What the Dallas Mavericks and the Portland Trail Blazers said
after Game 1.
And who wouldn't believe multiple sources?
As for the game, well, Dirk went Dirk. Also, Jason Kidd is already over the cap on his Points for the Series. Well done.
(Pics will be late,in the meantime, n-joy DocFunk)
Quotes
Mavericks
Coach Rick Carlisle
(On the Win) "It was very tough. The 10-point lead at halftime was deceiving because it just didn't feel like much of a cushion because of how the game was being played."
(On the game) "This game tonight is typical of how they’re going to be — down six with however much time left. We had to go on a significant run to win the game, which was significant for us and great. But it’s two good teams that are experienced, and the games are going to be very competitive."
(On Dirk's three) "I thought the most important shot of the game was the 3 [Nowitzki] hit in the right corner that took us from down two to up one. That really energized our building and energized our team, and from that point we started to really get some stops and consistently. He stayed with it, and when we talk about the importance of persistence on our team, he was a great example of that tonight, because it wasn’t going great necessarily the whole game. These games are going to test you that way."
(On Dirk) "When we talk about the importance of persistence on our team, he was a great example of that tonight. These games are going to test you that way."
(On Aldridge) "He's a great player, so great players are going to score. We've gotta work to take away the lob dunks."
(On Kidd's game) "Spectacular. We had some guys that didn’t play their best games, but Jason Kidd played the game of the year to this point. Every shot he made, every play he made was absolutely essential for us. His leadership is something you can’t quantify."
(On if he felt like he brought Kidd back sooner than he wanted to in the 4th) "I've got a strong believe in the other guys that were out there. In a lot of ways, they did a lot of good things."
Jason Kidd
(On his shooting) "I got lucky and made some shots tonight."
(On him taking 14 shots) "They want me to be aggressive. We all know that Dirk and Jet are offensive guys and they put the ball up. But in the playoffs you have to have other guys step up and score and I know that our opponents are going to give me that jump shot and I have to be able to knock it down. Tonight was a good example of that."
(On the Playoffs) "What the playoffs is all about is pressure. And there’s always gonna be somebody that steps up as the X-factor or somebody unknown. And as Dirk would say in the locker room he told me that they didn’t have me on the board for scoring 24 points tonight. So, I guess I was the X-factor in the game, but in the playoffs there’s always gonna be somebody that makes a shot or gets hot that isn’t looked upon or in the scouting report. So, I’m just happy that it was somebody on our team that did that tonight."
(On LMA) "Aldridge got a lot of easy baskets in that first half, especially that first quarter. But we've got to make it tough. I mean, he touches the ball for a reason. We just have to make it a little bit tougher and make other guys score."
(On confidence in Dirk) "No matter how bad it's going - we believe he's going to do the right thing."
(On Portlands 3-point shooting) "We just tried to contest shots. We were very fortunate that they missed tonight."
(On if there will be enough time between now and Game 2 to rest up) "Yeah, I'm young."
(On the officials and foul calls) "This is the playoffs. You've just got to play through it."
(On complaining about those two) "I don't think the officials were a favorite to either team. Both teams are going to complain about fouls during a game. That's what we do."
Tyson Chandler
(On the late rally) "For us to come off with a big stop there and we were down 6 and we go on to make that run, that is huge for our confidence right now."
(On the Game) "Neither team is going to lay down and these are the wins that you gut out and are proud of after you get them."
Dirk Nowitzki
(On the Seriesopener) "This is a big win, but this game means nothing if you lose Game 2. That’s what we did last year here, we only split Games 1 and 2 against San Antonio and then ended up losing in six. So, definitely good to know that we didn’t shoot the ball well, but still find a way to win this one. As we know they’re very good at home. They’re one of the best home teams in the league, their fans are phenomal. So, we’d love to go up there and be up 2-0."
(On his subpar start) "I think I forced a couple of things there in the first half that just weren't there."
(On his game) "Just really kept on plugging. I've got to keep going. The team told me to keep attacking and things will start happening."
(On what kept Wallace in check) "I think Trix is still one of the best perimeter defenders this league has."
Jason Terry
(On small backcourt vs big backcourt) "When we come in with that second unit, they’re going to post us up. There’s no secret about that. That is their advantage. They have guards that are bigger than us. We just have to do a better job of playing them without fouling them."
(On defending Roy) "They only went at him two or three times, but I just tried to use my speed and quickness. I had great help behind me. That was big."
(On the Mavs shooting droughts) "It wasn’t frustrating at all, it was encouraging actually because we weren’t scoring and neither were they. We were locking up pretty good. When they did get a couple of baskets and took the lead, we held our ground and we continued to communicate. And we knew if we got them to a close game anywhere in the game, our guys could do good things."
(On Dirk's 4th) "He just took over. We’ve seen it before."
DeShawn Stevenson
(On the opening play) "Coach gave me the first play, I was lucky to get it."
