Thunder put away the Mavs in five, 118-104
It wasn’t emphatic. It wasn’t excellent.
But it was effective.
The Thunder are done with the Mavericks after five games, and on to San Antonio to play the Spurs. We’ll get to that. But first, let’s talk about this Game 5, and this series. Here’s what I think we learned:
1) Russell Westbrook isn’t a superstar. He’s a superstarrrrrrrrrrrrr. So yeah, Mark Cuban said some silly things pregame and Westbrook proved those even sillier with his colossus of a game — 36-12-9 — stomping out every Mavs comeback attempt in the fourth quarter. If Cuban was trying to mentally hijack Westbrook, it failed miserably and in the meantime, probably messed up any slim chance he had to get a meeting with Kevin Durant this summer. Because as you’ve surely seen, when asked about Cuban’s comments, Durant jumped in for Westbrook.
“Hold up,” he said. “He’s an idiot. He’s an idiot. Don’t listen to him. Alright. That’s what we’ve got to say about that. He’s an idiot. Next question.”
Well, that’s settled.
2) Durant didn’t have the best series. He didn’t shoot the ball well, but he did a lot of other important stuff. In Game 5, he had 33, but still never was entirely in rhythm, it seemed. But his defense was as good as its been, especially in the second half, switching between J.J. Barea, Wes Matthews and Dirk. That kind of versatility is rare, and Durant allowed the Thunder to play different lineups and catch the Mavs in a bunch of mismatched rotations.
3) The Thunder bench might be a playoff bench. It was inconsistent in the regular season. The advertised depth didn’t pan out. But in this series, Enes Kanter and Dion Waiters specifically, were monstrous. Kanter carried Games 3 and 4, Waiters was good throughout. Kanter only five points in 12 minutes tonight, but Waiters was solid with 11, which included 3-6 from 3. Waiters has almost entirely cut out midrange jumpers this postseason, focusing on paint attacks and 3s. If he’s going to do that, he could be even more important against the Spurs.
4) Serge Ibaka was… good. Up until Game 5, Ibaka was excellent. He was back to shooting the ball well, and his defense was on standard. Tonight, he scored two points on 0-4 shooting in 30 minutes. But he’s always been important against the Spurs, so fingers crossed.
5) The Mavs were beat up. And low on talent. But they still gave the Thunder a good push. Tonight’s game was a good example. The Thunder seemed to coast, lapsing on defense and giving up uncharacteristic offensive rebounds. The Mavs trimmed the lead to three with five minutes left, then four with three minutes left. Andre Roberson came up with a big putback off a terrible possession to bump the lead back to six, then Durant hit a series of jumpers to put it away. I guess it was good execution to close. Whatever it was, the Thunder finished a tight fourth quarter game.
6) Again, is it a bad sign that the Thunder needed five games to beat the Mavs? Well, there’s also this: The Thunder won by an average of 18.2 points, the fifth highest series margin in the last 10 years, and the largest ever — beating 9.2 against the Lakers in 2012 — in Thunder history. So while yeah, there were some rough spots, the Thunder obliterated the Mavs in the end. Does it mean anything for the future? Well, we’ll have to wait and see what happens this weekend.
NOTES:
- The Thunder’s starting five has been their best lineup all season — and really, one of the best in the NBA — but like John Schuhmann pointed out, it’s only played a little more than 20 minutes in the fourth quarter all season. That’s a weird thing. Donovan closed with it tonight, and it was effective. Why haven’t we seen it more? Donovan talked about space and matchups, which is a way to say he’s afraid teams are gonna load up on Durant and Westbrook with Roberson out there. But really, and this is something I’ve talked about on the Animal, Donovan has kind of tried to hedge his bets with his crunchtime lineups, going with a “defensive” group — meaning Adams over Kanter — while playing an “offensive” player like Waiters or Foye. But maybe he should be going full defense, or full offense. The starting five is a total commitment to defense, and while the offense might suffer, good defense creates transition opportunities, which alleviates the need to execute in the halfcourt. Something to think about.
- In some ways, Game 5 felt like a tune-up for the Spurs, with Billy Donovan throwing out some previously unseen lineups, like using rookie Cameron Payne and more of an Enes Kanter/Steven Adams frontcourt. We even saw a little Payne/Westbrook backcourt, if only for a minute or so.
- Westbrook was asked about Charlie Villanueva standing behind him pregame: “Yeah, he said a lot. But now he gets to go home and do whatever he needs to do to get ready for next year to sit down and watch 82 more games like he did this year.”
- The first half defense was so, so poor. I couldn’t get over it.
- Only eight turnovers tonight. The Thunder are doing that thing again where they get their turnovers under control in the playoffs.
- The Thunder put Steven Adams on Dirk for really the first time in the series. Maybe as a little warmup for LaMarcus Aldridge? Because if Adams can guard Aldridge, that allows the Thunder a lot of different lineup options.
- Donovan on Westbrook: “He’s a superstar person.” Billy, laying it on thick.
- So apparently they’re sticking with the sleeves thing, despite losing in Game 2.
- Hey, Rick Carlisle started Justin Anderson. I said to do that. I’m smart like Rick Carlisle. Everyone take note of this.
- Salute to Dirk. My favorite ever.
- Spurs-Thunder. Again. Oh man. I’m so ready.
Next up: Game 1 in San Antonio on Saturday
