asfixia ~ ersticken ~ étouffement ~ soffocamento

I thought Westbrook had a stretch in the first quarter that was garbage as well, but got overshadowed by the rest of his teammates hitting all their shots. I thought it was telling that the team was shootin something like 60% at halftime, and good old Russel was 6-13. Most shots on the team, on a night when your superstar (and eveyone else came out on fire) and you are under 50 percent. Also, fine job on missing 2 FT’s that could have stopped Dallas streak and made the OT non-existent you ball hog, shoot first, waste of space.

If Brooks leaves Maynor in the entire 4th quarter (who hadn’t done anything on this night) OKC wins the game, simply b/c Maynor doesn’t take anything off the table.

Just a car wreck of a finish for OKC. Also, I thought Durant got clobbererd many different times with no call, while Dirk got every single conceivable call, again. Was this Crawford’s crew bending over backwards to look like they were giving Dallas a fair whistle, with all the publicity about Dallas record and performance v the spread when he works their games?

We all knew the Thunder’s inexperience would rear its ugly head at some point. From being at the game, I can tell you that when Dirk heated up in the last 5 minutes, everyone on the Thunder bench, including the coaches, had a deer in the headlights look. The series is over but its been a great year for this talented and very young team.

Haunted by Shawn Kemp’s bastards, IMO.

I guess my prediction (posted here earlier) of Mavs in 5 is looking pretty good now, eh?

All I want is a good game for KD while my Mavs sail into the finals. Long suffering Mavs fans. How can one not pull for Dirk. Man he IS a beast!!!

I don’t think I’d ever call Dirk a beast. A very tall Iron Maiden fan, maybe.

“also, I thought Durant got clobbererd many different times with no call, while Dirk got every single conceivable call, again.”

Dirk shot 4 free throws in the 4th quarter (15 all game), and at least two of them were on a clear loose ball foul by Harden. I don’t remember if the foul on Collison at the end of regulation was a shooting foul or not.

Mostly, he just made every shot he took down the stretch.

There could have been a foul called on Marion on Durant’s last shot, but you don’t get that call when you jack up a half court 3 with 3.5 seconds on the clock. Putting this one on the refs is sour grapes.

Hard to say what’s happened to Russ. LIving in OKC, I’ve watched every game this season, and he overshadowed/outplayed Rose on the US team last summer and was the Thunder’s best player for the first couple of months this season. He’s regressed/caved to the pressure these last couple of months.

Yeah, typically Dirk only inspires awe and terror in one person in the entire arena at a time.

The one who has to guard him.

The refs had nothing to do with the outcome of this game.

It was all about what the Thunder didn’t do and what the Mavs did in the fourth quarter and OT.

Any other take regarding referees will be mocked, edited to make you even look more foolish, or we’ll just permanently change your handle to the Swiss translation for Toadvine.

It’s insufferable enough when the refs do botch a game and it happens all too regularly, but when they do their jobs and call a fair game try to appreciate it.

Usually I don’t care for pro sports, but it made me happy to see a TX team put a frown on the faces of Okies.

While Westbrook made a bunch of bad decisions late, this one is on Durant too. They tried several times to get him the ball late, but the best he could do was post his defender 25’ from the basket. And even there he was harassed. Everyone in the building knew Nowitski was going to get the ball on the other end, and yet he had little trouble doing so. Durant has got to get stronger so he can get the ball in better position to score. Nowitski provides a good model. It took him a decade+, but he’s there, and has been easily the playoff MVP.

In fairness, it would be nice if Durant had shooters around him like Dirk does. Harden fouling out killed that.

Go Mavs!!

The Thunder have had a great year for such a young team. They’ve managed to capture the hearts and minds of legions of bandwagon fans.

Whatever you want to call the move Dirk does from the top of the key where he spins and backs his man down to around the free throw line is unstoppable. He takes shot that are terrible looking and would get most players benched for attempting just one. Somehow most of them go in. I felt sorry for Collison in the 4th. Didn’t matter what he did.

KD is a brilliant player who may not possess the final piece to become a transcendent player — a certain level of assholeness. Can you imagine MJ putting up with that shit, even as a rookie?

Kevin needed to be in everyone’s face last night in the 4th quarter – coach included. Kevin needed to be attacking the rim. Somebody needed to be attacking. The Thunder had a 15-point lead with 5 minutes to go and Westbrook takes the only two free throws the rest of the game.

Really?

