This Game 1 of the series enters Oklahoma City And Dallas once again showed the “atypical” qualities of this Thunder. Certainly, Luka Doncic is clearly slowing down, but OKC won several decisive battles in this match, notably dominating on the rebound (52-39), which is not the great strength of this team.
Mark Daigneault's wide rotation was also useful, with the contribution of Aaron Wiggins (16 points) and the other shooters (Isaiah Joe and Cason Wallace) as well as Jaylin Williams under the circle.
As against the Pelicans, it all starts with Lu Dort, whose defensive energy on Luka Doncic sets the tone.
“He’s simply a warrior.”, explains his coach. “He brings juice every night. Doncic is a very tough matchup, and a great player who failed to develop his best game tonight. He's going to play better than that later, but Lu really gave him a hard time. »
“We know this is a heavyweight match. To think that we are going to go through matches or a series without receiving any blows is simply unrealistic”
For Kyrie Irving, the energy of Oklahoma City is also a problem. Because there is no time-out or breathing possible against this young team, which constantly seeks to put pressure on the opponent.
“We have to play a complete game against this young OKC team, because they have endless energy”, “Uncle Drew” commented. “They will never stop attacking. »
An infinite energy which allows him to give decisive impulses in important moments, notably when Dallas came back below ten points eight minutes from the end of the match.
“It’s a muscle that we developed”concludes Mark Daigneault. “A lot of it comes from the respect we have for the opponent, but we know it's a heavyweight match. To think that we will go through matches or a series without receiving any blows is simply unrealistic. It's a long series. »
