vs. 
OKC Thunder (3-0, 1-0 road) at Dallas Mavericks (0-3, 0-1 home)
TV: TNT (Cox 31, HD 730); FS OK (Cox 37, HD 722, Tulsa Cox 27, DirectTV 679, UVerse 754)
Stream: Click here
Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1 FM, 640 AM, 97.1 FM Tulsa)
Time: 6:30 CT
Thunder lead series 3-0
View from the enemy: The Two Man Game
Closing, is hard to do. There’s no more difficult a win to get than that fourth one, especially when it comes on the road. The Thunder had this shot last season in Denver, and came up just short. And to me, that’s why it’s kind of important to get this done. I think it would show another step in the maturity, another move ahead for this team to get its first sweep.
Of course, the Mavs are going to pull out all the stops in this one. They’re probably going to play rough, physical and try and get under OKC’s skin. They’re going to try and use everything they’ve got in the bag. Dirk isn’t going to go quietly. Jason Terry, definitely isn’t going to go quietly. Here’s the junk he’s already talking: “I broke every broom in the house, so that’s a little superstition so I don’t think there will be any sweeps going on … The pressure is on them all the way. They’re kind of young. They might not realize it, but it’s there, and hopefully they’ll feel it during the game because it’s hard to close a team out. And then if you do lose, then what? Now you start to think about it a little bit. Not a situation (down 3-0) we want to be in, but we’ll take it at this point.”
Terry is as obnoxious and arrogant as anyone, but he has a point. You don’t want to open any doors. You don’t even want to let them knock. There’s a chance to snuff it out right now, to finish it, to close this down. The Mavs have a long road back, but it’s not impossible. Winning two in Dallas is a difficult assignment and the odds will be high OKC takes care of this at home, but why go there. Wrap it up.
Three Big Things
1. Early progress. A good first quarter could be all OKC needs. With the dominance showcased in the last game along with the 3-0 mountain the Mavs have to climb, a big opening 12 minutes might encourage Dallas to pack it in. The Mavs looked tired and worn in Game 3. So you can imagine how they’ll feel if they’re down 10 after a quarter.
2. Defense is our backbone. Both Dirk and Terry are going to fire away. They’re going to throw caution to the wind and try and carry the Mavs. It’s clear Dallas is a weak offensive team unless their two scorers are scoring. Shawn Marion can get some garbage baskets, Ian Mahinmi is a high energy guy and Delonte West and Jason Kidd are obviously threats at times. But the majority of the Maverick production will come from Dirk and Terry. The Thunder are incredibly difficult to beat when the offense is rolling, but that’s not a guarantee OKC’s defensive effort has been sound in this series, and it needs to be there again in case KD and Westbrook aren’t dominant.
3. Find The Beard. James Harden wasn’t all that excellent in Game 3. He didn’t need to be, but when the Thunder’s offense is diversified with Harden, it makes OKC that much more dangerous.
Tip at 6:30 CT. Go Brooms.
Scotty Brooks I got my eye on you fool!!!!
pretty close to 2000 comments. that will probably happen next series.
can someone please investigate this so called sellout streak in dallas? THERE IS NO WAY THEY HAVE SOLD OUT EVERY GAME SINCE 2001! On ticketmaster a day or 2 before every game there are still tons of seats available. Not ticketexchange, actual ticketmaster, from the team. There is some shady stuff going on
@persiansooner13 a lot of those tickets are probably being re-sold but they were sold before
@persiansooner13 i think they sell standing room only tickers but there is plenty of funny accounting in the world
mavs missed chandler but they also just missed too many shots
marion should have shot less, especially in key moments
@Crow I agree. Tyson was better than what they had last year but the reality is that it was their offense that was worse, not their defense. Also, I think that had Brooks run this offense through Harden last year, the defending champs might not have gone out in the first round because WE would be the defending champs. (of course I am biased, too so factor that in.)
@FF_pickups last season a couple things broke the mavs' way, this season the thunder's. maybe some luck but in the end they both deserved their wins
thunder could have done better last season with less post injury perk
@Crow
should say Tyson was better than what they had THIS year at center...
Go mayweather, f cotto !!
First team in the second round!
mavs next season will be very different. probably worse.
i assume so.
deron williams will not be the savior.
mavs should probably look at louis williams and use more of their cash on a big man or a youngish quality wing
@Crow Do you think Carlisle will be back?
@FF_pickups @Crow sure didn't sound like Dirk was all that interested in Carlisle coming back.