We saw the deferential Kevin in Austin, and as much as it is part of his wonderful personality, it will keep him from reaching his full on-court potential.

Kevin needs to demand the ball down the stretch. He will get calls at the end of the game if he is attacking, hell he probably gets the off-the-ball calls if he is fighting his way open.

This was a team effort, and it was in part because their 2nd-best player is the egotistical jerk when their best player needs to at least be able to display that trait on occasion.

I thought the placement of my bitch about Durant not getting the benefit of the doubt on a couple of call’s at the end of the game, and at the ass end of my comments clearly showed I wasn’t putting this game on the stripes as the main driver, to me it was and is RW refusing to run offense, hunting his shot all the time, not getting his teammates involved, not recognizing he has one of the top scorers on the planet on his team, etc etc.

That said- Durant’s last attempt could have been called a foul, as could a 3 attempt with about 4 minutes left when Dallas was starting their run- JVG even said as much- “That’s a foul- you have to call that.” Instead it led to a 5 point swing as Dallas got an easy run out. I’ve seen KD get that call all year long and he didn’t tonight. He also looked shocked at the lack of a whistle a couple of times, and I think that greatly contributed to his 9 TO’s (he certainly thought he was getting clobbered based upon reaction on his face).

The ref’s are not consistent in this league. I’ve long thought super stars got bailed out too much when driving into traffic, careening around and flailing their arms in the air. KD has been a huge beneficiary of this for a couple years, and he didn’t get any of those last night. Conversely, Durant gets held, jostled, bumped, mugged and wrapped up away from the ball, with little to no calls ever made except for the most egregious examples. I think this is backwards from the way the game should be. Call the defender for hugging him (shane battier) away from the ball, but don’t call the guy standing there with his arms up in the lane when the offensive player comes careeing out of control his way.

I’m not a Dallas fan, but I hope for that organization that they win it all this year if it can’t be KD and the Thunder (or my Rockets). Dirk has been a stalwart of the league, it’s his time and he desrves it. The super friends down in Miami winning it would bum me out, but it’s exactly what I expect to happen at this time.

This isn’t really about last night’s game per se, rather about the stirpes in general.

wyatt,

For those comments I’m performing a German bloodrite sacrifice on your DirecTV dish that’s been in my garage since last Fall. The result will be a form of telepathic Nowitzki kryptonite at my full command.

So I would just go ahead and order a new dish.

Why not just put Durant on the ball down the stretch and let him make plays? I don’t understand Brooks incessant use of Durant coming off screens to score. Plus I’m not a big fan of an offense totally predicated on a) KD getting open coming off a screen b) Westbrook not shooting and c) Westbrook actually finding KD. Screen and roll with Durant as a playmaker simplifies things a whole helluva lot especially down the stretch.

Good post Vash.

@TheBillWalton

The fact that Collison didn’t foul out showed the refs weren’t giving Dirk every call. The guy made contact on most of Dirk’s pump fakes down the stretch. Those shots very easily could have gone for 3 rather than 2. That was not a D Wade ref special on exhibition last night.

That one was tough to watch. Durant is far and away my favorite player in the NBA and I’ve been a huge critic of Westbrook – particularly between the ears.

This loss is on Durant, just as much as it is on Westbrook and not just for not being vocal enough. He had 9 turnovers last night (the last two being absolute back-breakers)! After his three to put them up 15, he didn’t score a single point for the final 5 minutes of reg or during OT (in fact, I’m not sure I even remember him attempting another 2 point shot). For as great as he looked early, he simply wilted late. Instead of getting to his spots, he settled and he missed.

True dat. He disappeared down the stretch. 1st Q was a thing of beauty but the Thunder seem incapable of putting together a full four quarters.

Tough loss to be sure.
 
Brooks has been a very good coach for a young team, but I wonder if the Thunder’s next level of development needs to happen under another coach.
 
His answer to the Mavs’ late 15-2 run appeared to be “get a defensive stop.” Same story, different verse from the Memphis series. Regular season NBA games just don’t have the defensive intensity of 4th period playoff basketball. OKC has fooled itself into believing that it can run halfcourt offense with just spacing and good talent.

“Durant has got to get stronger so he can get the ball in better position to score.”

When he took that fall where he braced himself with his wrist and ultimately landed on his elbow, I immediately wondered what would have happened to his arm had there been another 30+ lbs of muscle accelerating to the floor.

Scipio-

I hear what you are saying, but I’d give Scotty Brooks 1 more chance to see if he can take this experience and learn and grow from it, it’s his first time in the spotlight as well (as a coach anyway).

