and particularly he barbecued Luka Doncic, and that was kind of the theme early in this game in the first half, when he was really going the Clippers just exploiting Luca's defense. He was disastrous on that side of the ball, and so they ran several possessions in a row, these coffee screens for Harden, and they did it a couple times later in the game with whoever Luca was guarding at that point, Terrence Man, whoever they were trying to hide him on, basically, and they would switch that action and then Harden would just so easily get a step on Luca. And this is not anywhere close to peak quickness downhill James Harden, but he was getting by him with ease with no resistance, and then he would kick out and the Clippers spot up shooting was ridiculous in this game. Or Luca would play a little bit too far off because he's worried about getting beat off the bounce, and then Harden would just rain those pull up threes on him. So late in the game. Also, like they were legitimately matched up on each other, the Mavericks put Luca on Harden for a stretch and he just couldn't stay in front of him then. So the MAVs just had an awful, awful first half, mostly offensively, but the defense was an issue as well, and they were consistently put in rotation by the Clippers attacking Luka Doncic, involving him as much as possible, and ultimately they weren't sharp enough on those rotations. I thought they had some poor effort on closeouts throughout this game, but it was just a significant disadvantage that they were put at because of his inability to defend these star creators at the point of attack, and particularly James Harden. But everybody was bad in that first half for Dallas, Like it was as bad a half of basketball as you could possibly play. And considering how great this team was down the stretch, it was legitimately shocking. They were missing good looks around the rim. The spot up shooters were just clanging. Kyrie and Luca both were taking a lot of tough pull up jumpers and they were missing all of them. And then by the end of the half they just felt disengaged. It was like Luca didn't want to assert himself at all at that point, he had kind of just taken his foot off the gas. In those last few minutes of the second quarter, they felt totally deflated and you could see guys didn't want to take shots. There's one possession where I think it's Derek Jones Junior and Dante Exum like they have an advantage and they're basically playing compotato. Neither of them wants to take a good look from three. And I do think one of the things that we flagged is a concern logan with this MAVs offense is you have this unbelievable star shot creation and you have guys who theoretically can knock down shots around them, but your starting configuration features two pretty questionable spot up shooters like PJ. Washington will have his good stretches, he'll also have his bad stretches, and overall hasn't been very good there. Derek Jones Junior is even more of a question mark. And in this game, PJ goes two of seven from deep not good enough. Derek Jones Junior only zero of one. As I mentioned, didn't seem comfortable confident taking those shots, and so ultimately they just need to play the guys who will confidently step into those catch and shoot jumpers. PJ is always going to take them. Like pj's volume since he got to Dallas, he is like consistently consistently third on the team in shot attemps. He's willing to step up and take those looks, but he doesn't always make them. So the supporting cast didn't produce offensively. Defensively, they had some real issues and Luca was the biggest part of that. And Luca didn't play well in this game offensively either. I know that the stat line ends up looking pretty good because he's Luca and he can just kind of will himself to that, but he ends up with thirty three points, just six assists though eleven of twenty six shooting, and he only had eleven points in the first half, and they made their little mini runs in the second half, but like the game was pretty much over at that point. I thought Terrence Man did a very solid job on him in Kawhi's absence, but ultimately I thought it was mostly just an issue of shot selection. Like Man is able to pester him right, and he has some quickness, but Luca is just so much bigger and stronger that he should be able to consistently win that matchup if he is willing to assert himself physically and to not just say and they're sitting and drop as Zubats is hanging out in the paint, like I don't really want to go downhill. I'm just gonna see if I can make this mid range step back or this step back three And he didn't in this game. And there were too many spots where it felt like he had a guy in jail trapped on his back and pick and roll, and instead of getting to his floater, which he did very easily a couple times, he would still step back in that situation. It was a frustrating Luca game where you felt like he had an opportunity to get to his spots in and around the paint more consistently. He had an opportunity to bully guys in isolation more frequently, and there were spots where he did posted up the guards at a couple points in this game that led to good offense. Also, every time that they switched Zubots onto him, he scored. That was three possessions, two step back jumpers. He tends to take those step out looks against Zubots, but it's because he gets a lot of space because Zubats has to play off of him because he's worried about the drive. And then he got fouled one other time, so we had his good moments, Like, of course he's Luka Dacic, He's an absolute freak offensively, but this sort of inefficiency, this little playmaking impact, just like not creating that many great shots for his teammates and ultimately not pressuring the paint enough, that was not a good performance from Luca. He has that tendency to settle at times, and this year it's become more acceptable because he's been so ridiculously good on those step back threes. But when those shots aren't falling, it's like, dude, you're six eight, you're crazy strong. Your touch is unreal. You can make every pass. You play with such great pace that you're able to trap defenders consistently on your back, get into that painted area, create advantages for yourself actively and your team, and he didn't do that enough in this one. He'll dominate this series offensively when he buys in, but because of that underwhelming offensive performance and because of how bad he was defensively, I think everybody for Dallas except for Kyrie, was bad in this game, but Luca bears a good deal of responsibility. I think some people might see the stat line at the end of the day and say, oh, Luca and Kyrie doing everything, no surprise, And to some extent that's true. Like Luca still got his in the home stretch of this game, but it wasn't a good performance from him.

