Dallas is now 1-6 in playoff series openers under coach Jason Kidd, so there was no cause for alarm following the Game 1 loss in Boston, writes Tim MacMahon of ESPN. The Mavericks suffered double-digit defeats in their first games against the Clippers and Thunder on their way to the NBA Finals, MacMahon notes, and they rebounded with road victories in Game 2 each time. So it was business as usual at Saturday’s practice.
“There’s no panic with this group,” Kidd said. “We didn’t play well in Game 1. Give credit to Boston; they did. But it’s a series. We don’t just look or capitalize on just one game. We’ve lost Game 1 a lot of times, and we’ve responded. We believe that we can respond in Game 2.”
The team’s resiliency starts with Luka Doncic, who holds the highest scoring average in Game 2s in playoff history at 33.9 PPG, according to MacMahon. That number rises to 34.3 following a loss. Doncic put up 30 points on Thursday night, but he was limited to one assist, and Kidd has urged him to “take the layups” if the Celtics continue to focus on preventing him from throwing lobs or passes to corner shooters.
“I think just be a little bit more aggressive,” Doncic said. “I think we all came out for the game with little energy. So I think we have to be better with our energy, especially from the start.”
There’s more on the Mavericks:
- After a subpar Game 1, Dereck Lively II got some words of encouragement via text message from former Dallas center Tyson Chandler, per Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports. Chandler, who has become a mentor for Lively, didn’t want the rookie center to get discouraged after foul trouble helped limit him to two points and five rebounds. “All he’s telling me to do is the little things, no matter if that’s hitting them on the box-out or being able to talk to my teammates on the backside,” Lively said. “Just doing the little things so that everybody is connected on the court, so we’re not leaving anybody behind.”
- Meeting with reporters on Friday, commissioner Adam Silver addressed Kyrie Irving‘s apology for endorsing an antisemitic film in Brooklyn two years ago and his journey toward reinstatement, relays Sam Amick of The Athletic. Irving had to complete six “action items” before he could return to the league, and Silver was convinced that he remorse he showed was genuine. “I felt comfortable vouching for him, in essence, because I knew him,” Silver said. “I knew his character and felt that it was important that — while he acknowledged that he had made a mistake — that his entire career and character not be framed by one bad moment. I mean, having said that, he paid a price, of course, for that misstep. But he did a lot (to make amends).”
- Tim Cato of The Athletic looks at the role Mavericks assistant God Shammgod played in forging a successful on-court partnership between Irving and Doncic.
God Shammgod ?!?!?!