If they are making these same mistakes next year than I think seriously about axing him, if he doesn’t do some Rick Barnes type sould searching that you wrote about last offseason.

As a season ticket holder (sponging off dad ftw) during both rockets championship runs Brooks was a heady player. I’d like to think he can be that way as a coach, but this playoffs have left some things to be desired from my perspective.

Wulaw -
 
I completely agree. He could really use an offensive bench coach.

Jesus Christ, did somebody just page Del Harris?

Did anybody see KD’s post-game presser? I can’t remember the last time I heard a superstar athlete sound more defeated than that. Everyone is making good points about Scotty Brooks, Harden and certainly Westbrook. That said, Durant has to wear the Scarlet “L” for this one. As a Texas Ex, I want to see him succeed as much as anybody, but he’s got some growing up to do — physically and mentally — if he’s going to live up to billing. The contrast between what Dirk did in the last 5 minutes of the game and what KD didn’t do couldn’t be starker. It took Dirk a long time to develop that kind of testicular fortitude. I hope KD can learn a little quicker.

That was tough. Lot of guys sucked up the joint, but I’m already seeing too many posts about Westbrook being an asshole. Let’s ease up a little, shall we? He’s a 22 year old athlete that never played the pure point position until the pros. If he doesn’t get wise, it’s true he’ll be the undoing of the franchise, but for now calling him an egotistical jerk seems a bit much.

As has been said with Brooks, I’d say to give Westbrook another year to see if he starts to get it b/t the ears. Thunder were real disappointed last year after failing to “advantage themselves” (some Les Miles lingo for y’all) against the Lakers. They seemed to respond well this year, looking forward to next year even more so if there’s a season.

The “play” OKC “ran” with 6 seconds left in regulation should go on a how-not-to tape for young basketball coaches and players.

Their crunch time offense is literally to hand the ball to Durant or Westbrook and hope for the best.

Are you guys really talking about firing the Thunder coach? He has a team of teenagers in the WCF.

Jesus Christ.

Newy-

There are different guys for different roles in the NBA as a coach. Some guys get more out of younger talent and some guys can get more out of veterans.

The OKC roster is insanely talented in some spots, but they have some work cut out to do. Brooks might be the guy to get them to take the next step, or he might not- next year is very telling imo.

All he’s done in these playoffs is beat a 5 seed and an 8 seed, while having the 2 most talented players on the court. That isn’t bad, but it’s not an achievement that earns him a lifetime coaching gig either.

If they fail to progress next year I’d seriously think about getting a guy with some championship level pedigree. I’m not saying Brooks isn’t that guy, but he’s not clearly demonstrating to me that he is.

I am troubled by lack of coherent offensive sets, a possible fued/failure to recognize who the alpha dog/crunch time scorer is, and minute management with Perkins in this series (he serves almost no useful function against Dallas but he’s still getting large minutes with a staggeringly bad +/- ratio).

I’m not saying he needs to go, but I’m saying I’d watch him next year to see if he learns/improves. Do you disagree with the notion that he doesn’t have room for improvement?

Also, his “teenagers” all have 3 plus years in the NBA right now. They aren’t babies anymore.

Beowulf gets the NFL Films treatment.

A team of extremely talented teenagers, Newy. Their offense down the stretch was straight Barnsian, felt like I was watching a fucking twilight zone episode or something.

My macro take was youth wilting against experience, to the contrary of the “Age Difference” post here before the series. There is definitely a learning curve for young NBA teams as they move deeper into the playoffs. Like major championship golf versus regular Tour events, there is no comparing defensive intensity/ pressure in the 4th quarter of a big playoff game versus the regular season. You have to go through it (and fail at it) to learn how to deal with it.

Saw it with Houston losing some heartbreakers in the early 90’s followed by two rings. Dallas with Dirk reminds me a lot of those Rocket teams with Olajuwon. You get the feeling that the time is ripe for the Mavs and Dirk to do whatever is necessary.

Micro take is in synch with others here criticizing the lack of coherent half-court offense for OKC. Iso’s for Durant while everyone else spaces the floor won’t cut it at this level. Brooks has earned another shot with this team but he may need a Barnesian off-season of the soul and a talented X’s and O’s assistant.