(On his role) "I'm just out there playing, and my role is to play defense until JET gets in there and knock down open shots. That's my role and that’s what I'm going to do."
(On limiting the Blazers backcourt) "We just went out there and try to cut off Matthews' shots. Miller got off on a couple of shots."
(On Kidd's game) "I think it was a tremendous game. To see a guy out there who is 38 do the things he do is unbelievable. To go out there and shoot threes like that and get us in the game was big."
Blazers
Coach McMillan
(On Dirk's 4th) "It's no secret where the ball is going to go in the fourth quarter."
(On crying FOUL!) "The free throws, I just don't get that. It's hard for our guys to know how to play out there when it's called a little different. The difference was 19-2 in the fourth quarter. And I felt like we were attacking and guys really didn't know how to play with the fouls that we're being called. A lot of touch fouls and I thought that gave them momentum and pretty much gave them control of the game in the fourth quarter. This game was pretty much decided at the line in the fourth quarter."
Gerald Wallace
(On being frustrated by the officiating) "I was more confused. And I'm still confused."
(On his game) "Horrible. For me, personally, I felt like I struggled the whole game. I wasn't able to help my team in any areas. But from a team standpoint, I felt like we let this one slip away."
LMA
(On the game) "A tough one to lose. We had control down the stretch, but they got a lot of easy free throws down the stretch that allowed them to come back. We beat ourselves tonight so we've just got to come back and be more solid next time."
(On How) "They marched to the free-throw line, got easy baskets with the clock stopped, giving them momentum and the game shifted in their favor."
(On if the Mavs suddenly became more agressive in the 4th) "They didn't turn up any aggressiveness. They just got there. They played the same way the whole game."
(And Dirk? Did he drive more?) "He was driving the whole game. He just got fouled more in the fourth. But, he was driving the whole game. We just did a good job of containing him. In the fourth quarter, I guess he did a better job of just drawing the foul."
(On the feeling after the game) "We just had to stay solid down the stretch and we didn't. But when you have a chance to win it always makes you feel better."
Brandon Roy
(On Kidd) "Nobody thinks of him as a shooter. We didn't predict him to make six. Want me to predict the weather?"
Marcus Camby
(On the 4th) "Dirk came alive."
(On the Game) "We can definitely play a whole lot better. I think we only scored like 81 points or something like that. We held those guys down. They shot a low percentage (40.9%) also. A couple of plays here and there, and the outcome might have been different."
(On the Blazers Mind) "There’s no panic. We know we let one get away, but we can’t let this one linger for the next two days [that] we’re down here. I wish we could get right back at it tomorrow and play again, but we’ll watch tape tomorrow, regroup and get our composure back and try to put on a better performance come Tuesday night."
Vids
Game Recap
Presser
POR Locker
Podium
Links
MMB | Rottcap: Kiddirk4tw!
Jason Kidd hit six threes in this game - which is his career playoff record. He ended the game with 24 points, two steals, four assists and five rebounds. The Mavericks were able to maintain their composure as the game came down to the wire, and with a few trips to the line, they finished it out with a hard-fought victory.
Blazersedge, Recap | Media Row (m8be)
In a Nutshell
The Blazers ugly up the game for three quarters, containing Dirk Nowitzki at the apparently acceptable cost of letting Dallas three-point shooters free. In classic fashion Nowitzki explodes in crunch time, scoring from everywhere on the court plus the foul line. Portland can neither muster the defense to stop him nor the offense to keep pace, losing a six point fourth quarter lead while surrendering the crucial plays to the Mavericks.
Notable Developments
You also saw tonight in the deciding minutes the difference between playoff experience and less playoff experience. The Blazers have talent. The Mavericks had poise and control. Nowitzki, Kidd, Terry, even Shawn Marion somewhat...they all looked like they knew what they were doing in those final six minutes. The Blazers were back to hoping on offense and reaching on defense. Surety beat hope, as it almost always does. Dallas looked discouraged but at no time did they panic. The Blazers looked panicky at the front and back ends of this game with some excellent play in the middle. That won't get it done.
Hoopdata Boxscore (Holy Smokes: DAL 4-12 at the Rim, POR 15-23) | Notes
Dallas won treys by a startling 10-2 margin. The full season averages were 7.9 to 6.3 coming in. Can the Mavs count on Jason Kidd nailing six a game? The final score in 1's and 2's was Portland 75-51. Dallas did grade out well in guarding the perimeter the other day. Portland probably won't be quite this bad again though (a woeful 2 of 16 behind the arc).
Portland Roundball Society Outliers
And to hear Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle tell it, game one could be a model for the series. "This game tonight is typical of how they’re going to be," Carlisle said.
I disagree.
While Blazers-Mavericks series figures be full of swings and tightly fought, pressure-filled moments, there were to many discrepancies and outliers in Saturday’s game to form a mold. If they do, however, coach Nate McMillan’s head will probably explode.
[...]
