The Thunder dominated almost all the statistics today, leading the Mavericks in rebounds (52-39), leading 29-19 in assists, and setting a new playoff record in team history with 29 assists! Seeing this energetic game makes people a few years younger, the spirit of the whole team today is actually very good, and the rebounding awareness is also much better I hope everyone will continue to maintain it as Hart.
Doncic and Alexander, who have a regular season MVP battle, the former is only suitable for playing in the regular season, while the latter is born for the playoffs to win the championship, the defensive intensity increases, and the superstar style MVP is judged.
The tactics used by the Thunder are to pile up Doncic and Irving who defend Dallas, and Dort mainly entangles Doncic, resulting in fewer shots, very reluctant shooting, and a low shooting percentage, 6 of 19 in the game, 1 of 8 three-pointers, only 19 points, 6 rebounds and 9 assists, Irving also lacks shooting opportunities, only 20 points on 7-of-14 shooting; The Dallas Mavericks used a combination of switching defenses to force inside to deal with Alexander and Jayway. The aces on both sides are not playing well, the Mavericks are quite bad at cutting inside and eating the pie, and it is quite difficult for a team to win a game with only two people.
Both sides have a strategy of targeted defense, and the rest of the players must step up to share the team's worries. Pick two aces on each side heads-up, and the Thunder can't beat the Lone Ranger. In fact, the Thunder's two aces of Alexander and Jewy combined today were only 14 of 34 shots. But relying on adjustments and weak-side offense, he hit a team-record 29 assists and 52 rebounds.
When asked after the game what caused Doncic's poor hand, he replied, "Who cares? We lost this game, we just need to prepare for the next game, I'm going to get better, we've got to get better, and we're going to have to stay focused and defensively for 48 minutes."
The Mavericks lost to the Thunder 95-117 on the road, trailing the series 1-0.
Speaking about the Thunder, Irving said: "The opponent played harder in this game, we didn't grab more rebounds. Failure must be held accountable for the mistakes we make, while also respecting the strength of our opponents. They feel very confident and comfortable at home and we will do better in the second game. ”