If you’re a Mavs fan, your stress level is pretty high after that Game 1 loss at OKC, as your team simply got ran over. Luka Doncic is clearly bothered by that knee sprain which limited his mobility in the Clippers series, some analysts have even gone so far in say that he should rest a game or two in this series to recover. I’m not sure that’s a good idea, the Thunder could go up by 2 or 3 games by the time he is back. Kyrie Irving will have to step up and be way better than the 20 points he delivered in the opener, without their two superstars combining for 80-ish points I can’t see Dallas being competitive here. They’ve recorded just 1 win in the last 6 meetings, plus in their last 5 visits to OKC they’ve covered only once.
Not winning the MVP award was a blow for OKC fans and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, but I don’t think that’ll have a negative effect on the young superstar. In fact, I think it’ll be the opposite. SGA had one of the historically great offensive seasons, I’m sure as a team player he would rather win the championship as opposed to getting a individual award. He shot just 42% in Game 1 en route to his 29 points, but with Doncic’s limited mobility on defense he should be able to continue racking up the numbers in this series. The Thunder just look like a more well rounded team at this point. They can score from distance as well as on the inside, plus the rebounding advantage is clearly on their side after they won that battle 52-39 on Tuesday.
