After game4 in OKC, I have a feeling that I cannot not write abt it.
I didn’t realize how long it is until I finished it, hope u don’t mind =)
The most thrilling game I’ve ever watched as a mav fan. What a bad way to start a game other than the mavs missing shots after shots. What a great way to start a game other than the thunders making their first 9 shots. Neither can the mavs make some shots nor make any stops, they kept turning the ball over and over again, failing to rebound the ball, protecting the glass. Carlisle called 3 quick timeouts, yet nothing productive had been made throughout the period. When the referee blew his whistle to end the 1st qtr, they found themselves 9pts behind this young, athletic thunder team. It’s never a surprise to me OKC can score 31 in a period, they are a team averaging almost 105pts per game in the regular season, yet the mavs are one of the finest teams in the league who play great zone defense! Where is that team I love so much? I wonder.
Things didn’t go much better to start the 2nd qtr even as the mavs made some FT, trying to keep them alive. Yes, I’m saying “keep them alive” when there were still 36mins to go in a game because I couldn’t see any mav fighting back but struggling in both offensive and defensive ends. Do u know how frustrated I was seeing them down double digits yet not stepping up, making a play? The only reason they were down just 5 at the half was because they outscored the opponent at the FT line. I know making good FTs helps winning a game, not with that mentality the mavs had in the first half. It reminded me how ppl stereo-typed them as a soft team who rely heavily on jump shots and 3-pointers. I’m convinced they are not as this year playoffs began, Chandler and Haywood played big minutes in the paint area, grapping rebounds, protecting the rim; Kidd, D-Steve and the Matrix playing solid defense down the stretch; Barea’s penetrations were headaches to other teams; even Dirk attacking the rim aggressive sometimes to draw fouls instead of just “fading away”. However, I didn’t see these happening here in game4. Hey, don’t forget this game is as crucial as the one they won 2 days ago. It’s either a commanding 3-1 lead, or a back-to-square-one 2-2 tie. Where is the passion? Where is the fire? Thanks to the ref, the mavs only down 5 to end this disappointing first half.
DENIED!!
Headache...
Protect the rim!!!
The mavs didn’t play well to start the 2nd half either, still couldn’t find any way to stop the firing gang, but at least they were making some shots. Mid way through the 3rd qtr, they found themselves trailed by as many as 11. Come on, man up! I almost punched the monitor, that’s how frustrated I was at that moment! Maybe they heard my scream, they did bounce back, force a couples of TO, cutting OKC’s lead to 4 going to the 4th.
The JET is taking off... finally!
Celebrating?! Not so soon
The mavs struggling the game mostly because of the great offense and defense played by Harden and Collison respectively. I have to give full credit to the two when KD went misfire and Westbrook turned the ball over for times in the 2nd half. I saw the thunders almost made their big comeback twice earlier in this series, history tells me it is possible, but I couldn’t see a chance the mavs winning even I wanted them to very badly like any other Mavs fan. It was like all things were settled and it was 2-2. They are heading back home for a game5. Things changed when Harden was fouled out at less than 5mins remaining in the game. Finally they started to battle, bringing up a 17-2 run, and coming back from a 15-pt deficit in just 5mins time. Whenever Dirk hit a shot during the crunch time, my heart paused, OKC defense on him were great, not giving him much space, but his offense were just amazing. Those fade away shots were tough shots, no doubt! When Dirk missed that FT with just 40secs to go, my heart sank, although it was still a 2-pt game, the thunders got the ball and the mavs with no foul to give.
Sefolosha rushed to fire off a 3-pointer, of coz he missed, and Collison, the one who frozen Dirk most of the night fouled Dirk! He calmly made them both this time to tie the game. The story wasn’t over yet, not until the mavs stop OKC’s possible final procession and get the ball for 6 more secs. Then again, the thunders rushed, Marion blocked KD’s 3-pt attempt.
The BIG block vs the TERRIBLE shot with 2.6secs left
Kidd the rebound, and called for a timeout right away. I think if the ref would reset the clock with 1.2sec left rather than 0.7, they would have a better chance to end the game without having an OT. Every mavs fan knows how smart the 38-year-old is, I can still rmb how he initiate a contact with Mike Woodson, drawing a T, hitting the FT, lifting up the mavs in an OT win over the hawks. FYI, that game he had an incredible triple-double with 19pts, 16assists, 17boards and 2steals. He did it again tonight, 4 of his rebounds came from OT, some FTs there and a huge 3-pointer to seal the game. With 13sces left, Kidd threw the ball to Terry who was in the backcourt, Terry inbounded the ball and a thunder had to run all the way there, wasting some time, cunning but smart move. I’m sure he had broken every heart that supported OKC there.
The shot Kidd made that sealed the game
The BIG block vs the TERRIBLE shot with 2.6secs left
Kidd the rebound, and called for a timeout right away. I think if the ref would reset the clock with 1.2sec left rather than 0.7, they would have a better chance to end the game without having an OT. Every mavs fan knows how smart the 38-year-old is, I can still rmb how he initiate a contact with Mike Woodson, drawing a T, hitting the FT, lifting up the mavs in an OT win over the hawks. FYI, that game he had an incredible triple-double with 19pts, 16assists, 17boards and 2steals. He did it again tonight, 4 of his rebounds came from OT, some FTs there and a huge 3-pointer to seal the game. With 13sces left, Kidd threw the ball to Terry who was in the backcourt, Terry inbounded the ball and a thunder had to run all the way there, wasting some time, cunning but smart move. I’m sure he had broken every heart that supported OKC there.
The shot Kidd made that sealed the game
The whole dallas-OKC series has been in debate, what will happen when the experienced meets the energized youth, decisive play was most needed when it comes to crunch time, the thunders collapsed… the mavs stepped up. How rare it is for a team to come back from a 15-point deficit in just 5mins time, I guess it is as rare as a team to come back from a 1-3 deficit in a best-of-7 series, not to mention they will be playing at American Airlines Centre for the next game. Nevertheless, the series isn’t over until one reaches 4th win first, tough game(s?) coming up soon, I would love to see how the youngest team to play conference finals to strive for survival, meanwhile a team that is led by the oldest starting PG to play in conference finals running after the very first title in their franchise history.
NBA is where amazing happens.
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