Without Kawhi out there, he is not just the cherry on top. They need him to be the Sunday And he was like, he was awesome, And I was with you on a lot of the hard and criticism. Man, it was a super concerning level that he was playing at down the stretch, and we have seen some clear regression from him. We saw it in last year's playoff run. Even when he had these explosions, there was a level of volatility there because of his lack of quickness in rim pressure and then his struggles finishing around the room against bigger, longer athletes than met night tonight, he was not going to be the consistent offensive force that we're used to. But my feeling has always been as a third option, drawing the opposing team's third best perimeter defender, he's gonna cook, and even in this game, as like the number one option and one of only two stars out there on the floor when his pull up jumper is falling, which it usually is. He also just had a really bad shot making stretch at the end of the season, which I didn't expect to hold up. Then he's this awesome decision maker who can just kind of brutalize you in isolation and out of pick and roll with that pull up shooting, and that's what he did in this one. It was like a vintage step back clinic from him, and particularly he barbecued Luka Doncic, and that was kind of the theme early in this game in the first half, when he was really going the Clippers just exploiting Luca's defense. He was disastrous on that side of the ball, and so they ran several possessions in a row, these coffee screens for Harden, and they did it a couple times later in the game with whoever Luca was guarding at that point, Terrence Man, whoever they were trying to hide him on, basically, and they would switch that action and then Harden would just so easily get a step on Luca. And this is not anywhere close to peak quickness downhill James Harden, but he was getting by him with ease with no resistance, and then he would kick out and the Clippers spot up shooting was ridiculous in this game. Or Luca would play a little bit too far off because he's worried about getting beat off the bounce, and then Harden would just rain those pull up threes on him. So late in the game. Also, like they were legitimately matched up on each other, the Mavericks put Luca on Harden for a stretch and he just couldn't stay in front of him then. So the MAVs just had an awful, awful first half, mostly offensively, but the defense was an issue as well, and they were consistently put in rotation by the Clippers attacking Luka Doncic, involving him as much as possible, and ultimately they weren't sharp enough on those rotations. I thought they had some poor effort on closeouts throughout this game, but it was just a significant disadvantage that they were put at because of his inability to defend these star creators at the point of attack, and particularly James Harden. But everybody was bad in that first half for Dallas, Like it was as bad a half of basketball as you could possibly play. And considering how great this team was down the stretch, it was legitimately shocking. They were missing good looks around the rim. The spot up shooters were just clanging. Kyrie and Luca both were taking a lot of tough pull up jumpers and they were missing all of them. And then by the end of the half they just felt disengaged. It was like Luca didn't want to assert himself at all at that point, he had kind of just taken his foot off the gas. In those last few minutes of the second quarter, they felt totally deflated and you could see guys didn't want to take shots. There's one possession where I think it's Derek Jones Junior and Dante Exum like they have an advantage and they're basically playing compotato. Neither of them wants to take a good look from three. And I do think one of the things that we flagged is a concern logan with this MAVs offense is you have this unbelievable star shot creation and you have guys who theoretically can knock down shots around them, but your starting configuration features two pretty questionable spot up shooters like PJ. Washington will have his good stretches, he'll also have his bad stretches, and overall hasn't been very good there. Derek Jones Junior is even more of a question mark. And in this game, PJ goes two of seven from deep not good enough. Derek Jones Junior only zero of one. As I mentioned, didn't seem comfortable confident taking those shots, and so ultimately they just need to play the guys who will confidently step into those catch and shoot jumpers. PJ is always going to take them. Like pj's volume since he got to Dallas, he is like consistently consistently third on the team in shot attemps. He's willing to step up and take those looks, but he doesn't always make them. So the supporting cast didn't produce offensively. Defensively, they had some real issues and Luca was the biggest part of that. And Luca didn't play well in this game offensively either. I know that the stat line ends up looking pretty good because he's Luca and he can just kind of will himself to that, but he ends up with thirty three points, just six assists though eleven of twenty six shooting, and he only had eleven points in the first half, and they made their little mini runs in the second half, but like the game was pretty much over at that point. I thought Terrence Man did a very solid job on him in Kawhi's absence, but ultimately I thought it was mostly just an issue of shot selection. Like Man is able to pester him right, and he has some quickness, but Luca is just so much bigger and stronger that he should be able to consistently win that matchup if he is willing to assert himself physically and to not just say and they're sitting and drop as Zubats is hanging out in the paint, like I don't really want to go downhill. I'm just gonna see if I can make this mid range step back or this step back three And he didn't in this game. And there were too many spots where it felt like he had a guy in jail trapped on his back and pick and roll, and instead of getting to his floater, which he did very easily a couple times, he would still step back in that situation. It was a frustrating Luca game where you felt like he had an opportunity to get to his spots in and around the paint more consistently. He had an opportunity to bully guys in isolation more frequently, and there were spots where he did posted up the guards at a couple points in this game that led to good offense. Also, every time that they switched Zubots onto him, he scored. That was three possessions, two step back jumpers. He tends to take those step out looks against Zubots, but it's because he gets a lot of space because Zubats has to play off of him because he's worried about the drive. And then he got fouled one other time, so we had his good moments, Like, of course he's Luka Dacic, He's an absolute freak offensively, but this sort of inefficiency, this little playmaking impact, just like not creating that many great shots for his teammates and ultimately not pressuring the paint enough, that was not a good performance from Luca. He has that tendency to settle at times, and this year it's become more acceptable because he's been so ridiculously good on those step back threes. But when those shots aren't falling, it's like, dude, you're six eight, you're crazy strong. Your touch is unreal. You can make every pass. You play with such great pace that you're able to trap defenders consistently on your back, get into that painted area, create advantages for yourself actively and your team, and he didn't do that enough in this one. He'll dominate this series offensively when he buys in, but because of that underwhelming offensive performance and because of how bad he was defensively, I think everybody for Dallas except for Kyrie, was bad in this game, but Luca bears a good deal of responsibility. I think some people might see the stat line at the end of the day and say, oh, Luca and Kyrie doing everything, no surprise, And to some extent that's true. Like Luca still got his in the home stretch of this game, but it wasn't a good performance from him.

I mean, to me, the second half really doesn't even matter when you're really evaluating this, because the game was over at the end of the first half. Like the time for Luca to exert himself was in that second quarter stretch. Luca was settling for a ton of pull up jumpers. He was really passive, and that's something that I had an issue with, was he was generating really good looks for PJ. Washington and Derek Jones Junior, these non shooters. But at a point when these guys are clearly not wanting to shoot the ball and clearly missing everything, that's just a spot where I need Luka or Kyrie to consciously go, hey, I got to take this game over. I got to get to my spots. I got to do my thing. And this was one of the worst halves in quarters for the Mavericks this season. They score eight total points in the second quarter, they go two of twenty. They don't crack thirty total points until one minute left in the second quarter, And like, like you said, credit to the Mavericks and for Kyrie for cutting the lead to twelve, But I just thought that I thought there were a lot of different things that the MAVs could have done offensively to generate a higher shot quality one, like you mentioned, just involving zubats and actions. I thought they didn't run nearly enough high pick and roll. And I know they ran a lot, obviously it's a you know, heavy bait Dallas's offense, but I just mean higher like logo screens with Livelyader Gafford or whoever has Zoo on them and just getting him involved up high. I didn't think there was nearly enough of that at the beginning of this game. And then, like you said, dude, if PJ. Washington and Derek Jones Junior aren't going to be hitting their shots, give me Josh Green, give me Dante Xim, give me Tim Hardaway Junior. Like the Clippers sold out on Luca. They made it really evident in this game that when those lineup configurations are out there like that, they are going to send way more attention to Luca and try to make these non shooters kill them. But you just got to try something else, man. If the Mavericks can't be this offensively limited, if they want to win this series, man, just they have to get more out of their spot up guys, because LUKEA and Kyrie are going to command that kind of attention every single game. And then on the flip of this, Carson, I just think, I think a Viza Zubots is kind of just a nightmare matchup problem for Dallas. I think he calls. I think he causes a lot of issues for Dallas. We'll get into the Clipper side of the thing. I'll wrap up the Mavericks, though, point blank period. They got to shoot better Dallas. Carson is five and nine when they make ten or fewer threes, you know, three point shooting and being prolific from behind the arc. He's just a basis of this Dallas offense. And they go ten of thirty three in this game. As you mentioned, Derek Jones, Jutni or PJ shoot horribly. And I don't want people to look at this as a Luca game and go this was good because he ends up with thirty three points, thirteen boards, and six assists. In the first half. He dropped eleven points on four to thirteen shooting and one of seven from deep. His defensive effort, Carson, you touched on it was horrible. I was so disappointed they were picking on him that one possession with Harden. Dude, Lucas signed is standing like laterally to him. He's just giving him the lane and Harden pushes him all the way to the paint until he stops and hits a floater. And not only was I disappointed with his defensive effort too, I thought Luca's conditioning was really bad. Man. I didn't think he looked like he was in like game shape, like ready to go. It looked like these first two quarters really ate him alive. The good news for Dallas is, I don't know if you agree with me. I don't really think he can get much worse. This was a rock bottom performance from Dallas at least a hope. Man, this was really bad. And so if they're gonna do this, I'm glad that they got it out of the out of the way in game one and can move on. But yeah, they can't come out with this kind of effort. And I also just thought, man, the Clippers came out with a really good game plan. I thought Tyleru had the clips ready to play, ready to go. They had a great game plan. A great way of it was deliberate. They had a deliberate way that they were going to attack Dallas, and I thought they came out the gates doing that. Man, Dallas looked underprepared and just underperform. Man, I think this is the worst Dallas is gonna look all series long.