@John64 @FF_pickups or a 1 year deal or 1 and an option
@John64 @FF_pickups i wouldnt re-sign terry unless it is a really modest amount
@John64 @FF_pickups @Crow not sure who cuban might prefer.
phil jackson would be interesting but he probably would turn cuban down unless he got 10-12 million
@FF_pickups @John64 he escaped into his marriage and tv show and didnt really seem to care about basketball much. that was always an apparent issue for him
@FF_pickups @John64 there are many layers to that story. he had a lot of tragedy to deal with recently but he did not escape into work
@Crow @John64
Does anyone disagree that if you're a pro athlete and your diet consists of eating candy non stop, some day your career is going to go to drop off of a cliff. I'm shocked it hadn't already.
@FF_pickups @John64 i wouldnt have paid chandler what ny did but i would probably have played mahinmi and wright somewhat more and haywood somewhat less and maybe have looked for some better other solution than odom
@Crow @John64 Yeah, it was hard to read. There was some stuttering in there but I can't say that it was anything too noteworthy. He definitely didn't say "I want him back" and considering the head coach's salary has ZERO implication on cap and the team is owned by one of the 200 richest Americans, he would've been well within bounds to demand for Carlisle to be back.
@FF_pickups @John64 it could be important but dirk doesnt seem like an active offcourt force. mark c and donnie will make the call and probably wont even call dirk about it
@FF_pickups @John64 thanks. that seems pretty diplomatic. all depends on tone and interpretation of tone.
@Crow @John64
Everyone truly believes that Cuban didn't resign Tyson Chandler because he wanted to wait for next season to get Dwight and Deron but I heard an interview with him while he was at the Sloan Conference and he talked about how the decision was independent of those two players. It was a game theory decision based on the basketball value of Tyson Chandler vs. the size of the contract he would command + the new CBA and it's implications on what he thought would be the new market. For what it's worth, he sounded very believable.
@John64 @FF_pickups i think he should get a head coach gig but the insiders so far disagree
@John64 @FF_pickups lambier likes to fight and wants to find a way to get into one
@Crow @John64
Some of the verb conjugations may be not correct with how he meant it as English isn't his first language and I think that's kind of important. It was all past tense.
@John64 @FF_pickups but they are certainly one of the ten best nba organizations under cuban. not sure how high they deserve to be.
@Crow @John64 JJT: "What are the thoughts on the job Rick did and do you want him back?"
Dirk: "Obviously, this franchise has a lot of decisions to make, that's obvious. Rick had a great 4 years here, obviously. Took us to the promised land, uhhh, with a team , you know, that we thought could do it. I think he found a good mix over the years of defense and stressing defense a lot and giving Kidd some movement, giving him some freedom on the offensive end and sometimes he did a good job of getting out of the way and just letting us play and if he saw things are not going that good kind of pulling us back in and call some plays. So I thought over the 4 years, uhhh, he tried to do a good job and we'll have to wait and see what the decision is with him but I thought he did a great job and he obviously got us to the promised land."
@John64 @FF_pickupsmavs definitely have erred on the side of being too cocky and confident most years
@Crow @FF_pickups Something must be brewing.
@John64 @Crow @FF_pickups no, i didnt hear any of the post game stuff
@Crow @FF_pickups Did you hear Lambier say that he thought something was wrong with the Mavs org.
@John64 @Crow @FF_pickups i c, not too surprising but interesting
@FF_pickups @John64 he bit his tongue and stuck with nellie time and time again before getting rid of him
@Crow @FF_pickups He was asked directly about Jett and Carlisle coming back and went on about how great Terry was but never really said anything about Carlisle.
@FF_pickups @John64 cuban has felt like carlisle was one of his big finds, big value adds. he will fire carlisle at some point but i dont think- before hearing more- it will be this summer
@FF_pickups @John64 thanks
@Crow @John64 let me replay it and I'll type it up here, give me a sec
@John64 @FF_pickups @Crow what did he say? i turned it off when the game ended
@John64 @FF_pickups @Crow
That's why I brought it up. I just kind of assumed that was a for sure done deal, now I'm not so sure.
JMattHicks: You're welcome.
lol, you could tell how mad Dirk was about how Harden just destroyed them
@FF_pickups mavs might not of needed chandler tha tmuch to beat the spurs or lakers but they would have been helped to have him against the thunder,the kings of the dribbledrive
@FF_pickups if it wasn't for harden they will be game 5
@tydude @FF_pickups if its not for dirk we would have been in the finals last year. so it goes both ways.
@C_Dub @Remify @tydude "we weren't beating Miami last year"
I disagree with this completely.
speaking of going both ways, Mark Cuban was so mad last game!
@Remify @tydude @FF_pickups Yeah and then LeBron would have a ring. we weren't beating Miami last year. This year though, whole 'nother deal.