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Have you Monday? Everybody?
Ohbal, You guys are having a great start to your week. Got a jam pack show for you tonight. We're gonna do a breakdown of that epic showdown between the Thunder and the Mavericks. Really weird game, stuck in the mud, but shake Gilles, Alexander makes a couple of big shots, a couple of big kickout passes, case On Wallace and chet holmg gonna hit some big threes and Oklahoma City gets out of there with the win and we're two
to two, headed back to Oklahoma for Game five. We're gonna be breaking that game down from the perspective of both teams. And then at the end of the show today I had mentioned I sent out a tweet with a mail bag earlier today. We got a bunch of questions, So I'm gonna go through probably a dozen or so mail back questions at the tail end of the show. You guys did the Joe before we get started. Subscribe to Brandy YouTube channel so you don't miss any more
of our videos. Follow me on Twitter and underscore j CNLT so you guys don't miss you announcement. Still, forget about a podcast feed wherever you get your podcast under Hoops tonight, and keep dropping mail back questions in those YouTube comments. We keep hitting them throughout the rest of the postseason. All right, let's talk some basketball. So this was a bizarre game and what's been a pretty bizarre series.
Both teams are really really struggling to score. These are two teams that have a plethora of perimeter speed and outstanding perimeter defenders.
Derek Jones Jr.
Has been probably the best veteran minimum signing in the league this year. Just an outstanding perimeter defender that's doing a good amount of damage in spot up situations and in transition. On the other end of the floor, obviously PJ. Washington's competing really well on that end, Josh Green's competing really well on that end, Kyrie Irvings competing really well on that end. Then you go to Oklahoma City, they got a bunch of professional perimeter defenders like Lou Dort.
That's a guy that's going to be in this league for a long time doing what he's doing to Luka Doncic. In this series, same thing goes for case on Wallace. Aaron Wiggins comes in the game and he brings perimeter defense. Jalen Williams has done a really nice job as well. And so all these guys are really struggling to get their game off, and I really think it's coming down to decision making in a lot of cases. We're going to get into some of those details, but both teams
are really struggling to score. Both teams were below eighty eight points per one hundred half court plays according to Cleaning the Glass. According to Cleaning Glass, in this game, these are two teams that were both over one hundred points per one hundred half court plays during the regular season for the series. Now through four games, Oklahoma City is winning that battle rather convincingly. They're up ninety six to eighty nine in terms of points per one hundred
half court plays. All four stars were struggling today. Kyrie was having a poor shooting game. He was only four for eleven, only scored nine points. JDub was five for nineteen. Was really struggling with reading the floor, challenging rim protectors, missing extra defenders that were coming over, a lot of young basketball player stuff from Oklahoma City that they bought through at the end of the day. But you could see them struggling. With Luka Doncic was six for twenty.
He's just having a nightmare of a time dealing with lou Dorort has him in the torture chamber right now. Schaikyo just Alexander was really struggling up until about the last fifteen minutes or so, and he was the one guy who broke out, and that's really what determined this game.
That said, as much as.
Shay broke out as a shot maker, I did think that Luca and Kyrie were doing a much better job hunting their teammates for spot up opportunities. This is an interesting trend for Oklahoma City. A big part of how they got going down the stretch of this game was taking advantage of easy reads that are available when Dallas
is collapsing on them around the rim. And they've done mostly a poor job in this series of making those kickout raids, while even though Luca has struggled with missing shots and with turnovers, he's making those kickout raads a lot. Even though Kyrie hasn't been really scoring all that much, he's been making those kickout raads. And again, like this game was one hundred to ninety six and came down to one, it was tied, It was tied late before that last three that Chet Holmgren hit, So like this
game could have gone either way. And obviously the free throws were a huge issue for Dallas in this game. Oklahoma City was struggling with their decision making, like everyone was really struggling, but Shay was the one guy that broke out. And a lot of those little short textbook step back jumpers going left and right that is in that short range that I talk about, like long tues out by like seventeen eighteen, nineteen feet, Those can dip in percentage considerably.
But Shay gets good separation.