I mean, to me, the second half really doesn't even matter when you're really evaluating this, because the game was over at the end of the first half. Like the time for Luca to exert himself was in that second quarter stretch. Luca was settling for a ton of pull up jumpers. He was really passive, and that's something that I had an issue with, was he was generating really good looks for PJ. Washington and Derek Jones Junior, these non shooters. But at a point when these guys are clearly not wanting to shoot the ball and clearly missing everything, that's just a spot where I need Luka or Kyrie to consciously go, hey, I got to take this game over. I got to get to my spots. I got to do my thing. And this was one of the worst halves in quarters for the Mavericks this season. They score eight total points in the second quarter, they go two of twenty. They don't crack thirty total points until one minute left in the second quarter, And like, like you said, credit to the Mavericks and for Kyrie for cutting the lead to twelve, But I just thought that I thought there were a lot of different things that the MAVs could have done offensively to generate a higher shot quality one, like you mentioned, just involving zubats and actions. I thought they didn't run nearly enough high pick and roll. And I know they ran a lot, obviously it's a you know, heavy bait Dallas's offense, but I just mean higher like logo screens with Livelyader Gafford or whoever has Zoo on them and just getting him involved up high. I didn't think there was nearly enough of that at the beginning of this game. And then, like you said, dude, if PJ. Washington and Derek Jones Junior aren't going to be hitting their shots, give me Josh Green, give me Dante Xim, give me Tim Hardaway Junior. Like the Clippers sold out on Luca. They made it really evident in this game that when those lineup configurations are out there like that, they are going to send way more attention to Luca and try to make these non shooters kill them. But you just got to try something else, man. If the Mavericks can't be this offensively limited, if they want to win this series, man, just they have to get more out of their spot up guys, because LUKEA and Kyrie are going to command that kind of attention every single game. And then on the flip of this, Carson, I just think, I think a Viza Zubots is kind of just a nightmare matchup problem for Dallas. I think he calls. I think he causes a lot of issues for Dallas. We'll get into the Clipper side of the thing. I'll wrap up the Mavericks, though, point blank period. They got to shoot better Dallas. Carson is five and nine when they make ten or fewer threes, you know, three point shooting and being prolific from behind the arc. He's just a basis of this Dallas offense. And they go ten of thirty three in this game. As you mentioned, Derek Jones, Jutni or PJ shoot horribly. And I don't want people to look at this as a Luca game and go this was good because he ends up with thirty three points, thirteen boards, and six assists. In the first half. He dropped eleven points on four to thirteen shooting and one of seven from deep. His defensive effort, Carson, you touched on it was horrible. I was so disappointed they were picking on him that one possession with Harden. Dude, Lucas signed is standing like laterally to him. He's just giving him the lane and Harden pushes him all the way to the paint until he stops and hits a floater. And not only was I disappointed with his defensive effort too, I thought Luca's conditioning was really bad. Man. I didn't think he looked like he was in like game shape, like ready to go. It looked like these first two quarters really ate him alive. The good news for Dallas is, I don't know if you agree with me. I don't really think he can get much worse. This was a rock bottom performance from Dallas at least a hope. Man, this was really bad. And so if they're gonna do this, I'm glad that they got it out of the out of the way in game one and can move on. But yeah, they can't come out with this kind of effort. And I also just thought, man, the Clippers came out with a really good game plan. I thought Tyleru had the clips ready to play, ready to go. They had a great game plan. A great way of it was deliberate. They had a deliberate way that they were going to attack Dallas, and I thought they came out the gates doing that. Man, Dallas looked underprepared and just underperform. Man, I think this is the worst Dallas is gonna look all series long.

If it's not bro then I don't know what the hell could happen? Literally, how could they look worse? Kawhi wasn't on the floor and they were down. What was it twenty six at the half?

If it's not bro then I don't know what the hell could happen? Literally, how could they look worse? Kawhi wasn't on the floor and they were down. What was it twenty six at the half?

Like that was? It was like thirty.

Like that was? It was like thirty.

Man, it was humiliating half of basketball, and there's no way to come back from that. The Luca is a good defender narratives, Man, can we put that one to bed? Can we please please put that one to bed? Because it's just so absurd and you see it in this game. He is so clearly the weak point on this Dallas defense and just was relentlessly targeted.

Man, it was humiliating half of basketball, and there's no way to come back from that. The Luca is a good defender narratives, Man, can we put that one to bed? Can we please please put that one to bed? Because it's just so absurd and you see it in this game. He is so clearly the weak point on this Dallas defense and just was relentlessly targeted.

Well not even like physically, man, It really like it's an effort thing too, Dude, Luca wasn't trying, like.

Well not even like physically, man, It really like it's an effort thing too, Dude, Luca wasn't trying, like.

Yeah, it's an effort thing. And I thought also off ball, like there's a couple spots where it's like, Luca, you got to rotate over and get a hand up, man. But that lack of foot speed is also a real issue, and I thought that that was pretty consistently exploited in this game. The other good news for the MAVs, which I think is better news, is that they do have options to tinker with. And I thought as this game went along and they could sort of see, Okay, this lie clearly is not working right now, Zubots is going through Daniel Gaffer, Derek Jones Junior won't shoot the ball like they were able to try some different options, and I thought the Kleba minutes were a positive. They actually were plus six with him on the floor, and he played a lot as this game went along, And obviously this game didn't meet all that much after the first half, but he embraced the physicality of that matchup with Zoo in a positive way. He attacked the offensive class, he made some nice simple reads as a passer, and then he wasn't knocking down as spot up jumpers in this game, but he does bring that dimension to floor spacing, and I really want to see more Josh Green in this series. I just think he brings like the most complete combination that you could want from a role player to meet PJ kind of has to play because he's just the best perimeter defender and he does have the athletic tools to have an impact offensively when his shot is following that not a lot of guys here can replicate, and that size is really important. But when you're looking at like the Derek Jones Junior x some kind of minutes, I think Exam has been really good this year because he's knocking down his spot up jumpers and defending well. But Josh Green when he came into this game just like brought that infusion of athleticism and energy that if he had been out there earlier maybe could have made a difference. He had three stocks in nine minutes he was attacking in transition and on top of that athleticism in that defensive playmaking, he's a very solid decision maker, like quality passer offensively, and he shot the ball really well this year. So I would like to see him probably more than Derek Jones junior. Derek Jones Junior, I would say is a better on ballpoint of attack defender, but just more offensively limited Sometimes Josh Green it's like a little out of control offensively, But I just think he brings more positive traits to the table, and the MAVs like have a solid depth of options that they can explore there. So that is the good news in terms of room for improvement, and Luca will absolutely play better. The bad news, of course, is the Clippers dominated this game without Kawhi Leonard, and we've talked James Harden rule in that you mentioned Zoo Bots beyond Dallas just struggling, so significantly. What were some of the other keys to La dominating this game.

Yeah, it's an effort thing. And I thought also off ball, like there's a couple spots where it's like, Luca, you got to rotate over and get a hand up, man. But that lack of foot speed is also a real issue, and I thought that that was pretty consistently exploited in this game. The other good news for the MAVs, which I think is better news, is that they do have options to tinker with. And I thought as this game went along and they could sort of see, Okay, this lie clearly is not working right now, Zubots is going through Daniel Gaffer, Derek Jones Junior won't shoot the ball like they were able to try some different options, and I thought the Kleba minutes were a positive. They actually were plus six with him on the floor, and he played a lot as this game went along, And obviously this game didn't meet all that much after the first half, but he embraced the physicality of that matchup with Zoo in a positive way. He attacked the offensive class, he made some nice simple reads as a passer, and then he wasn't knocking down as spot up jumpers in this game, but he does bring that dimension to floor spacing, and I really want to see more Josh Green in this series. I just think he brings like the most complete combination that you could want from a role player to meet PJ kind of has to play because he's just the best perimeter defender and he does have the athletic tools to have an impact offensively when his shot is following that not a lot of guys here can replicate, and that size is really important. But when you're looking at like the Derek Jones Junior x some kind of minutes, I think Exam has been really good this year because he's knocking down his spot up jumpers and defending well. But Josh Green when he came into this game just like brought that infusion of athleticism and energy that if he had been out there earlier maybe could have made a difference. He had three stocks in nine minutes he was attacking in transition and on top of that athleticism in that defensive playmaking, he's a very solid decision maker, like quality passer offensively, and he shot the ball really well this year. So I would like to see him probably more than Derek Jones junior. Derek Jones Junior, I would say is a better on ballpoint of attack defender, but just more offensively limited Sometimes Josh Green it's like a little out of control offensively, But I just think he brings more positive traits to the table, and the MAVs like have a solid depth of options that they can explore there. So that is the good news in terms of room for improvement, and Luca will absolutely play better. The bad news, of course, is the Clippers dominated this game without Kawhi Leonard, and we've talked James Harden rule in that you mentioned Zoo Bots beyond Dallas just struggling, so significantly. What were some of the other keys to La dominating this game.

Yeah, I mentioned Zoo. Uh. I think he just poses such a problem for Dallas. Like defensively, I don't know what they really do to slow him down. He's so big. I mean, I just throw it to him on the low block and like let him go to work. They set him up for a lot of easy shots like that one where Russ was coming down and Transition laid it off to him. He's just so big, like that shot is just almost unaffectable at times where even guys like Lively and Gafford really can't touch him. I mean, and he can dominate the glass in those minutes too. I wonder if Dallas should maybe explore some options they're talking about maybe taking Derrick Jones junior out. I do think they need more offensive creation in terms of guys who can attack closeouts and hit shots in the mid range and just just do more with the ball in their hands. But I wonder maybe if Dallas should tinker with a like Kleeba and Gafford or Cleba and Lively kind of look when they go like really big.

Yeah, I mentioned Zoo. Uh. I think he just poses such a problem for Dallas. Like defensively, I don't know what they really do to slow him down. He's so big. I mean, I just throw it to him on the low block and like let him go to work. They set him up for a lot of easy shots like that one where Russ was coming down and Transition laid it off to him. He's just so big, like that shot is just almost unaffectable at times where even guys like Lively and Gafford really can't touch him. I mean, and he can dominate the glass in those minutes too. I wonder if Dallas should maybe explore some options they're talking about maybe taking Derrick Jones junior out. I do think they need more offensive creation in terms of guys who can attack closeouts and hit shots in the mid range and just just do more with the ball in their hands. But I wonder maybe if Dallas should tinker with a like Kleeba and Gafford or Cleba and Lively kind of look when they go like really big.

We saw a little bit of that tonight. But yeah, I agree that's something to try at least.

We saw a little bit of that tonight. But yeah, I agree that's something to try at least.