I agree with the Mad Clapper. During the end of regulation I could have sworn I was watching Rick Barnes’ offense at Texas with no movement, the ball being handed off 28 feet from the basketball, and no one underneath in position to possibly pick up one of those random carems. Mix in a group of incredibly stupid fouls swiping at the ball after a Thunder player didn’t get their butts in position to rebound thus not only giving the Mavs points at the line, but stopping the clock.

All the said the final shot in regulation showed so much about the current state of the Thunder. No real organization to the play, Durant forced out way to far from the basket, Westbrook really not buying into the idea of picking Marion to give KD the clear shot.

1) I think Russell Westbrook has an inferiority complex. He’s been the man for so long that he feels like he should still be the man on this team. Kevin Durant steals his spotlight, and that simply can’t happen because to Russell success only comes when his game is the best game in town. It’s that problem that presents a latent issue with the Thunder offense.

2) Kevin Durant needs that problem. He needs to have a “me against the world” that Kobe and MJ and Magic had. He is raised so well off the court, but on the court he needs to turn his character off and become an a$$hole. His great character off the court is what prevents him from taking the ball and running the offense on the court.

3) That was a Hall of Fame sequence for Dirk. Hall. Of. Fame. Even Magic was speechless. Nick Collison’s defense was as good as it gets without fouling out, and Dirk singlehandedly finished that team. From the “screw you” 3 to the oblique baseline jumper to the multi-spin fade from God, Dirk tore the heart out of the Thunder team.

I hope Westbrook and Durant learn from this. Westbrook needs to learn to be more like Jason Kidd (facilitate, not dominate) and Durant needs to have the mindset of Kobe or even Antoine Walker (give me the ball EVERY TIME). If those happen, OKC is a title team because they have everything else.

Guys, the quick take that Brooks’s seat might be hot at this point astounds me. Lest we forget this Mavs team just de-pantsed the two time defending champs with the best coach of all time. OKC is a young team that feels like it’s got the right pieces to be a consistent powerhouse for years, but occasionally you’re going to run into a buzz saw, which the Mavs appear to be.

Make no mistake, that was an epic fail on the part of all last night, and all of the individual points y’all make are valid. But Brooks is doing a great job with a young team, it’s got a bright future, and he looks pretty secure.

Wulaw Horn said:
May 24th, 2011 at 7:08 am

“I thought Durant got clobbered many different times with no call, while Dirk got every single conceivable call, again. Was this Crawford’s crew bending over backwards to look like they were giving Dallas a fair whistle, with all the publicity about Dallas record and performance v the spread when he works their games?”

Really? Durant got clobbered many times and didn’t get a call? Refs bending over backwards to look like they were giving Dallas a fair whistle? Huh?

No mention of the Keystone cops ball boys wiping the floor for a 2-3 minutes span while Dirk waited to shoot free throws? They added 3 others "sweepers" and Thunder players and coaches were consulting them on where to wipe. I fully expected Bennie Hill to make an appearance. Not putting time back on the clock when J Kidd called a timeout at the end of regulation?

Wulaw Horn, you didn’t need to admit you were a Rockets fan… that was abundantly clear with you first post on the thread. Your anti everything Dallas stink was detected early.

Give the Mavs credit.

Being a Houstonian, now Dallasite, who has gone through all of Houston’s sports ups and downs, I couldn’t help but think that you can take Scott Brooks out of Houston, but you can’t take Houston out of Scott Brooks. He was clueless in last 4-5 minutes. As others have stated, OKC had one play: let Westrook dribble around and look for Durant at top of key with back against the goal.

Contrast that with the ACTUAL plays the Mavs ran, and it was clear Brooks was out of his element. And the last play in regulation was a disaster. Hate to admit Ag_in_Tx might be right: Mavs in 5.

Art, take a pill my man. I said if the rockets or okc can’t win I would be happy to see dallas win. I have no axe to grind against the mavs (they were irrelevant when the rockets were good) and like cuban and respect dirk
I am way more of a longhorn fan than any houston team. Hate the texans root for TJ Ford or KD when they play the rockets etc etc. Climb down, you are tilting at windmills

however this goes, we’re seeing the nucleus of a really great Thunder team for years to come. Durant and co. are just getting experience but they made it to the finals and really, they’re not done yet. We’ll really get to see that never say die attitude now. I don’t know how much we can celebrate coaches in the NBA—today we’re talking about this being the offense on the floor that Riley envisioned. Really? Lebron, Wade and Bosh—way to go all out. Hell anyone with a playstation can envision this. This looked more about Dirk than coaching. It doesn’t take much to feed Dirk the ball when he’s hot or down the stretch and no coach can call Kidd sidestepping and nailing a three much less the rebound disparity between the two clubs. The Thunder though are really showing us all that they’re the team to watch next year. They can score in bunches as they’ve proven, can spread the floor, get guards in the lane and hit the outside shot. If they can get some consistency outside other than Durant -a three or outside specialist- they’re not a good club, they’re great. But this is it for Dallas. An exciting time if you’re a Thunder fan— getting it under control down the stretch is something a young team has to learn. They’ll be fine.

