PLAYOFF REVIEW

PORTLAND TRAILBLAZERS v DALLAS MAVERICKS

JOEL v LJ

Any coming up against the reigning Champ is bound to be worried, but I am sure the Mavericks had some confidence in their squad and when you have names like Kevin Durant and Kristaps Porzingis I would too. 

However, no matter what names you have on your roster, you would always be worried coming up against a trio of James Harden, Kawhi Leonard and Russel Westbrook. The biggest of big threes in the NSL and Portland�s season record of 78 wins proves that.

Dallas were coming of an almost sweep in the first round of the playoffs, only dropping one match against the Los Angeles Clippers. Portland, as expected by most won their first series in straight sets, sweeping the Houston Rockets.

Both teams, clearly in good form now need to face each other in the second round of the Western Conference Finals.

Game 1

LINEUPS

DALLAS MAVERICKS

PG - Dennis Schroder

SG � Fred Van Vleet

SF � Kelly Oubre

PF � Kevin Durant

C - Kristaps Porzingis

PORTLAND TRAILBLAZERS

PG - Russell Westbrook

SG � James Harden

SF � Kent Bazemore

PF � Willie Cauley-Stein

C � Dwight Howard

Final Score - DALLAS 110 - PORTLAND 128

If I was the Mavericks GM, I would be counting my lucky stars that Kawhi Leonard�s injury status was still up in the year and resulted in him not being able to suit up for game 1.

The guard matchups for Dallas don�t look to good on paper, with Fred and Dennis having to try to contain Harden and Westy. That is unless Oubre will get the task of guarding one of those two hall of famers.

However, we all know Schroder is more than confident in his abilities, recent proof that he turned down his option in search of a 100 plus million-dollar deal. In this game maybe he showed he is worth it, going toe to toe against Westbrook and outscoring him by one point, scoring 33.  Though I wouldn�t say he had the better game, seeing as Westbrook put up a 32 point triple double.

Whether is was FVV or Oubre guarding Harden, they had a tough day at the office. Harden went nuts, putting up 41 points on very good shooting.

On the other side, as expected Kevin Durant was a difficult match up for whoever was guarding him. Joel seems to get the best out of Willie, so id imagine he was tasked with KD. Durant ended up with 39 points and 3 blocks.

The match was lost by Dallas due to their lack of bench production. Cam Johnson, Chuma Okeke, Khem Birch, Jordan McLaughlin all played a combined total of 68 minutes and they only managed to score a total of 7 points. If they want to compete the bench will desperately need to find ways to score a lot more than this.

Game 2

DALLAS MAVERICKS 0 - PORTLAND TRAILBLAZERS 1

LINEUPS

DALLAS MAVERICKS

PG - Dennis Schroder

SG � Fred Van Vleet

SF � Kelly Oubre

PF � Kevin Durant

C - Kristaps Porzingis

PORTLAND TRAILBLAZERS

PG - James Harden

SG � Kent Bazemore

SF � Kawhi Leonard

PF � Willie Cauley-Stein

C � Dwight Howard

The Mavericks stuck to their game plan and rolled on with the same line up as game 1. 

The Portland Trailblazers Christmas came early when they got the news that Leonard will become active and available for this one, and straight into the starting line up he went. Sending Westy who had a monster game in the previous one to the bench. I wonder if he is on board with the coaching decision or he pulled and Carmelo Anthony and didn�t want to play off the bench. I am sure Joel with his silver tongue, spun it in way that Russell came out thinking the move was his idea.

Final Score - DALLAS 138 - PORTLAND 139

A much closer battle in this one, that truly came down to the wire.

Kevin Durant did all he could to get his team over the line in this one, scoring 47 points with another 3 blocks. They had great contributions from almost all the other starters. KP, Schroder and FVV all played well, scoring a combined total of 70 points between them.

We can�t say the same for Kelly Oubre, who has not handled the bright lights of the playoffs well so far. He has only totalled 12 points in game 1 and 2. Maybe his looming free agency is weighing on his mind. Whatever it is, he needs to get past it, and find a way to contribute.

Also, like game 1, Dallas got little contribution from their bench, which is somewhat concerning and costly.

Sources have shared that in close matches like this one, GM Joel pulls a Billy Bean and turns of the stream, choosing not to watch it. Unsure if that is out of superstition or frustration, but maybe it worked.

The big three had nice games, Kawhi netted 26 points in his first game back which is a good sign. Westy did his thing and Harden put up 37 points. Howard scored in double figures again, but the difference is the steady contributions from the supporting cast. There is nothing that jumps off the page, but the rest of the squad all chip in, and in this game that was the difference.

Game 3

DALLAS MAVERICKS 0 - PORTLAND TRAILBLAZERS 2

LINEUPS

DALLAS MAVERICKS

PG - Dennis Schroder

SG � Fred Van Vleet

SF � Kelly Oubre

PF � Kevin Durant

C - Kristaps Porzingis

PORTLAND TRAILBLAZERS

PG � Russell Westbrook

SG � James Harden

SF � Kawhi Leonard

PF � Willie Cauley-Stein

C � Dwight Howard

With Portland winning the first two games of the series, the Dallas Mavericks again made no changes to their starting line-up, instead sticking to their guns and pushing forward.