I think Zoo is just a matchup problem where every and that's why I really think it's important that La gets him involved more when they're on or excuse me, Dallas gets him more involved in the pick and roll when they're on offense, tire him out, attack him on defense where he's at his weakest because he's just a mismatch man. That guy is so physical and so big that it's just he's just hard to mess with. And then I thought this was a great game from a lot of Clippers role players. I want to give a big shout out to Russell Westbrook. You talk about infusion of athleticism and energy off the bench. I've been critical of russ Man and I've been skeptical, but you talked about the difference in role this season for James harden Carts and how he's the third guy again, his role is different because Kawhi is out in this game. I think the same thing with Russell Westbrook. Man. I just think the Clippers is it's a really good environment for both of these guys and their new roles. You're not gonna be superstar forever, you know, it's we'd like to think so that not everybody can be Lebron and just be at their apex for twenty years, you know what I mean. We've been spoiled with a guy like that, and it makes you lose sight sometimes that we can and I'd really think that off the bench as an energy guy, as a tempo setter, like when Russ came into the game, Man, he's got some big time dunks that just fire the crowd up or you know, the road fans. At least he just infused energy. He got out on the break a couple of times. He was crashing the glass hard, just playing hard. Man. This is a really good role in environment for Russ. A mere coffee. I thought gave the Clippers really good minutes and played really good defense tonight. The Clippers, Like I said, man about TYLERU, Like, the Clippers just seemed really really prepared for this game. They had a really good strategy on offense and what they were gonna do. They were just ready and that was a dynamic that I don't think I honed in on enough in the series preview. Is I do think the Mavericks are a better team, and I think we're going to get a better outlook. The Clippers have a ton of playoff experience and just you know, knowledge of how to act and composure for the big moments. Man. It's a lot of guys in Dallas like pj or Josh Green or Dante exe. Man. You know, this is their first real look at you know, actual playoff ball and competitive moments. And I think the Clippers have that advantage too. So the Clippers are really prepared, Man, And I thought a lot of their death pieces played well, but specifically, I think Zoo poses a problem the rest of this series. And I think Russ guys like Russ Coffee, Norm Powell, Terrence Man, I think they all have their the ways that they can really impact this game. Man, the Clippers, I think I underestimated him a little bit coming in, Man, and especially the fact that you didn't eat Kawhi for this game is all the more encouraging.

I think Zoo is just a matchup problem where every and that's why I really think it's important that La gets him involved more when they're on or excuse me, Dallas gets him more involved in the pick and roll when they're on offense, tire him out, attack him on defense where he's at his weakest because he's just a mismatch man. That guy is so physical and so big that it's just he's just hard to mess with. And then I thought this was a great game from a lot of Clippers role players. I want to give a big shout out to Russell Westbrook. You talk about infusion of athleticism and energy off the bench. I've been critical of russ Man and I've been skeptical, but you talked about the difference in role this season for James harden Carts and how he's the third guy again, his role is different because Kawhi is out in this game. I think the same thing with Russell Westbrook. Man. I just think the Clippers is it's a really good environment for both of these guys and their new roles. You're not gonna be superstar forever, you know, it's we'd like to think so that not everybody can be Lebron and just be at their apex for twenty years, you know what I mean. We've been spoiled with a guy like that, and it makes you lose sight sometimes that we can and I'd really think that off the bench as an energy guy, as a tempo setter, like when Russ came into the game, Man, he's got some big time dunks that just fire the crowd up or you know, the road fans. At least he just infused energy. He got out on the break a couple of times. He was crashing the glass hard, just playing hard. Man. This is a really good role in environment for Russ. A mere coffee. I thought gave the Clippers really good minutes and played really good defense tonight. The Clippers, Like I said, man about TYLERU, Like, the Clippers just seemed really really prepared for this game. They had a really good strategy on offense and what they were gonna do. They were just ready and that was a dynamic that I don't think I honed in on enough in the series preview. Is I do think the Mavericks are a better team, and I think we're going to get a better outlook. The Clippers have a ton of playoff experience and just you know, knowledge of how to act and composure for the big moments. Man. It's a lot of guys in Dallas like pj or Josh Green or Dante exe. Man. You know, this is their first real look at you know, actual playoff ball and competitive moments. And I think the Clippers have that advantage too. So the Clippers are really prepared, Man, And I thought a lot of their death pieces played well, but specifically, I think Zoo poses a problem the rest of this series. And I think Russ guys like Russ Coffee, Norm Powell, Terrence Man, I think they all have their the ways that they can really impact this game. Man, the Clippers, I think I underestimated him a little bit coming in, Man, and especially the fact that you didn't eat Kawhi for this game is all the more encouraging.

It was a great performance from La and that was the challenge about their struggles down the stretch, hard and really having a rough end of the regular season. Letting the rope go defensively, although I think that was pretty clearly an effort issue for an aging team that had secured at least a top four seat at that point, but the Kawhi healthing also being another red flag. We saw how high the ceiling for this team was, and there's a reason that for a significant stretch of the regular season they were the number two team out West in my eyes and I think in most people's eyes, and to do this without Kawhi is super impressive. The collective shooting, of course, was super important, Like this is just a great shooting team up and down, and you really saw the value of that when they got the MAVs in rotation, they were just knocking down those open, catch and shoot threes. Did an awesome job there. Harden was nails as a pull up shooter PG. His shot making is just so special. I mean, he had that stretch in the third quarter where he's just raining three threes on you in a matter of a few possessions and he just kind of got a shrug and be like, what can you really do? One of them was a pretty open spot up look, but he is just a so smooth man, such a beautifully skilled perimeter shot maker. But Zoo is a problem here, and this is it's something that we discussed in our series preview if the MAVs could force this into a small ball series, and their small ball ultimately isn't that small Because you have Klebet the five, who's like a big, physical six to ten guy, you have PJ in the front court. That would be advantageous for them. But the problem is when you get those looks like Zoo is just one of the best mismatch attacking bigs in the league, and I don't think he gets enough credit for that. He's a ninety second percentile post score and not only is he absolutely massive in terms of height and then also super strong and physical. He is the best touch shot maker in terms of bigs not named Miko Yolkic, and it's really not close. I think he actually shot like sixty six percent in the paint outside the restricted area this year, which is even better than Yolkach. I mean, he throws up those hooks and touch shots and like you just know that they're gonna go win a significant majority of the time. And Gafford looked absolutely shell shot, dude, Like, I love that approach from Tay to immediately feeds Zubots attack what you don't think of as like a glaring mismatch, but Gafford's conceding a few inches and if he's not gonna be physical enough, then those are just gonna be easy points for Zobots. So that was obviously a problem early in this game. And then consistently he really effectively attacked the glass, and he did do a nice job of finishing as a cutter and a roller with that special touch of his. I do think they played him better with Lively, who even though he's not as strong, he's not as stoutly built as Gafford, He's so much taller and longer that it felt like he actually fared better and he just looked more like prepared for that matchup. And then I also thought Kleiba again, like there's one possession where Zoo ends up scoring on a post up against Kliba, but at least he like has to grind him with the back down. It was much more physical resistance than Gafford, who just it looked like he was shooting layups over him. But Zu is tough to match up with in this series, and he's just a good basketball player, and defensively also like has his impact as a rim protector and a deterrent down there and a rebounder. He's really really good and I want to give him as flowers for this game. But you also mentioned just the preparation difference, like Tylu is just so much better as a coach than Jason Kidd, and I felt like we saw that in this game. You mentioned like the early game priorities, right feeding Zoo, attacking Luca whenever they could, forcing those switches with the guard on guard screens, but also like every ato in this game, dude was beautiful from the Clippers. They were just drawing up free buckets, and it felt like the difference in coaching caliber really mattered in this game that I maybe didn't expect it to in this series.

