Stoppage or simple breakdown? Serious fatigue or simply a stronger opponent? THE Mavericks will undoubtedly be able to find various explanations to justify the setback in Oklahoma City.
Despite the trips, the Texans had the wind at their backs since they remained on seven consecutive victories, and even on 11 victories in their last 12 outings. But they hit a wall against an over-motivated Thunder against a team that had beaten them in the last playoffs, and again a month ago.
“For some reason our energy level was low. And they hit hard », notes Jason Kidd when he returns to the start of the third quarter. “They took the lead after the break. The guys continued to fight but we couldn't get over the obstacle. »
The 13-2 at the start of the second half effectively killed the Mavericks generally weighed down by lost balls (18, transformed into 36 points by Oklahoma City) in this quarter-final of the NBA Cup.
“It's the best defense in the league, and the best at intercepting or deflecting balls. They did their job and we didn't know how to take care of the ball. We got ourselves into difficulty”regrets the coach, who specifies that his players had “lucky enough to find solutions in the face of a lot of lost balls but there, we were fooled”.
Less energy than the Thunder
Kyrie Irving and Klay Thompson were not bad, rather skillful even, but the two did not make clear differences. It was almost Naji Marshall, with his 19 points coming off the bench, who had the most impact. “They just had more energy. They wanted more and it’s our fault”confirms the latter.
As for Luka Doncic, he was suffocated, only being able to breathe at the end of the match when the Thunder's qualification was assured. Before that, he suffered against quick two-man catches as soon as he passed midfield, or against a very sticky Luguentz Dort.
With 16 points at 5/15 on the shoot and 6 lost balls, the Slovenian had one of his worst matches of the season.
“I made some bad passes. I have to be more careful. I can't lose six balls, it's unacceptable.”he recognizes, being the symbol of this missed meeting for Dallas, which sees its series of seven victories come to an end, before a double clash, Thursday and Saturday, against the Clippers at home.