There’s no need to over-react to any of this. The Mavericks lost an 18-point second-half lead to Portland in round 1, yet they’re easily the most experienced team in the playoffs.

Harden fouled out, and the Thunder made a mistake by replacing him with Sefolosha, so there wasn’t enough spacing on the floor. That’s it.

People seem to view these games like Durant, Dirk, LeBron and Rose are “Green Lanterns”, and that whichever player can “embrace the moment” and “overcome his fear” will be victorious. It really short-changes their teammates.

There was very little Durant could do after Harden fouled out; the Mavericks don’t respect the jumpers of any of the other guys he was on the floor with. If Durant decides to “take over”, Dallas can just double him with Sefolosha’s man.

Look at how the Chicago/Miami series changed with Haslem coming back in Game 2 — now the Heat have two big men who can knock down 15-foot jumpers, which spreads the court for LeBron and Wade and prevents Chicago from playing the kind of D the Mavs are playing on Durant.

Chicago doesn’t have anybody that can shoot consistently from the outside or they could win this. Korver makes me cringe. The center position isn’t producing offensively at all. Even with Haslem’s jumpers and Miller’s opportune 3’s, the game still went into overtime.

“After Game 4, Magic Johnson said that Dirk played ‘like he had three legs’. That’s just a nice way of saying he played like a black guy”. -Norm MacDonald

I want to throw up all over the pre series write up that favored OKC that conveniently didnt mention that Westbrook has an out of control ego

TexanNick -
 
Scotty Brooks isn’t on any hot seat. However, there are coaches that are well paired to the developmental stage of a team. Brooks is the perfect coach for the young Thunder. It’s not as clear to me that Brooks is the perfect coach for the mature Thunder.
 
Brooks needs to demonstrate that he can grow his game as much as Russell Westbrook.

Mysterious Package —

I wrote that write-up, and I really don’t think Westbrook’s ego has much to do with the Thunder’s problems. If you’ll remember, he sat at the end of Game 2 and didn’t say shit despite the media concern-trolling him to start a controversy.

Oklahoma’s problem isn’t that Westbrook won’t get Durant the ball; it’s spacing the court so that Durant has room to operate. There’s a reason their starting line-up keeps getting killed — they’ve got three iffy perimeter shooters around KD (Westbrook, Sefolosha and Ibaka) and a center whose barely able to make a lay-up.

OKC has to go small with Durant at the 4 to get enough shooting on the floor — that’s the line-up that won them Game 2, that almost brought them back in Game 3 (they played two bigs the entire first half and scored 30 (!!) points) and would have won them Game 4 if Harden hadn’t fouled out.

Scipio —

Completely agree about Brooks. The deeper you get into the playoffs, the more a weak-spot in your line-up is going to be exploited and, as a coach, you have to be able to make the adjustment. Why not put Maynor or Cook in the fourth quarter instead of Sefolosha? Kidd’s not an offensive threat and you can just slide Westbrook over to Terry.

First, after the fact people jumped off the Lakers wagon and then discredited the Lakers. I don’t think the Thunder could have swept the Lakers—and really, see it going 7 games because they had difficulty with the Lakers all year long. I honestly don’t know why the Mavs are doing as well because sometimes it really seems like one team catches fire. Honestly, I do contribute a lot to Marion because even when he doesn’t show up on the scorers card, he provides solid effort on the defensive end as does Chandler. Barrea is icing and helps alleviate the Harris trade. After watching CP3, Parker and Williams torch Kidd, the past years, I didn’t think he had it but then he hasn’t faced a guard that has had to make him pay. Rose would have. Miami doesn’t have that guy which is a position edge to Dallas but the rest I have to think about.

Perfect explanation tjarks.

A few other thoughts…

It really is amazing how much better Harden sees the floor than Westbrook. He needs to bring it every night, but he’s going to be a hell of a good third banana.