It was a great performance from La and that was the challenge about their struggles down the stretch, hard and really having a rough end of the regular season. Letting the rope go defensively, although I think that was pretty clearly an effort issue for an aging team that had secured at least a top four seat at that point, but the Kawhi healthing also being another red flag. We saw how high the ceiling for this team was, and there's a reason that for a significant stretch of the regular season they were the number two team out West in my eyes and I think in most people's eyes, and to do this without Kawhi is super impressive. The collective shooting, of course, was super important, Like this is just a great shooting team up and down, and you really saw the value of that when they got the MAVs in rotation, they were just knocking down those open, catch and shoot threes. Did an awesome job there. Harden was nails as a pull up shooter PG. His shot making is just so special. I mean, he had that stretch in the third quarter where he's just raining three threes on you in a matter of a few possessions and he just kind of got a shrug and be like, what can you really do? One of them was a pretty open spot up look, but he is just a so smooth man, such a beautifully skilled perimeter shot maker. But Zoo is a problem here, and this is it's something that we discussed in our series preview if the MAVs could force this into a small ball series, and their small ball ultimately isn't that small Because you have Klebet the five, who's like a big, physical six to ten guy, you have PJ in the front court. That would be advantageous for them. But the problem is when you get those looks like Zoo is just one of the best mismatch attacking bigs in the league, and I don't think he gets enough credit for that. He's a ninety second percentile post score and not only is he absolutely massive in terms of height and then also super strong and physical. He is the best touch shot maker in terms of bigs not named Miko Yolkic, and it's really not close. I think he actually shot like sixty six percent in the paint outside the restricted area this year, which is even better than Yolkach. I mean, he throws up those hooks and touch shots and like you just know that they're gonna go win a significant majority of the time. And Gafford looked absolutely shell shot, dude, Like, I love that approach from Tay to immediately feeds Zubots attack what you don't think of as like a glaring mismatch, but Gafford's conceding a few inches and if he's not gonna be physical enough, then those are just gonna be easy points for Zobots. So that was obviously a problem early in this game. And then consistently he really effectively attacked the glass, and he did do a nice job of finishing as a cutter and a roller with that special touch of his. I do think they played him better with Lively, who even though he's not as strong, he's not as stoutly built as Gafford, He's so much taller and longer that it felt like he actually fared better and he just looked more like prepared for that matchup. And then I also thought Kleiba again, like there's one possession where Zoo ends up scoring on a post up against Kliba, but at least he like has to grind him with the back down. It was much more physical resistance than Gafford, who just it looked like he was shooting layups over him. But Zu is tough to match up with in this series, and he's just a good basketball player, and defensively also like has his impact as a rim protector and a deterrent down there and a rebounder. He's really really good and I want to give him as flowers for this game. But you also mentioned just the preparation difference, like Tylu is just so much better as a coach than Jason Kidd, and I felt like we saw that in this game. You mentioned like the early game priorities, right feeding Zoo, attacking Luca whenever they could, forcing those switches with the guard on guard screens, but also like every ato in this game, dude was beautiful from the Clippers. They were just drawing up free buckets, and it felt like the difference in coaching caliber really mattered in this game that I maybe didn't expect it to in this series.

Coaching caliber, and then I just think overall offensive skill, I think I underestimated how many guys the Clippers can just go deep to that have bucket getting abilities. Man. I mean from Terrence Man to Norm Powell to Rust to Harden to PG. You know, there's a real difference there. But preparedness I think was huge. Just the MAVs didn't have like a go to, you know, action, They didn't have something they could just reliably get to. And I thought Luca generated a lot of high quality shots. Again, I thought he should have changed his approach after he saw how much his teammates were clanging the rim. But he was generating good looks immediately. But it's like again the Dallas. Dallas wasn't deliberate in trying to to do something the Clippers. You know, you could tell there was an intent every time down MAVs.

Coaching caliber, and then I just think overall offensive skill, I think I underestimated how many guys the Clippers can just go deep to that have bucket getting abilities. Man. I mean from Terrence Man to Norm Powell to Rust to Harden to PG. You know, there's a real difference there. But preparedness I think was huge. Just the MAVs didn't have like a go to, you know, action, They didn't have something they could just reliably get to. And I thought Luca generated a lot of high quality shots. Again, I thought he should have changed his approach after he saw how much his teammates were clanging the rim. But he was generating good looks immediately. But it's like again the Dallas. Dallas wasn't deliberate in trying to to do something the Clippers. You know, you could tell there was an intent every time down MAVs.

It's like Luca pick and roll, Kyrie secnroll.

It's like Luca pick and roll, Kyrie secnroll.

Yeah, yeah, it was a Luca, let's figure Luca figure it out, you know, and there's a there's a flow. There was a you know, like even when a mere coffee's touching the rocket's like, man, you know, a mirror looks confident. Loo's like he knows what he's doing, you know. And with Dallas, it's a it's just a different dynamic. And so I don't mean to just point the finger adjacent, kidd, but I really think that is the guy that I look at and I go, man, man, he got out schemed, he got out outworked a little bit, man, and La came prepared. And I wonder if the Kawhi thing threw them off a little bit, you know, if Dallas thought, oh, no, Kawhi. You know, there's gonna be a cake walk and uh, Dallas got smacked in the jaw. Man, that's a that's a huge component. Man. Tyler is a great coach. I can't remember who I was talking with, but I think we were doing a Twitter space or something and somebody asked me, you know where, who are the like top coaches that you have in terms of playoffs getting guys ready schematics. Tyler to me is number two man behind coach spou. You know those are the top two guys, And uh, hats off Tyler Heed. These boys ready to play energy wise, had them ready to go schematic wise, and they just had a really great game plan today against Dallas man and they executed two perfection.

Yeah, yeah, it was a Luca, let's figure Luca figure it out, you know, and there's a there's a flow. There was a you know, like even when a mere coffee's touching the rocket's like, man, you know, a mirror looks confident. Loo's like he knows what he's doing, you know. And with Dallas, it's a it's just a different dynamic. And so I don't mean to just point the finger adjacent, kidd, but I really think that is the guy that I look at and I go, man, man, he got out schemed, he got out outworked a little bit, man, and La came prepared. And I wonder if the Kawhi thing threw them off a little bit, you know, if Dallas thought, oh, no, Kawhi. You know, there's gonna be a cake walk and uh, Dallas got smacked in the jaw. Man, that's a that's a huge component. Man. Tyler is a great coach. I can't remember who I was talking with, but I think we were doing a Twitter space or something and somebody asked me, you know where, who are the like top coaches that you have in terms of playoffs getting guys ready schematics. Tyler to me is number two man behind coach spou. You know those are the top two guys, And uh, hats off Tyler Heed. These boys ready to play energy wise, had them ready to go schematic wise, and they just had a really great game plan today against Dallas man and they executed two perfection.