This shows the audacity of Joel, usually a winning team doesn�t mess with too much, but after each victory Portland have continued to tinker with their line-up. Although they won�t the last match, Joel was not pleased that Westbrook did not finish the game on the court, hence Russell being thrust back into the starting line-up. The big three, Kawhi, Harden and Westbrook all lining up, side by side in the starting line-up. I don�t know if a more intimidating 1 through 3 has ever existed. 

Final Score - DALLAS 103 - PORTLAND 128

The death squad line-up for Portland obviously worked. This game was over by three quarter time, with Portland being up by 33 points and the starters barely playing in the fourth.

We got the usual production from the names we expect to hear, but the surprise contributor was Dwight Howard, who turned back the clock and put together 18 points with 10 rebounds, on an incredibly efficient 8-9 shooting. 

The Portland starters production and efficiency was all too much for Dallas. Besides Van Vleet, no one really contributed in a way worth mentioning. Shooting efficiency was fairly poor across the board. The team as a whole shot 38-94 from the field, only a touch over 40%, whereas Portland shot over 51% for the game.

If Dallas are to save themselves from the Wrath of Portland and a clean sweep. They are really going to have to do better than this one. 

Game 4

DALLAS MAVERICKS 0 - PORTLAND TRAILBLAZERS 3

LINEUPS

DALLAS MAVERICKS

PG - Dennis Schroder

SG � Fred Van Vleet

SF � Kelly Oubre

PF � Kevin Durant

C - Kristaps Porzingis

PORTLAND TRAILBLAZERS

PG � Russell Westbrook

SG � James Harden

SF � Kawhi Leonard

PF � Willie Cauley-Stein

C � Dwight Howard

Both teams are continuing with the same line-up in this one. Which makes sense for the Trailblazers, who rolled Dallas in the previous one. Perhaps a shake up for Dallas might have been on the cards, seeing they have lost three straight games and are on the verge of their season coming to an end. 

This reminds me of a quote from the famous Albert Einstein, �The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.�.

I understand that any efforts made to topple Portland might be futile, but making some changes couldn�t hurt in my opinion.  Perhaps shifting Oubre to the bench might spark him into being more aggressive and scoring the ball. 

Final Score - DALLAS 108 - PORTLAND 135

Portland continue on from game three and take this one easy again.  The Blazers lead by 15 at half time and then 26 at three quarter time. If we thought Blazers were efficient in the last game they took it to a whole new level in this one. They shot almost 60% percent from the field as a team.

Big boy Dwight Howard, stayed red hot, scoring 20 points, with 16 rebounds, 2 steals and 3 blocks. A throw back to All Star Dwight, shooting a perfect 10 of 10 from the field. 

Westbrook dished at a tasty 15 assists, while Leonard kept improving and playing into some form, putting up 36 points.

Neither teams bench�s were much of a factor and the this one was wont by the Portland starting unit.

Kevin Durant should hold his head high, he battled to the end, scoring a game high 38 points. Another dismal performance from Kelly Oubre, he shot 3-14 from the field and was the biggest negative in the plus/minus stats.

The Blazers were just too strong and well rounded for the Dallas Mavericks.

SERIES REVIEW

As most expected, the 78 win Blazers were just too powerful for Dallas in this series. 

As mentioned, Kevin Durant tried to carry the team and lead the series in scoring. Finishing with averages of over 35 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 2.5 blocks. Numbers like this aren�t exactly a surprise as he is one of the best scorers to ever play the game.  Kristaps, The Unicorn was somewhat disappointing for Dallas, Finishing fourth in the team in scoring averages, behind Schroder and Van Vleet.

A huge disappointment for the series was Kelly Oubre. He is still fairly young and has shown flashes of his potential, but in this series, he embarrassed himself. He had a season average of 6.5 points and not much else. His future will be interesting being an unrestricted free agent this off season.

The blazers train just keeps on chugging along, although chugging makes it seem like its moving along slowly. They�re more like a bullet train or some sort of juggernaut than a chugging train. They have played the minimal amount of games in both their series, sweeping them both. 

The next match up against the San Antonio Spurs will be the match up of the finals, maybe even bigger than the final itself. Sorry, that�s silly of me to say. I am just excited for the match up of the two top teams in the league. I am sure Nelson is confident in his squad and so he should be, but anyone coming up against the Blazers must always be at least a little worried.

PLAYER OF THE SERIES

James Harden

Fear the bear. James had it going all series, even with his running man Kawhi out for the start of the series, he managed to get it done every night.

James finished the series with averages of 33 points, 3.5 rebounds and almost 6 assists. He was efficient all throughout the games and kept constant pressure on the Dallas defence, which I can only imagine was a nightmare for the Mavericks guards. 

Obviously, the other members of their big three, Westbrook and Leonard, deserve some credit. Combined for the series they averaged a collective 84.7 points. A tall order for any team to compete with that. Hopefully the Blazers are healthy going forward with the status of Kawhi under great debate.