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Dallas Mavericks Have Yet To Win a Game 1 Under Jason Kidd, Is It A Concern?
Dallas is now 0-5 in Game 1s under Coach Kidd after losing to the Thunder Tuesday night
Austin Veazey | May 8, 2024
May 7, 2024; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd talks to guard Luka Doncic (77)
May 7, 2024; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd talks to guard Luka Doncic (77) / Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports
With Tuesday’s 117-95 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Dallas Mavericks are now 0-5 in Game 1s of any NBA Playoff series under Jason Kidd, but they’ve won 3 of the 4 playoffs series he’s been a part of as a coach so far. So is it a concern?
“It’s a series. No one wins the series just by winning one game,” Coach Kidd said to media following Game 1. “We got a game Thursday. We’ll go back to the drawing board and see what we can do better. We got to give a better effort on both sides, not just the defensive end. We got to be better on the offensive end.”
READ MORE: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Leads OKC Thunder to Blowout Victory Over Dallas Mavs in Game 1 of Series
Things happen throughout a game and series and it can be a different reason for each loss. In this loss against the Thunder, you could point to Oklahoma City’s second-half three-point shooting, Dallas’ turnovers, or just Dallas not doing their job consistently or with enough effort.
“This Game 1 is done, we didn’t play as well as we would have liked. We failed on a lot of our coverages, and we didn’t come in with the attitude that was necessary to get this W,” Kyrie Irving said Tuesday night. “So, the pressure that they were putting on was definitely attributed to their excitement. But I think in Game 2, we just have to settle in a lot earlier and be able to withstand some of their 3-point barrages that they get off of our long 3s that end up coming around the free-throw line or some of our turnovers. I had too many turnovers tonight, especially in that first quarter, just trying to get my guy settled. So there are some things to look back on, but the defensive pressure is not going to stop. So we just got to adjust.”
There were still some curious decisions, such as Jason Kidd deciding to go small without Maxi Kleber for the series with Luka Doncic, Irving, Derrick Jones Jr., Tim Hardaway Jr., and PJ Washington. Hardaway has struggled recently and this was his first game back following an ankle injury. He didn’t help his cause by finishing with just 2 points on 1/5 shooting.
“At the end of the day, one team’s gotta get to four wins, right?” Luka Doncic asked the media after Tuesday’s game. “Obviously, we’d like to have Game 1, but you just gotta watch film and move on to the next one. There’s a new game in two days, so we got another chance to win.”
Luka Doncic is also far from playing at 100% strength, playing through a knee sprain. He won’t use it as an excuse for his poor performance in these last few games of the playoffs but Coach Kidd may have to adjust around his injury so he’s not settling for 3s. As Irving said, OKC was getting out in transition from long rebounds off Dallas’ missed 3s and Doncic was 1/8 from Deep in Game 1, bringing his postseason percentage from 3 down to 22.7%.
“We just got to move on to the next one. I got to be better,” Doncic also said in his press conference after Game 1. “We got to be better… We’re known for Game 1 struggling, but we got to focus…”
Dallas is 2-2 in Game 2s under Coach Kidd and a win Thursday night would give them a lot of momentum as the series shifts back to Dallas after that. The Mavericks made it a 1-point game midway through the third quarter of Game 1 before OKC took off; a fresh start is all they need.
Game 2 will be at 8:30 p.m. CST from Paycom Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
READ MORE: Nikola Jokic Wins Historic Third NBA MVP Over Luka Doncic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Stick with MavericksGameday for more coverage of the Dallas Mavericks throughout the NBA Playoffs
Follow Austin Veazey on Twitter
Published May 8, 2024
Austin Veazey
AUSTIN VEAZEY
Lead basketball writer; Former FSU Men’s Basketball Manager from 2016-2019
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