And even without Kawhi, if Harden plays at this level, then they just have a formula to be a really good basketball team. Then they have two great shot creators, they have shooting everywhere. They have a really solid, physical big, great play finisher who can protect the rim. And so that's good formula. But I definitely felt like Dallas did just kind of get smacked in the mouth in this one, and they didn't feel ready for the moment. And that's a big, big squandered opportunity because we can look at this and say, oh, all these things will go better for Dallas going forward. Man, you had a game without Kawhi Leonard out there and you got your ass kicked. You were non competitive in that game, and that is a challenge. I do want to give Dallas props for guarding Paul George Well. I thought that that was the one thing on the defensive end that they did pretty well. Both Derek Jones Junior and PJ did a good job. PJ Washington really has embraced the defensive side of the ball and been awesome there for Dallas. And then in terms of help, like they met him at the rim twice. Once it was Klee, but once I think it was gaffered. He rose up for a classic PG poster and he was denied both times. But like I said, he had that stretch in the third where it's just like, all right, Pg's not gonna miss and ultimately there's nothing that you can really do about that. Like, he just has those stretches as a shot maker that are unreal. I will say Harden had an alle some game in this one, and I think the ability to exploit Luca is very concerning. I also think that this is still the same James Harden, the same James Harden who ultimately wasn't getting all the way downhill right, He's getting a stip step, getting that free throw line area and then making a decision. Really, it was that his step back jumper was phenomenal in this game. He was two of six inside the arc. And that is the same guy who could erupt for forty in a playoff game last year and then also could give you twelve on four to fifteen shooting like that is just the volatility that is baked into his game right now when he doesn't have that same ability to pressure the rim an even close to what he used to do. This was an awesome game from him, but if you were asking him to carry this load consistently, I wouldn't feel great about that.

And even without Kawhi, if Harden plays at this level, then they just have a formula to be a really good basketball team. Then they have two great shot creators, they have shooting everywhere. They have a really solid, physical big, great play finisher who can protect the rim. And so that's good formula. But I definitely felt like Dallas did just kind of get smacked in the mouth in this one, and they didn't feel ready for the moment. And that's a big, big squandered opportunity because we can look at this and say, oh, all these things will go better for Dallas going forward. Man, you had a game without Kawhi Leonard out there and you got your ass kicked. You were non competitive in that game, and that is a challenge. I do want to give Dallas props for guarding Paul George Well. I thought that that was the one thing on the defensive end that they did pretty well. Both Derek Jones Junior and PJ did a good job. PJ Washington really has embraced the defensive side of the ball and been awesome there for Dallas. And then in terms of help, like they met him at the rim twice. Once it was Klee, but once I think it was gaffered. He rose up for a classic PG poster and he was denied both times. But like I said, he had that stretch in the third where it's just like, all right, Pg's not gonna miss and ultimately there's nothing that you can really do about that. Like, he just has those stretches as a shot maker that are unreal. I will say Harden had an alle some game in this one, and I think the ability to exploit Luca is very concerning. I also think that this is still the same James Harden, the same James Harden who ultimately wasn't getting all the way downhill right, He's getting a stip step, getting that free throw line area and then making a decision. Really, it was that his step back jumper was phenomenal in this game. He was two of six inside the arc. And that is the same guy who could erupt for forty in a playoff game last year and then also could give you twelve on four to fifteen shooting like that is just the volatility that is baked into his game right now when he doesn't have that same ability to pressure the rim an even close to what he used to do. This was an awesome game from him, but if you were asking him to carry this load consistently, I wouldn't feel great about that.

I think his hot start was the reason he started going to that more though, in attacking more, because it was like, I'm hot, I'm gonna keep going. Yeah, you know, he normally doesn't get to that elbow jumper. He bangs those two step back threes, and then they have to respect him, so they close out hard, and then he crab dribbles in they you know, he they backpedal a little too far to the paint. He stops and pops and hits that pull up jumper because it's like, once you hit those two deep threes, it's like, oh, my touch is on. You know, I'm feeling it now. Now I got to figure out if I can just hit everything. And Harden was I'll give him that. And that's the part that I think I underestimated a little too much about James Harden. With these all time great shooters and scores shooters touch man, you get one or two to get going, you get in that rhythm and you can have a big game like this. I do agree with you, though I don't expect this kind of thing consistently. And when his pull up jumper isn't hidden, I think we still know who James Harden is. But it was. It was a great game. And the one thing I hated, though, is after he started hitting those shots, the one then he started flailing and looking for fouls, and that one foul on Kleeba really made me mad that Harden. When Harden was behind the arc and he flailed, he flails his left legout and he initiates all the contact that was still frustrating from Harden. But again, man, uh, tip of my cap to the legend man. A big game in a really big spot where the Clippers needed him, they needed him desperately.

I think his hot start was the reason he started going to that more though, in attacking more, because it was like, I'm hot, I'm gonna keep going. Yeah, you know, he normally doesn't get to that elbow jumper. He bangs those two step back threes, and then they have to respect him, so they close out hard, and then he crab dribbles in they you know, he they backpedal a little too far to the paint. He stops and pops and hits that pull up jumper because it's like, once you hit those two deep threes, it's like, oh, my touch is on. You know, I'm feeling it now. Now I got to figure out if I can just hit everything. And Harden was I'll give him that. And that's the part that I think I underestimated a little too much about James Harden. With these all time great shooters and scores shooters touch man, you get one or two to get going, you get in that rhythm and you can have a big game like this. I do agree with you, though I don't expect this kind of thing consistently. And when his pull up jumper isn't hidden, I think we still know who James Harden is. But it was. It was a great game. And the one thing I hated, though, is after he started hitting those shots, the one then he started flailing and looking for fouls, and that one foul on Kleeba really made me mad that Harden. When Harden was behind the arc and he flailed, he flails his left legout and he initiates all the contact that was still frustrating from Harden. But again, man, uh, tip of my cap to the legend man. A big game in a really big spot where the Clippers needed him, they needed him desperately.