All that said, the Blazers should have hope, if not momentum. Erasing a double-digit lead on an opponent’s home floor should be a confidence builder. And considering all the strange discrepancies, from free-throw to three-point shooting, that this game was even within reach at all is somewhat of a victory in and of itself.
BDL BtB
And though Dirk Nowitzki came through with a brilliant fourth quarter following that swoon (16 points, all over the court, fantastic spacing for Dallas), this is the sort of thing we saw all year from Dallas. They're very good, but not great, offensively. Same on the other end.
They had enough on Saturday, though. And though Blazers coach Nate McMillan was complaining about a free throw disparity following the game, I watched this contest with my glasses all the way on, and did I miss a hack or 12 that wasn't called? Because I know I saw Portland miss 14 of 16 threes, Gerald Wallace(notes) act kind of hesitant on his flips and finishes, and I know we saw a "one of those nights" game from Brandon Roy(notes) as he missed six of seven shots. I did see Tyson Chandler(notes) illegally guard LaMarcus Aldridge(notes) with two arms to the back two times, but that was about it.
NBAPlaybook Quick Hitter
PTB This one's going to be rough
You’re going to read about Nowitzki’s 18 in the fourth, and Jason Kidd‘s crack shooting (?!) leading to 24 points. And those were certainly memorable moments. But if you want to look at what spun this game, it was a matter of matchups. And those same matchups are what’s going to make this a long, painful series.
And in part, you have to turn a confused eye towards Rick Carlisle. With 3:15 left in the third, the Mavericks were starting to unravel. Starters had played most of the third quarter, and so he decided to give them a rest. But instead of rotating them out in a process, Carlisle ran a PG-SG-SF-PF that featured the following players: Jose Juan Barea, Jason Terry, Peja Stojakovic, and Shawn Marion with either Tyson Chandler or Brendan Haywood. Look at that lineup again. That’s a wackadoodle lineup.
During the eight minute stretch where Carlisle ran that lineup, the Mavericks were a -9. Once Barea exited and Carlisle went back to Kidd-Terry-Matrix-Dirk-Chandler, the ship righted itself and the Mavericks finished off 11-2 and 5-0 runs to put the game away. Had he held on to that bizarre lineup which I can find no evidence has existed this entire season for the Mavericks any longer, the game could have been lost. That’s not exactly the time to get frisky with your lineups. Carlisle flirted with the devil in the pale moonlight and lived to tell the tale.
2MG's Difference
This is a win to appreciate, but the reasons for concern were quite apparent. Dallas was as fantastic from three-point range (.526) as Portland was horrible (.125), largely because Jason Kidd (24 points, 9-14 FG, 6-10 3FG, four assists, five rebounds) caught fire and Nicolas Batum (14 points, 6-14 FG, 1-7 3FG) now only holds vague memories of what it’s like to be a three-point shooter. The shooting percentages of both players and both teams are likely to equalize, and though it’s not impossible to fathom that Kidd could be a reasonably effective scorer for the span of an entire series, relying on that idea seems like an especially dangerous proposition. Kidd’s scoring production will inevitably wane, and when it does, Dallas will need more than 10 points from Jason Terry and more than six points from Shawn Marion. The unpredictability of the Maverick offense can work in their favor on some occasions (Who would expect this kind of outburst from Kidd?), but not without a caveat of uncertainty; it’s not a matter of which supporting player will assist Dirk on a given night, but if one will at all. There are plenty of capable scorers on Dallas’ roster, but the reason why we applaud Kidd for his 24 points is the opposite of the reason why we applaud Nowitzki for his 28.
Stats
FT-Watch
Haywood bricked all of two from the line. Celebration for our third-best Center, Beaches! [nsfw]
Dirk and Chandler each missed zero FTs. Terry stepped up and missed 2
20-20-4 Watch
Chandler 4-9-2, Haywood 2-6-1. Mahinmi DNP-Playoffs/French. Looking really good...
Field Goals
Mavs 27, Blazers 35 ....Oi!
PIP-Boys
POR 46 DAL 18 . Yay for FTS!
Bonus or Malus, depending on your view.
Disclaimer: If you couldn't tell by now, all italic sentences are made up thoughts, not actual quotes. Also, i work all day and i sleep all night...
Finally....KneeJerk Recap (TM) Jonthefon v2.01
The Mavs (beat/
lost to) [the Portland Trail Blazers]¹ tonight (thanks to/despite)totol reliance onDirk’s Awesomeness. The (cloud in the silver lining/major culprit) once moreas usualwas the (reliabilty on) lack of support from his team-mates, with the exception of Jason Kidd/Jason Terry². Especially useless was Jose Barea/Tyson Chandler/Brian Cardinal/Brendan Haywood/DeShawn Stevenson³ and it is (GUESS WHAT) THEY’RE ALMOST NOT ALL USELESS!
¹ Inserted Opponent
² Only one of them, mind you.
³ Two at the minimum, up to all six seven of them.