Physicality against Dirk Nowitzki sours relations between Scott Brooks and Rick Carlisle - NBA Update.
The match between Oklahoma City Thunder and Dallas Mavericks on Monday night will be remembered for the Thunder’s astute defensive scheme. Coach Scott Brooks designated his two best defensive options Serge Ibaka and Kendrick Perkins
on Dirk Nowitzki, while Jason Terry was shadowed by Thabo Sefolosha and James Harden.
The defence clamped down on the Mavs’ top scorers and especially in the 4th upset Nowitzki’s rhythm. The NBA Finals MVP missed both his shots in the final moments of the game as Oklahoma City grabbed their second win
in a row.
Man on man defence is one thing but the physicality which was directed towards Dallas players angered Rick Carlisle, Mavs coach. He lost it and was found exchanging shout-outs with Perkins.
Perkins’ threw an elbow at Dirk which went unnoticed. Moreover the Mavericks coach went on to accuse that Thunder’s duo grabbed, clawed and held Nowitzki. The scenario was more or less the same during the 1st post season
match between the teams.
Carlisle complained about the highhandedness on Sunday and this time he was more expressive and blunt while choosing words for the protest. It is clear that the two coaches will not enjoy the same relation as they used to before
the playoffs.
"There are things that are happening out there that can't happen," Carlisle said Tuesday. "You can't hit a guy in the face when he shoots a jump shoot. Intentional or not intentional, that happened. And that was one of the things
that sort of set things in motion there."
Kevin Durant netted a pair of deuce with 50.4 clicks in the game while James Harden hit all his 4 from charity stripe to close the deal for Thunder. While Dirk and company kept on complaining about the flagrant fouls.
Though NBA hasn’t taken any notice of the complaints as no suspensions or fines were given to the players. It is suspected that the same physicality will be followed in the upcoming games. Mavs’ coach who has now lost 2 games to
OKC knows about that.
"That's how playoff series get," Carlisle said. "Generally they get more physical before they get less physical, so that's OK. Look, it's playoff basketball and there's going to be chippiness, there's going to be contact and there's
going to be hits. We've just got to make sure that our disposition is where it needs to be, on the one hand, and on the other hand, our poise and composure have to be very strong."
Mavs will have to deal with it and their offense has to find a way out of the situation, complaining and tweeting about the flagrant fouls will not help them to win games especially when they have their title on line.
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