Great hard game. Also just incredible, dude. He's been in the playoffs every single year of his career. Like that is impressive. Obviously. Okay, see, you gotta give most of the props to Russ and Kadi, but still, like that's pretty remarkable just to consistently be on that stage. Last thing I'm saying, though, when it comes to sustaining this right, he's two o six inside the arc. Last year in the playoffs, James Harden gave you three and a half field goals a game inside the arc on under forty one percent, and the finishing numbers around the rim were just brutal. So I just think perhaps there's a little bit of a victory lap for all the hardened people. And all I'm saying is we shouldn't count our chickens before they've hatched.

Great hard game. Also just incredible, dude. He's been in the playoffs every single year of his career. Like that is impressive. Obviously. Okay, see, you gotta give most of the props to Russ and Kadi, but still, like that's pretty remarkable just to consistently be on that stage. Last thing I'm saying, though, when it comes to sustaining this right, he's two o six inside the arc. Last year in the playoffs, James Harden gave you three and a half field goals a game inside the arc on under forty one percent, and the finishing numbers around the rim were just brutal. So I just think perhaps there's a little bit of a victory lap for all the hardened people. And all I'm saying is we shouldn't count our chickens before they've hatched.

Do you want to call him wash now? It was my turn?

Do you want to call him wash now? It was my turn?

Well no, no, no, logan, because he's not locked. This man was an all star conversations at the All Star break. You took it too far, but I consider myself a more reasonable hard and skeptic, and that does ultimately remain. I think this is still gonna be a great series, but Dallas has to be more engaged defensively, have to shoot better, and ultimately play the guys who are gonna knock down their shots. I think there's some lineup tinkering to do. Luca's gotta be better, and they missed a big opportunity here with Kawhi out, and I really hope Kawhi plays. Man If Kawhi doesn't play, We're just gonna look at this entire Clippers ere and be like, that's one of the biggest what ifs in basketball history, because people love to clown on the Clippers, but when they've all been healthy, like they've so consistently been good with PG and Kawhi and whatever configuration around them. So I hope we see it, and I hope we get to see another awesome series between these two teams. The eighty two game preseason is in the books, and it's finally time for the real season. Don't miss out on any of the NBA playoff action at Draft Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of the NBA. From the play in tournament through the finals. DraftKings Sportsbook has you covered with same game parlays, live betting odds, boosts, and so much.

Well no, no, no, logan, because he's not locked. This man was an all star conversations at the All Star break. You took it too far, but I consider myself a more reasonable hard and skeptic, and that does ultimately remain. I think this is still gonna be a great series, but Dallas has to be more engaged defensively, have to shoot better, and ultimately play the guys who are gonna knock down their shots. I think there's some lineup tinkering to do. Luca's gotta be better, and they missed a big opportunity here with Kawhi out, and I really hope Kawhi plays. Man If Kawhi doesn't play, We're just gonna look at this entire Clippers ere and be like, that's one of the biggest what ifs in basketball history, because people love to clown on the Clippers, but when they've all been healthy, like they've so consistently been good with PG and Kawhi and whatever configuration around them. So I hope we see it, and I hope we get to see another awesome series between these two teams. The eighty two game preseason is in the books, and it's finally time for the real season. Don't miss out on any of the NBA playoff action at Draft Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of the NBA. From the play in tournament through the finals. DraftKings Sportsbook has you covered with same game parlays, live betting odds, boosts, and so much.

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Let's talk about the the Closer Tonight logan, which was a really awesome, classic rough playoff game. Okase he holds off New Orleans. We didn't get a chance to do a full preview for this series because we didn't know who Okayse was gonna be facing until Friday night. What was your biggest takeaway from this one?

Let's talk about the the Closer Tonight logan, which was a really awesome, classic rough playoff game. Okase he holds off New Orleans. We didn't get a chance to do a full preview for this series because we didn't know who Okayse was gonna be facing until Friday night. What was your biggest takeaway from this one?

You know, Shake Gilles Alexander has bred for these kind of environments, and I thought it was just really appropriate that we got to see this Thunder team. You know a lot of these guys collectively making their playoff debuts and there, you know, start on the biggest stage here, and we got to see him in a real playoff environment, grimy, nasty, dirty, slowed down. You know, you really got to grind out the other team to get buckets in the Oklahoma City. Thunder answered the call man SGA. You know, didn't play a perfect game, but he's just so consistent that throughout the game he's gonna work to find those shots. And he gets to the line seven times, knocks down six free throws, he goes eleven to twelve. He's got twenty eight points, six boards, and four assists, and he has a couple of bad turnovers towards the end of this game, where it's like, uh, oh, are the lights getting a little too bright? What's the verdict gonna be? Because it's really these crucial moments where everybody dictates their decision on. You know, you can have your stat line, but did you win or lose? When the chips were down. SGA may have had a couple of bad possessions, but he also slammed the door, and I think it just gave you a great picture into who he is and what he does. That's what I said after SGA that big That's what SGA does. Man, he is going to find that shot. He's gonna hunt it. He's gonna do with every possession, and he's got a counter to it. I just think that because of how the Thunder playball, they may not be the most optimal team for these rock fight environments, but they're gonna consistently generate high quality shots. Like the fact that they can run five out consistently with Chet you know and Lou and these guys holding everybody to open up all this space for their guys to attack. It just gives SGA and JDub clean paints man where they can go with these guys and either get all the way downhill or slam on the brakes. And for all these young guys, I was really impressed with the Thunders young stars man Sga consistently hunting and finding his shot, generating good looks. Jalen Williams throughout the game, consistently hunting and finding great looks. And then Chet Holmgren. You know, he had one hell of a task on his plate today going up against a guy like Jonas Valencunis, And I want to give a lot of credit to the Thunder collective for the effort that they had on the glass. That's a tough matchup, and valence Unas got his, that's certain. He had nine offensive rebounds, he had twenty total boards. He's gonna eat in this series. But the Thunder made life hard. The thunderall tried really hard, and Chet did a great job of being a real rim to turn and just protecting the rim. Five blocks in this game made some game changing plays there down to the wire to where he's got a crucial block, like you know you can clown on Chet, which you want. Chet's very slight, and there were a lot of plays in this game where that was evident, where he's going up for a layup and goes to the ground, or he's going up for a rebound and he goes to the ground. He's gonna get bodied, but he's not gonna back down from the fight, and he is gonna be one of the best rim protectors in the league like he's been all year long. That was what I took away from this game, man, is this Thunder team may be young, but I think they're ready for this kind of environment. I think they're ready for the challenge of the playoffs and they're not gonna back down to anybody. Man. They may be young, they may be inexperience, but they're ready and they got a lot of fight in them. Man. I was really impressed with this young group, the energy, the effort they brought. And I don't know, I don't know why shod that surprised either. Man. It's what this Thunder group's been doing all year long, man, and they show it to us once again here in the first game. I was really impressed with really the three big young stars for Oklahoma City.