Unfortunately, Kendrick Perkins should not have been playing in this series. I’m really confused why it took the media/analysts all the way until the end of game 3 to figure that out. I can even accept the argument of starting him to set a tone, but 30 minutes? Really?!

The only real surprise for me was how much Dallas was able to throw off KD. Once the series moved to OKC, he never looked comfortable again. A real credit to Dallas. I thought they might be able to do that to him a couple games, but not for a whole series.

OKC is better than Dallas and they should be up 3-2 right now. But Dallas out-executed them and stole 2 games. OKC may have their flaws, but that’s youth; nothing more, nothing less. Before this year, they’d never even won a series (or a road playoff game). Getting this far was one hell of an achievement and they’ll be back plenty often. If I’m Sam Presti, I want a guy who can score on the block. Maybe that guy is Ibaka, but if not, I’m out there looking.

Should have said on & off the block. Ibaka is developing that 15 footer, but it’s not consistent yet. And I’ve never really seen him make a post-move. OKC needs a big that can consistently help them space the floor (for Durant, Westbrook, Harden) or get them an easy bucket in the post. The ability to do both would be ideal, but if they had someone that could do one, they’re probably winning this series.

“OKC is better than Dallas and they should be up 3-2 right now. But Dallas out-executed them and stole 2 games.”

How the hell can you even say this? They lost in five games. Being able to out execute is the mark of a better team.

So, as the only guy here who predicted Dallas would take this in 5, do I get a tote bag or something?

If you were the only one perhaps.

if i was OKC, i would honestly listen to trade offers for westbrook. i know he’s young etc but he is a 2 guard and a selfish one at that. he is immature and has a me first attitude, and while all great players have supreme confidence, the great ones typically don’t love themselves enough to hurt the team, i think he has and will continue to.

with his talent they could get someone special with a better attitude and better all around game, i don’t know who would be available this year, maybe next year they do it and let westbrook have one more year. i just don’t see westbrook and KD co-existing. OKC needs a point guard in the worst way who isn’t a turnover machine. i would also listen to people interested in perkins, another guy with a bad attitude.

OKC has such a young, exciting club and with a couple of changes i think would put them over the top, i just don’t think westbrook and perkins are the people who take you to the promised land. as far as fouling goes, collison could have fouled out twice every game if the refs were really calling it close. he spun dirk on every shot he took by grabbing his side, they rarely called it.

I’m rootng for the Mavs now, but they haven’t played a team with the offensive fiepower from 3 sources that also plays great D.

Dirk will get his, but the Heat has a two top shelf closers…LA (Kobe didn’t play like Kobe) didn’t and OKC sure as hell didn’t.

To Hiphop’s question above. I honestly don’t think Dallas realized how sorry a shooting team OKC is until Harden fouled out in game 3 and started their pattern of not being able to close the deal. After that, KD had no chance and he got swarmed and pushed off the floor…and I certainly don’t mean fouled…just roughed up, playoff style. Dallas never had to sweat double teaming him since OKC also has no well thought out plan for getting him the rock inside the arc with more than six seconds on the shot clock.

Westbrook, in addition to being selfish, has absolutely no feel for the game or even the moment. IMO, he is not the future.

who will guard dirk if the heat get there, and i think they will obviously, will it be james?

Newy, did you forget to read the very next sentence, or are you just struggling with your comprehension?

Hiphopopotamus,

What Newy is saying is that your comments are freaking silly. “OKC is better than Dallas” is not a smart thing to say. Comprende?

Matt Leinart is posting under the username Hiphopopotamus. That’s some asinine shit.

everytime Dallas wins, everybody looks at why the other team slipped up while miami and chicago are given the benefit of playing great defense and offense. Both Miami and Chicago couldn’t hit wide open looks with any kind of consistency.

Maybe I’m crazy, but this is how I saw the series.

Dallas outplayed OKC in games 1 & 3 and won both.

OKC outplayed Dallas in game 2 and won.

OKC outplayed Dallas for 90+% of games 4 & 5, but lost. Despite being outplayed during those games, Dallas hung around just enough to steal them at the end. Dallas deserves all the praise in the world for that and I’m taking NOTHING away from what they did. At the same time, I’m also saying that if you give me the exact same scenario next year (now that OKC has that experience under their belt), they’ll win this series. And that’s where they stand right now – they have their flaws, but they’re still as good or better than anyone. Unfortunately, they didn’t have the playoff chops yet because none of them had ever been there before. Dallas isn’t quite as “good,” but almost all of them had been there before and that was the ultimate difference.