Around like you know, fifteen fourteen feet, and he gets to these looks that are actually pretty high percentage, and he was struggling to make them for the most part in this series. But really he caught a little hot streak at the right time there in the fourth quarter,
and then he finally made some good kickout reads. This is something like again when you are how many times did it seem like you saw a thunder player, whether it was Shay or Chet or a guy driving a close out like get into the lane and then try to try to just throw their body into traffic with all of the rim protection that Dallas has and force something up and then get blocked. Dallas had thirteen blocks in this game. I pulled up the numbers in the
first three games of the series. Oklahoma City shot just sixty two percent and they're restricted it. They were sixty nine percent in the restricted area in the regular season. It's a substantial dip from where they're usually the AD And so again I put in my notes, Oklahoma City has the talent to win this series, they have more offensive talent in my opinion, they have more off ball shooting, more guys that are better at attacking closeouts.
Obviously, PJ.
Washington and Derek Johnes Junior have capitalized on the fact that Luca and Kyrie keep hunting them and they're making shots. But Shae and Jalen Williams, they've got to do a better job of making those kickout raids. And finally at the end of that game, Shay started making those raids. There was a strong side corner help from Luca for the big one that Cheed Holmgren hit. Luca was helping a lot off of Kason Wallace on that week side down the stretch of that game, and they were missing
that raid. So there's a lot more opportunity there.
In that third.
Quarter, there were a lot of plays where like Shay would collapse the defense and like make the right read, but he'd throw like a kind of a janky pass that either get get deflected or he'd lose his balance and throw a bad pass. I did a video on the on the Nuggets Timberwolve series today where I talked about the importance of making the pass to the shooting pocket. And the reason why it's very simple because these are elite defenses with a ton of speed that are closing
out at you. And so like, again, if I'm starting twenty feet away from you, or let's say fifteen feet away from you, and I throw the pass at your feet, I'm gonna close out well and I'm gonna be able to chase you off of the line. But if someone throws the pass directly into your shooting pocket, it's really difficult for me to get out there in time. And so like, honestly, like there's a lot of room for improvement for Oklahoma City, which is what's kind of scary,
is like like they're missing a lot of reads. They're not making good kickout passes. Jalen Williams is still like really struggling to read the floor out there. Totally predictable for a guy in just his second year playing NBA basketball and his first time playing in the playoffs at this level. Right, Shay, his first playoff run, is the number one option on the playoff team, and you know, there's just so much more room for improvement there for them.
But Shay finally did make some plays down the stretch of this game. Some good kickout passes, some good short mid range jumpers, and on the other end of the floor, like lou Dort just continues to with his like just overwhelming physicality. Just you can tell it's really starting to
rattle Luca. He's starting to He's complaining at the rest constantly, he's constantly on the ground, he's constantly The big one for Luca that's the surprise to me is the turnovers and what he's doing is he's over penetrating and then he's getting himself surrounded by bodies and he's throwing kickout passes when he's being swarmed that are getting deflected or going right to the next guy in the rotation that
are getting it and running out the other way. Like Luca really needs to just calm the hell down and just kind of kind of like what we were talking about with Jamal Murray early in the in the Wolves series, where it's like, hey, you've handled ball pressure before. Luca has seen a good perimeter defender before, he has seen physical ball pressure before, he has seen a guy that he can't overpower physic before. He's capable of handling this
a lot better than he has. And I'm going to say the exact same thing to Luca or about Luca that I said about Jamal Murray. When it comes to Jamal Murray, yeah, I get it, you got a calf injury, man, but everyone in the playoffs is hurt.
You better just find a way.
And when I went and looked at the tape, it really looked like Jamal just wasn't handling the ball pressure well, even though I know he can handle it. Then he goes into the two games in Minnesota, does a masterful job of handling the ball pressure and everything comes together. Luca's in that phase kind of where Jamal Murray was in Game two, where he's getting super worked up and he's super involved with the officials, and he is capable of handling this a lot better than he is not.
Over penetrating better shot selection, playing and taking what the defense is giving you. He's capable of turning this series around. Both teams are capable of playing a lot better than they have been. But I did think it was super impressive that Shade broke out. It felt like his first real kind of playoff moment, didn't It Obviously hit that game winner against the Pelicans, but the Pelicans are the worst team out of all the Western Conference teams that
got into the playoffs. Right, So, like, given the stakes, given the situation, down to one on the road, you're trailing in the second half. I think it went down by thirteen fourteen points in the early portion of the third quarter, if I remember correctly, Like they were really in a tough spot, and they just kept chugging along and they kept making plays and then Shaye hit a level there in that fourth quarter run that was able
to carry his team home to the finish line. Again, Oklahoma City does have the talent to win this series. It's all going to be about being sharper with their decision making. When you get into the lane and multiple bodies converge on you, your percentages will dip. And again, like it's all about shot value, right, You don't want to just take threes if they're chasing you off the three point line and they're not high quality threes. Yeah, three points is worth more than two, but not if
it's contested, and not if it's a good shot. Same thing goes for the rim. The rim is the highest value shot in the NBA, but you're not if you're shooting like fifty nine percent down there, right, or I think of sixty two percent or whatever. I'll have to pull the numbers from from this particular game. But they shot thirty eight percent from the field in this game.
