Today, the Mavericks traveled to the Thunder to open their first game of the Western Conference semifinals, and finally they lost to the Thunder 95-117 on the road, and the series score came to 0:1.
The Mavericks relied too heavily on Doncic and Irving for this game. But Doncic was in an extremely sluggish game today, shooting just 6-of-19 from the field and 1-of-8 from beyond the three-point line. In the last game, Doncic only shot 1 of 10 from beyond the three-point line, and today he continued his sluggish feel from beyond the three-point line. Doncic has shot just 16.3 percent from three-point range in the last five games.
The Mavericks' offense is very single, that is, relying on the individual abilities of Doncic and Irving. They have very little variation on the offensive end, basically one person playing four people standing still. On the other hand, the Thunder are all soldiers, and they have five players in double figures today. Each of their players has great shooting ability and is very good at protecting the rim on the inside? The Mavericks' interior finishing ability and the Thunder are also completely incomparable.
Irving had a good hand today, shooting 7-of-14 from the field, but he didn't get too many shots today. Most of the ball is in Doncic's hands. Doncic's style of play today is a little too paranoid, and he is still shooting three-pointers frantically with such a poor shooting percentage from beyond the three-point line, and is not looking for a more secure style of play. He was 1-of-10 in the last game and 1-of-8 in this game, and with such a sluggish three-point shot in the playoffs, it stands to reason that he should have taken a more disciplined approach. But Doncic is still blindly shooting three-pointers when the team is behind, which is obviously irrational.
Why is it that Doncic has been able to perform very well every season since he entered the league and is currently the absolute superstar of the league, but why has he never been able to lead the Mavericks to the Finals? In the final analysis, it is because his style of play is extremely unhealthy. Doncic is the kind of player who has a big bag, and he consumes more than a dozen seconds of personal offensive time with the ball in 24 seconds of the half, and if he doesn't have a good offensive opportunity, he will pass to his teammates in the last few seconds. This style of play simply won't win a championship.
For a team to win a championship, they have to be a team that has all the people, it has to be a team that shares the ball, it has to be a team that moves the ball. It has to be a team with a change of tactics. And the Mavericks almost rely on Doncic to do it alone. If he plays a bad game, then the Mavericks don't have any hope of winning.
It was obviously unwise for the Mavericks to put all their hopes on Doncic alone, and Irving didn't get the ball he deserved when he came to this team. He became the second choice in the team. Even if he is much more efficient in the playoffs than Doncic. So if the Mavericks are eliminated from the playoffs this year, it's time for them to change the centerpiece of the team.