Addam M. Francisco’s Postgame Rant
The Oklahoma City Thunder will hit you from multiple different directions and fortunately for the Thunder faithful and unfortunately for everyone associated with the Dallas Mavericks, that was on display during Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinals in the Thunder’s 117-95 win over the Mavs.
We’ve, well, I’ve talked about the “Next Man Up” Thunder for three seasons now and that’s been the motto throughout this storied run from the Thunder.
Let’s use OKC-Dallas Game 1 as an example. Oklahoma City struggled to get anything going offensively in the first quarter and through the first half of the second quarter. However, the tide began to turn to end the second, going up nine before halftime, all for the lead to be erased within the first four minutes of the third quarter, with their lead being cut to one.
After halftime, Daniel Gafford and Kyrie Irving started cooking, scoring nine of Dallas’ 14 points between the 10:13 and 6:16 mark of the quarter. Luckily, Jason Kidd made a mistake in his game plan by swapping out Lively for Gafford and that’s when the Thunder regained its double-digit lead from two to 11 in less than two minutes.
As Stephen A. Smith said on First Take, the Thunder have an extra engine. They have a few, but the “extra engine” he was referring to is Jalen Williams who was abysmal shooting through 85% of Game 1. Dub shot 2-for-11 through three quarters, scoring only eight points but hit 10 straight buckets for the Thunder in the fourth quarter, extending OKC’s lead from nine to 17, ultimately motivating Kidd to wave the white flag en route to a 22-point Thunder victory.
OKC’s defense has been talked about endlessly, which is warranted, but pair their league-leading defense with their league-leading, multi-faceted offensive attack, the Thunder may be too loaded for Dallas to overcome.
The ultimate question is; who can guard Shai, who scored 29 points on 18 shots and got to the line 13 times? Mavericks fans may say, Derrick Jones Jr., –– who did do a good job, holding the MVP candidate to 42.1 percent shooting. But then, who will stop Chet Holmgren, who had Dallas’s backcourt in disarray, scoring 19 points on 50% shooting? Maybe Gafford? Lively? What about Jalen Williams? Who will Dallas throw at him? Aaron Wiggins, who scored 16 points off the bench on seven shots? What happens when Lu Dort or Isaiah Joe get hot? Josh Giddey is still a threat, although this may not be his most favorable matchup.
The Thunder are too deep for Dallas, and Tuesday night may have been a preview of what’s to come in this series.
Excellent