I would imagine after they got blocked thirteen times. I would imagine after I go back and look at the tape, or excuse me, look at the numbers when the when the analytics update, I would venture to guess that they're they're shooting percentage in the restricted area has dipped below sixty percent.
Now we're not talking about you know.
One point three or one point four points per shot down there. Now, we're talking about barely over a point per shot, and that that's not the best value that's available there on the floor. You have the talent, you just have to make those kickout passes. Play advantage basketball again, Like it's very simple. If you are playing one on one against an elite perimeter defender, it's generally going to
be a pretty low percentage shot. If you're challenging athletics seven footers at the rim, it's generally going to be a low percentage shot. But if I give case on Wallace or lou Dord or any of these guys a defender closing out at them, it infinitely increases their or dramatically increases their efficiency on those plays. And so that to me is the encouraging part for Oklahoma City. You played like shit most of this game, and you got out of there with the win and tied the series.
Shout out to kase On Walla's a bunch of big shots there down the stretch. Shout out to Chet Holmgren as well. He was getting He was a victim of a lot of that physicality as well. There's a swim move that Derek Lively hit him with in the second half where he just elbowed him right in the side of the temple and just kept hanging around, kept making plays, hit that big three, and then ice the game at the foul line late on the Dallas front again. Luca
the shot, the shot selection. I understand why he's taking those shots. He's trying to get his rhythm back.
I get it.
I think he can be a little bit better there. The big one is the mistakes. I think Kyrie and Luca are both doing a really good job of what Oklahoma City's not doing, which is making those kickout passes and generating closeout opportunities for their teammates which they are taking advantage of. For Luca, it's the mistakes against Oklahoma City. With how good they are in transition, turnovers are a death sentence. That is the entire way their offense. I
shouldn't say the entire way. That is a significant significant portion of their basketball identity, playing passing lanes, physical aggression on the ball and in passing lanes, forcing turnovers, getting out in transition and getting easy looks. Luca has to cut down on his mistakes. And I know what every Mavericks fan in the world is going to be saying, Luca's knee is hurt. Yeah, you're right, everyone's hurt.
Though.
He's got to find a way to play right Blue George's fouling them, Yeah, you're right. So is every elite perimaterive veender in the league. In every series. Everyone's found the hell out of everybody. Luca is not the only primary ball handler out there who's getting hacked and slashed on every single drive to the basket. It's happening to everybody. He has to find a way to weather through that and make them a bigger impact on this game. I also thought Jason Kidd, it was interesting that he leans
so much on Tim Hardaway Junior late. Derek Jones Junior is playing really well seventeen points in this game, he had four blocks, he was plus nine, only played twenty seven and I get it, Tim Hardaway hit a huge three late in the game. But Derrek Jones Junior is the guy that's been doing the best job guarding Shay and.
Tim Hardaway.
Tim Hardaway Junior made a critical mistake at the end of the game on that little post entry to Luka Doncic up on the right wing, so like, like I just I didn't really understand that specific move there. I get kind of the offense defense sub angle, but like Derek Jones is, in my opinion, like someone that has to be on the floor as much as possible when you get into these situations. So tough to get a real feel for this game at this series. Because here
this is I'll just put it this simply. Both of these teams have so much room for improvement that I
really could see this series going either way. Like Dallas is capable of playing so much better, Like Kyrie and Luca combined for twenty seven points tonight, Like you bet your ass they're due for a fifty five to sixty point night between those two, right, And also Oklahoma City is capable of much better offensive process, getting more more advantage basketball type of possessions where guys are attacking closeouts
and it's just gonna be the simple. Whichever team snaps out of it and starts playing more to their to their advantages is going to win this series. No one's playing well and it's two two, so like this is there for the taking. Somebody's just got to rise from the pack. Tonight Shae was the guy who rose. We'll see what happens in Game five obviously will be their live on YouTube after the final buzzer on Wednesday night. The volume