The GENIUS Defensive Adjustment From LUKA And The Mavs…
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The Mavs had a do or die game plan on defense. A radical approach that ended up working geniously for them.
But before even getting to that, it all started with their hounding one on one defense.
Look, this is the first minute of the game, and Derick Jones Jr is picking up PG way past half court.
The Clippers could not even look at the basket for this entire possession, for the full 24 seconds as we see Kyrie poking it out of Harden’s hands and forcing a shot clock violation.
Just look at these contests here both on Paul George and James Harden, the guys that went off for 66 points in the previous games, were only allowed 6 for 25 in this one.
A phenomenal job of honing in on Harden and PG, and great on ball defense.
But this was actually the trick for Dallas. The Mavs went all out on stopping these 2, clogging the paint and completely sagged off of the other Clippers players.
And there is probably no better example of that than this. Almost every Dallas defender is in the paint, and they’re not even looking at Westbrook as he’s all alone in the corner, he gets it, fires away and misses.
Check out where Doncic is on this dance by Harden. He’s clearly ready to help on the drive and not worrying about Terrance Mann being open here. So as the ball goes to him, Luka makes an effort to get back, Mann shoots and another miss.
Again, at this point it’s comical how Dallas is begging Russ to shoot, and he actually does it, allowing for some easy defensive possessions for the Mavs.
Even on the occasional make by the Clippers, there was no change of plan.
You can see that Kyrie is not even looking at Coffee, the focus is to help on the Harden penetration.
As we stop it right here both Coffee and Mann are completely wide open as the paint is packed.
Now, as we let it roll, the ball goes out, and he knocks down this 3 pointer, but Dallas did not panic whatsoever and stuck to their strategy. So what happened?
Well, at one point LA missed 16 3 pointers in a row. 16 straight. Watching all of this James Harden may have had an ugly flashback to the infamous game 7 against Golden State where his team missed 27 straight.
Some of it may be good fortune for the Mavs here, but a lot of these are definitely based on the good game plan, knowing who to focus on and who to leave open and invite him to shoot.
Then, there were also a lot of live turnovers leading to this.
Maaan, Kyrie doing ridiculous Kyrie things here in transition, toying with his opponents. And as it turned out, Luka was doing Luka things as well because…
Doncic had 35 in this game but it was the 10 assists for me, creating easy points for his teammates.
And it sure feels good when it’s one of those days and a role player steps up and helps the team by shooting absolutely lights out, which was Maxey Kleber in this one.
Kleber went 5 of 7 from downtown, that’s 15 bonus points on the road to secure a crucial game 5 win, now going back home with a chance to seal the deal in this tough first round matchup.
If the Mavs can get even close to what they did here defensively, they will be in a great position for a game 6 win.
This is peak playoffs, and we are getting peak playoff drama, with Lebron shocking everyone, hinting that this may have been his last game as a Laker. You gotta check out this video right here. Talk to you in the next one. Peace out.
45 Comments
I do know why you disrespectfully showed Kawhi's face for no reason.
As usual there is no off ball movement whan Harden is PG.
We gotta pay 55!
That's good and all, but it works for bad shooting teams or when the opponent has a bad night
CLIPPERS HAS A DEEPER AND BETTER DEFENSIVE TEAM. BUT MAVS HAVE THE BEST FINISHER NAMED UNCLE DREW.
Hej, nie klina… A Kleber! To Niemiec! Kleber! 🙂 peacew out!
Harden coming to the clippers really messed up russ. He isn't a shooter and needs the ball in his hands.
Clippers have 4 of the best iso superstars, and they were helpless
The NBA is a joke
Credit to the Mavs' defense, but PG and Harden do this everytime in the playoffs 😂
Heat check, why didn’t you make a video yesterday from all the crazy games on Tuesday? Oh, I know now! THE KNICKS LOST TO THE 76ERS!
Make defense great again
Kawi leonard tho
Paul George, James Harden & Russell Westbrook earned themselves the TRIPLE ‘Hot Garbage Treatment’ for their Game 5 performance 🔥🗑️
PG: 15 PTS, 4/13 FGM – 31%
Harden: 7 PTS, 2/12 FGM – 17%
Russ: 6 PTS, 2/11 FGM – 18%
A combined 8/36 FGM – 22% in the worst loss in Clippers franchise history…
radical approach, like Luka at least trying on defense lol
What happened to the Tuesday games
3:45 you can see Steve Balmer watching Luke like "please stop, no more"
Now clippers know what it feels like to miss a lot of 3s😂. So far mavs are below average in 3s. Theyre due for a game the clippers had twice
there’s no way the Clippers win this series man it’s over time to rebuild, and sign & trade both PG & Harden then trade Kawhi
Congrats to the Mavs for making the WCF
rategame for Android devices please
This a incompetent pretentious coaching, old frail Harden system and overrated PG.
Luka did his thing on a sore knee.
2:03 “the focus is on the harden penetration” PAUSE! 😅. White kyrie 🔥 basketball breakdown! learning alot from your analysis bro
Westbrook is so trash xD
Gameplan: Leave them wide open on 3s so they get confused, end up panicking and miss 😂😂
Defense wins championships. If only EVERY TEAM would focus on it the NBA WOULD BE MUCH BETTER
Why teams keep trying to win championship with westbrook???
This is so much better than watching the mainstream media channels! Thank you
Westbrick…lol
If the Clippers role players had made their shots, this would've been a completely different video🤷♂️🔄📽📲💻
WWE scripts
Clippers are number one in isolation frequency which means they rely heavily on their superstars.
so is luka doncic still sick when he plays bad.. and not injured/sick when he plays well
At this point, give us Mavericks vs Nuggets or Mavericks vs Timberwolves in the WCF
Defensive adjustment was to start playing defense… genius
Imagine if they said Luka go all out on D and let Rie cook for 50
Mavs got lucky. Clippers are generally a good three-point shooting team. A lot of factors are coming together for their failure.
Clippers need healthy Leonard
You can analyze all nice and stuff, but let's just admit this was another classic Harden playoff choke, shooting 2-12 and 1-7 from three for seven points, and chipping in four turnovers too.
That Kyrie steal and layup was so fire bro
how Westbrook is one of the best players that ever played the game and at the same time one of the worst key player to have in the offseason? amazzzing
Harden and westBRICK 😂😂😂
damn Mavs looking a pre-2010 defensive team. Bring this back please! Great adjustments by the mavs and Kleber stepping up in the crucial moments for a big game 5 win. Also Im convinced more and more Kyrie fits in really well with the Mavs, playing the best basketball in his career. May see a huge renegotiation of his contract next year no matter where they end up in the rest of the playoffs. Him and Luka make for a genuine duo and cant wait see more of them next season
Genius adjustments? Leaving non shooters shoot and clog the paint? Wat
Westbrook for 3! CLANGS