The Dallas Mavericks were always going to deal with an uphill battle in this second-round playoff series against the Oklahoma City Thunder. However, the Mavs probably didn't expect to lose by 22 points to set the tone in Game 1.
Star guard Kyrie Irving gave a lengthy explanation for why this happened, via Brad Townsend of Dallas Morning News.
“It's the approach of what we're going into,” Irving said. “Knowing that they're going to play four very high-paced quarters. They're not gonna slow down or get into the half-court too often. We know the plays that they run in the half-court, but when they're getting out in transition and getting the ball hopping a little bit, and Chet (Holmgren's) getting into a lot of drag screens or trail opportunities where he's attacking downhill, those are the things we have to clean up.”
With the Thunder's youth, it's no surprise that they like to heavily utilize fast breaks and transitions. Oklahoma City is the second youngest team in the league, via NBA.com. Younger players typically have more energy to run throughout the entire game.
“The attitude and the approach to those things happening, and then also being aware of our adjustments from that,” Irving continued. “If they score on one play that's one thing, but if they continue to come down and run the same play or run different actions going at different guys, then we just have to be prepared.”
It doesn't help that the Mavericks had an average-at-best defense during the regular season. Dallas ranked 18th with a 114.9 defensive rating, while the Thunder ranked third with a 118.3 offensive rating.
Will the Mavericks be able to adjust, or will the Thunder continue to blitz them out of the gym?
The Mavericks have their work cut out for them, but don't count them out
While Dallas doesn't specialize in defense, the duo of Irving and Luka Doncic scoring the basketball keeps it in the mix with anybody. However, neither one of them had a standout performance on Tuesday. Irving scored 20 points on 7-of-14 shooting, while Doncic contributed 19 on 6-of-19 shooting.
For the Mavs to have any chance of winning, they'll need at least one of their stars to have a standout game. Their supporting cast isn't consistent enough to hang with Oklahoma City's big three of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Holmgren, and Jalen Williams.
This goes back to Dallas's roster issues. Without a reliable supporting cast, any NBA team will eventually run into a wall. While Doncic and Irving may be one of the best duos ever, the likes of P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford aren't good enough to be primary role players on a championship team.
Even if the Mavs adjust defensively for Game 2, it's unlikely that they'll shut down the Thunder, or even hold them under 100 points. While Irving may be correct about the basketball concepts, a team can only do so much when it's outmanned. For Dallas to oust Oklahoma City, Irving and Doncic will probably have to move mountains.
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