Heat left one out there and the Mavs couldn't rebound or shoot. Mavs better have a 6-8 point lead late in the 4th, or they won't win. Heat can sure close a game. Chandler and Peja particularly stunk it up. Chandler just has no heart to let Lebron dunk on him and not even try and foul with under 2.
The Mavs had a lot of open looks in this game that they missed. Shots that previously in these playoffs they had been knocking down with regularity.
Mavs are the weakest offensive presence around the basket that I have ever seen in the Finals. How many bunnies, floaters, jams, and layups did they shank? They didn't shoot well from anywhere, but you have to put in the closer shots. The Heat are not a great team by any standard. The Mavs just need to sack up. They can still get the second game. The Heat don't have a whole lot else to show.
Dallas getting outrebounded is nothing new. Thunder outrebounded them every game in last series. Difference was the FG%. Dallas shot only 37.3% from the field which was significantly lower than what they have been shootting. They have been on fire but Dirk and Barea were just off in game 1. If they play better then Dallas has a chance to win. I say chance, b/c Miami didn't play great either and still won by 8.
If the Mavs can't get more than 17 points off the bench, this series is over. That's pathetic, especially since the rest of the playoffs they've been getting 30 or better.
The Mavs could have easily taken game 1, but Chandler had 0 offensive rebounds and Peja goes 0-3 on open 3's. If he can't shoot, he shouldn't play and just play Stevenson there instead and be a little smaller. Not like Peja rebounds anyway. I just cringed the whole time he was in there. I thought Dirk played ok, not great, but good enough. It was the supporting cast that didn't get it done.
Dallas is in better shape than I thought once I checked the boxscore. The Dallas bench was 4-22. That's 18 misses. No way that happens twice in these playoffs. Dallas left alot of extremely short range, easy scores off the board. To me, for once, I just think nerves caught up to them a little. And being on the road when a small bout of nerves set in. It'll settle down for game 2. One of the biggest to blame for this loss in my eyes is Stojakovic. In 15 minutes on the floor he was worthless. Each of his three 3-pt misses came at times of huge momentum. Any of them would have been HUGE shots and a boost in our efforts. Instead all 3 misses killed momentum, and then he'd turn around and commit a dumb foul immediately after, making his misses basically 5 pointers. The dude just made costly mistake after mistake and was worthless out there. Final numbers...15 minutes, 0-3 shooting, 2 steals, and 3 personal fouls. And JJ wasn't much better with his 18 minutes. It was a very uncharacteristic night for the Dallas bench. Definitely one that should have gotten them beat by more than 8 points. They make 4 more of their easy shots and go 8-22 (still subpar 36%), and not 4-22 (18%)...and we have a tie game. Both teams played bad, but IMO, Dallas played much worse and still kept it relatively close.
This just in: Miami is good. Really enjoyed the first half - great defense and even good officiating. Hope Carlisle has some tricks up his sleeve for our offense. Can't help but believe Dirk will be even less effective with a splint - after all he drives left, shoots left at times. Very steep hill to climb but if Mavs can pull one out in Game 2, then we're right back in it. Got up at 4 am to watch in Istanbul this morning. So excited to see it on ESPN International. We'll take them one step at a time. Go Mavs! Hook'em!!!
took about 82 games for the Heat to gel. having to rely on a high FG percentage to get wins is going to be tough for the Mavs. A championship team finds ways to win even when they are not shooting the ball particulary well.
This game was nip and tuck until the last couple of minutes and was there for the taking. The Heat defense is pretty good, but Dallas did have numerous open looks that they failed to knock down. They don't have to shoot a high percentage to win, just a reasonable percentage.
pharmdude, do you just look for reasons to argue with me. I said COULD have easily won, not won easily. As in just make a few open shots that were there. I wasn't saying they could have easily won by 30, but that they could have easily won the game had they made a few open shots. Maybe easily is a bad word as no game will be easy for the Mavs, but that game was there for the taking. That is the worst game the Heat are going to play. Heat played well below what they are capable, just the Mavs played worse. Peja and Chandler like I said played unbelievably bad and Lebron and Wade had nothing to do with either of them sucking. Peja hasn't played well since the LA series. Not sure why that guy can't hit a 3 to save his life. He's got Miller on him for goodness sake.
Nothing has changed in the series since before it started. The Heat were supposed to hold home court in game 1...and they did. Neither team is behind the 8-ball until they drop one at home (if they haven't already stole one on road). The Mavs are still in normal position. However, they need to steal game 2 or face the daunting task of having to win 3-straight to hold their home court. The funny thing is how fast things could change. Dallas wins game 2 and now they have the advantage. Much basketball to be played.
What's the odds on Chandler getting ejected tonight. I figure he tries so hard to be tough after his prissy girl interpretation that he gets a flagrant 2 on Wade and gets tossed.
Yeah, I've never liked the 2-3-2 format. I guess they do it to minimize travel, but it is just weird.
Dirk is playing funky and I don't mean that in a get down good way. That obviously isn't their only problem, but without him playing well the Mavs have little hope. They are playing like they want Terry to suffer the pain of a tattoo removal.
Mavs finish the worst quarter I've seen them play in a long time on 12-4 run, partially offsetting the 9-0 run the Heat had to end the first half, and give themselves a chance. Down 4 with Terry contributing little and Dirk struggling is encouraging, especially considering Dirk and Terry are 3 of last 3. I am starting to ******* hate LeBron and Wade.
