NBA Playoffs Preview 2012 – It’s anyone’s game as Oklahoma City Thunder host Dallas Mavericks in game - 2
When the game is on the line, they don’t come as clutch as Dirk Nowitzki.
On Saturday night in the game-1 of the first round playoffs series against Oklahoma City Thunder, the German sharp shooter was on the floor and before the last Mavericks possession, he had scored 11 of his 25 points in the 4th
quarter, including a 7-1 personal run.
But, with 1:30 remaining in the game and the Mavs up by 5, something unusual happened.
Nowitzki turned the ball over and Kevin Durant flushed the ball through the cup on the break. The tide had turned toward OKC at that point and it was Durant again who took centre stage when he sank a foul line jumper with 1.5 second
remaining to take the game.
The Mavs, away from home, fought valiantly and in the end it was one man’s brilliance that stood between them and a win. The defending champions however have set one thing straight – they are not the same team which was being humbled
day in and day out in the regular season and barely qualified for the post season at seventh seed.
The clinical intensity with which the Mavs hounded the more younger and energetic Thunder was there for all to see. Never in the game there was a moment when it appeared that OKC will blow away, as had been predicted before the
series started.
Even after the game, the message was quite clear - OKC might have won the battle, but the war has just started.
Scott Brooks, the Thunder coach, certainly didn’t anticipate the Mavericks to come so hard and it was his tactic of throwing an extra defender on Nowitzki late, that ultimately turned the game in his side’s favour.
But come Monday night, the champs will come prepared and Nowitzki will be helped out by his team-mates more, especially in setting up the offensive screens for the big man.
Then there is the defence. The Mavs have surely let it slip on the offense this season, but they have still been one of the best defensive teams on the D, even after the departure of Tyson Chandler.
In the game-1, Mavs showed the hustle of champions and even on the last Durant shot, the defense was very good. It was just that the offense from KD was even better.
For OKC, the win was good start to the post season, but given they capabilities, the game shouldn’t have gone the distance. KD took all of 27 shots to score 25 points on Saturday and if Oklahoma are to fend off this Mavs side,
he has to start penetrating towards the cup more rather than rely on jumpers.
The same is valid for Russell Westbrook. The point guard will have to start creating more shots for his teammates because the Mavs will gradually grind him down and once that happens, OKC won’t have their second offensive option.
Westbrook has never been a selfless player, but if ever there was a time to do so, it is now.
One more thing Westbrook will have to cater for come Monday night will be the turnovers. He and James Harden had five apiece in game-1 and against a team like Mavericks, you just can’t do that.
All in all, there is nothing to separate the two teams going into Monday night and if the Mavericks do manage to make it 1-1 before heading towards Dallas; it won’t come as a surprise.
Tags: