End of 1. Good basketball so far. Mavs are up 34-33.
Giannis and Doncic both with 12.
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17 minutes into the game, Giannis has played 13 minutes and is at 18-7-3.
Bucks let a 55-44 lead shrink to a 60-58 halftime lead. A lot of missed deep 3s during the Mavs run
Stupid basketball to start the 3rd. Now down 5. Long 3s missed by Giannis and Lopez.
@MichiganPacker posted:Stupid basketball to start the 3rd. Now down 5. Long 3s missed by Giannis and Lopez.
Even more stupidity as Giannis pulls up for a long 2 - misses - easy shot in transition on the other end. Mavs open the second half on a 9-0 run and have now outscored the Bucks 23-5 over the end of the first and beginning of the second.
Adrian Griffin getting outcoached by Jason Kidd is a concern. Bucks look like they've never practiced on offense.
Bucks cut the lead from 12 to 2 with Giannis on the bench. They are MUCH better at moving the ball with him sitting.
Bucks are -14 in Giannis' minutes and +12 when he sits so far tonight.
Jason Kidd calls timeout - immediately gets a layup on a designed play - followed by a terrible offensive Bucks possession and an Irving and-one. Now down 7.
Kyrie scores 18 in the third. Lillard isn't a very good defender.
Giannis has not been good. The Bucks are -21 in his 26 minutes. The Bucks are +12 in the 10 minutes he's sat.
Adrian Griffin is an idiot. He challenged a foul on Cam Payne to start the 4th
A non-shooting foul. Cam Payne
Bucks cut it to 3.....
Giannis cuts it to 1 and he has 36. Bucks on an 11-2 run. Dallas Time-out
When Dame time really gets going it is unbelievable. Bucks up 8 now. Still a long ways to go though.
Kyrie hits a big 3 to cut it to 5
I love seeing Dame at the charity stripe in a Bucks Uniform 😁
Patty TIME!! Big 3's this quarter
WOWWWWW!!! GIANNIS WITH THE KEVIN DURANT STYLE MIDRANGE.
BUCKS BY 7 with 29.1 left
Bucks survive a game in which Luka and Kyrie both went off.
Connaughton is actually a decent matchup for Luka. Makes him work and stays down on the fakes.
Wow what an incredible 4Q
Pat C with a couple of huge 3s late
Giannis had a stretch in the 3rd where he was terrible for about 4-5 minutes. Held the ball on offense, bogged down the offense, and missed 3 long jumpers during a big Mavs run.
He ended up with 40-14-7 and went 18 for 26 from the floor.
Pat C with some big 3's in the 4th.
Giannis and Dame are devastating closers. When they get it all worked out. They are going to be very very tough to close out in a 7 game series
The Dame factor is such a game changer late, and it’s no small feat winning tonight given Doncic and Kyrie are two of the best bucket getters in the league.
The Bucks are 9-4 and can play a whole lot better.
I must have tuned in at the exact right time. They were down 10 in the 14th and went on like a 16-2 run. Man, seeing what this team is capable of doing in that stage of the game has me looking forward to June!
Considering no Middleton you put him in there with Dame and Giannis and who do you defend? They are doing all of this basically without playing 22 at all.
And Lillard is playing below his average so far with the last few games looking more like the dominant game wrecker that he is.
@Tschmack posted:Considering no Middleton you put him in there with Dame and Giannis and who do you defend? They are doing all of this basically without playing 22 at all.
And Lillard is playing below his average so far with the last few games looking more like the dominant game wrecker that he is.
Teams are routinely doubling Lillard as soon as he crosses half court to get the ball out of his hands. They try to force a pass that has some air under it so they have time to scramble back to build a wall for Giannis. Long-term what it means is that the other guys on the floor are going to have wide open shots at the 3 point line. They prioritize not leaving Middleton when he's on the floor so the all the rest of the options are going to get a lot of open shots.
You are seeing the results of that play out already on the efficiency guys are shooting from 3.
Cam Payne is 18 for 34 from three (52.9%)
Jae Crowder is 16 for 31 (51.6)
Beasley is 35 for 76 (46.1)
Beauchamp is 11 for 25 (44.0)
Green is 7 for 16 (43.8)
Jackson Jr. is not a great shooter, but he's 3 for 7 (42.9) because he can basically stand there for 3 seconds once he catches the ball
Connaughton struggled early but has crept up to 34% (16 for 47)
Portis started out really struggling, but is 9 for his last 19 from three (47.4) and now 11 for 34 overall.
Lopez is 21 for 62.
If the non-Big 3 guys all shoot like they have so far, a collective 138-332 (41.6%) from three, over the course of a playoff series, things will look good for the Bucks if they can provide any resistance on defense at all.