On April 22, 2024, Beijing time, the Los Angeles Clippers defeated the Mavericks 109-97 at home in the NBA playoffs, leading the opponent 1-0 in the series.
At the beginning of the game, the Mavericks' tactics made a mistake, blindly letting the players shoot on the court, and after hitting the iron many times, they couldn't find the offensive rhythm. The defensive intensity is also not as strong as the Clippers, so they are at a disadvantage from the start. On the other hand, the Clippers have a clear tactical arrangement, knowing that the center position is their advantage, so they used Zubac's body to beat Gafford, which can be regarded as Zubac is well prepared and scores under the basket in a row. Even with Zubac's success rate, he didn't see any Mavericks team to help defend and interfere!
The Clippers led the offense through defense, especially during the period when Wei Shao and Harden were on the court at the same time, and the Mavericks continued to play iron, allowing the Clippers to push the fast break to score. In addition, Harden is in a hot state, the Mavericks are getting better and better, handling the ball calmly on the court, and cooperating with it, Harden can not only score in a row, but also give Wei Shao and others an empty dunk!
In the face of such a poor performance in the second half of the first quarter, the Mavericks in the second quarter still did not change much, even if the Eastern European combinations were on the court at the beginning, and when they did not feel good, they still chose to shoot more. Doncic also didn't look for Zubac and other misplaced positions to make kills, which made the Clippers pull the score bigger and bigger.
It wasn't until the second half of the game that Irving began to stand up, scoring 20 points in a single quarter, which helped the Mavericks chase the momentum of points, but in the second half and the fourth quarter of the game, the Mavericks still let Doncic hold the ball more to shoot, although he could shoot some three-pointers and mid-range, after all, the game felt bad, and did not continue Irving's offensive climax, and the reversal was hopeless, and finally lost the game.
Looking at the whole game, the Mavericks roughly exposed three major weaknesses
First, over-reliance on Doncic
Doncic's offensive state is like a barometer for the Mavericks, as long as Doncic can turn on, the Mavericks can play more easily. But Doncic started the game with a cold hand, and he didn't fully find his form until the last quarter of the game, and it seemed that he scored 33 points, but it actually took a lot of shots to get it.
He didn't create chances to drive his team-mates when he didn't feel good as he used to, and that's where the first half stalemate was.
Second, Kidd's lineup arrangement and offensive and defensive arrangements are problematic
The Mavericks' starting lineup, Kidd is optimistic about Jones' defense, in fact, in the face of players like George and Harden, Jones's defense is not well reflected, and the Mavericks' starting defensive lineup in this game did not see much strong defense. On the offensive end, Jones is undoubtedly a bug, and he doesn't dare to shoot at the outside three-point position.
And the rotation lineup, whether it is Hardaway or Kleber, whom Kidd has always favored, the three-point shot is also a nervous knife, Doncic and Irving are not in good shape, and Kidd did not let Exum try to connect the team, so that the Mavericks' bad form has continued.
Third, the Mavericks' ability to play against the wind is very poor, and their single defense ability is at a disadvantage in the face of the Clippers
Judging from the regular season performance, there is a big characteristic of the Mavericks' season, and that is that they are very poor against the wind. A team like the Nuggets doesn't feel much of a problem even if they're 20 points behind, and they can quickly adjust their form to respond. However, the Mavericks are not good, they are 20 points behind on the court, the general situation is that Doncic and others do not feel good, Doncic is more affected by emotions when he plays, as long as he is happy to play, all kinds of high difficulties can be thrown, once the emotions are not mobilized, the shooting percentage will plummet. Hardaway, Washington, and others, on the other hand, actually don't feel good overall, and they don't work when they fail! Therefore, it is really difficult to turn the situation around.
Not only that, but the Mavericks' single defense ability in the starting line is actually relatively poor, and Harden singled Doncic and Irving many times in this game, and they all played successfully. Doncic's footwork is relatively slow, and he is often passed by Harden in one step, and playing Irving, Harden can use his height and physical confrontation to play. In the same way, George can also target these two points, and of course, there is also the inside line of Gafford who may be targeted at any time.
However, there is also a little good news for the Mavericks, the second half showed their true strength, and the offense and defense finally have some shape. If the Mavericks don't change after that, the series will be in jeopardy.
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