The GENIUS Defensive Adjustment From LUKA And The Mavs...

Join me on RateGame: https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id6477869711?pt=126905374&ct=Heat%20Check%201&mt=8 The Mavs had a do or die game plan on defense. A radical approach that ended up working geniously for them. But before even getting to that, it all started with their hounding one on one defense. Look, this is the first minute of the game, and Derick Jones Jr is picking up PG way past half court. The Clippers could not even look at the basket for this entire possession, for the full 24 seconds as we see Kyrie poking it out of Harden’s hands and forcing a shot clock violation. Just look at these contests here both on Paul George and James Harden, the guys that went off for 66 points in the previous games, were only allowed 6 for 25 in this one. A phenomenal job of honing in on Harden and PG, and great on ball defense. But this was actually the trick for Dallas. The Mavs went all out on stopping these 2, clogging the paint and completely sagged off of the other Clippers players. And there is probably no better example of that than this. Almost every Dallas defender is in the paint, and they’re not even looking at Westbrook as he’s all alone in the corner, he gets it, fires away and misses. Check out where Doncic is on this dance by Harden. He’s clearly ready to help on the drive and not worrying about Terrance Mann being open here. So as the ball goes to him, Luka makes an effort to get back, Mann shoots and another miss. Again, at this point it’s comical how Dallas is begging Russ to shoot, and he actually does it, allowing for some easy defensive possessions for the Mavs. Even on the occasional make by the Clippers, there was no change of plan. You can see that Kyrie is not even looking at Coffee, the focus is to help on the Harden penetration. As we stop it right here both Coffee and Mann are completely wide open as the paint is packed. Now, as we let it roll, the ball goes out, and he knocks down this 3 pointer, but Dallas did not panic whatsoever and stuck to their strategy. So what happened? Well, at one point LA missed 16 3 pointers in a row. 16 straight. Watching all of this James Harden may have had an ugly flashback to the infamous game 7 against Golden State where his team missed 27 straight. Some of it may be good fortune for the Mavs here, but a lot of these are definitely based on the good game plan, knowing who to focus on and who to leave open and invite him to shoot. Then, there were also a lot of live turnovers leading to this. Maaan, Kyrie doing ridiculous Kyrie things here in transition, toying with his opponents. And as it turned out, Luka was doing Luka things as well because… Doncic had 35 in this game but it was the 10 assists for me, creating easy points for his teammates. And it sure feels good when it’s one of those days and a role player steps up and helps the team by shooting absolutely lights out, which was Maxey Kleber in this one. Kleber went 5 of 7 from downtown, that’s 15 bonus points on the road to secure a crucial game 5 win, now going back home with a chance to seal the deal in this tough first round matchup. If the Mavs can get even close to what they did here defensively, they will be in a great position for a game 6 win. This is peak playoffs, and we are getting peak playoff drama, with Lebron shocking everyone, hinting that this may have been his last game as a Laker. You gotta check out this video right here. Talk to you in the next one. Peace out.