OKLAHOMA CITY – Tim Hardaway Jr. scored just two points in 17 minutes on Tuesday in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals.
Yet, after Wednesday’s workout, the Mavericks’ shooting guard was all smiles.
The last time the Mavericks went beyond the first round of the playoffs, Hardaway was a bystander, dealing with a broken bone in his left foot.
When he went down after playing just six minutes in Game 2 of the first-round series against the Los Angeles Clippers with a sprained right ankle, Hardaway understandably had flashbacks.
He would miss the final four games of the first round.
But he was back on Tuesday. And all smiles on Wednesday, looking forward to the Mavericks “taking care of business” in Game 2 on Thursday.
“Two weeks exactly,” he said of the time off. “Just grateful, I’d say. Appreciative for sure with the group of guys we have, especially them taking care of business (in the first round) and allowing myself to have a chance to play in these playoffs. So, happy.”
Hardaway’s shooting is something the Mavericks could certainly use against Oklahoma City, which took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series on Tuesday with a 117-95 win.
Hardaway’s shooting runs in streaks. But when he’s on, few can fill it up like he can.
He said he expects to be “a lot more confident” on the floor in his second game back, having successfully gotten out of Game 1 without incident.
“Being able to go out there and feel the physicality of being on defense and offense – a lot of grabbing, a lot of holding,” he said. “I’m just extremely happy to be able to accept the challenge. I missed a couple years ago and I’m looking forward to it now.
“For the most part I feel fine. I had two or three practices before we came here and felt great. Chet (Holmgren) fell on me on that one play, but the tape job held up, so it was good.”
Hardaway wasted no time reintroducing himself to the playoffs. On the Mavericks’ first possession after he entered the game at the start of the second quarter, he squirted into the paint and converted a tough layup.
“That play wasn’t for me, it was just a read,” Hardaway said. “I just knew for a fact how they’re playing me – they’re not really coming off of me when I come into a game. So just reading the defense, giving our playmakers a read and it just so happened I was the first option coming off. I thought, you’re open, so make a play.”
And so he did.
And Hardaway expects more of the same from the aggressive, youthful Thunder, who are not interested in leaving Hardaway open on the perimeter to take free looks at three-pointers.
Hardaway said the Mavericks can learn a lot from Game 1, but mostly he thinks the Thunder are wise beyond their years.
“They’re young, but they play smart,” he said. “They play aggressive and the play together. Being able to translate their preparation onto the floor at such a young age, they do a great job with X’s and O’s.
“That’s what happens when you have guys that are young. They hang out with one another, I’m assuming. They’ve been together for a few years now. Every time a new draft pick comes in, they mesh right with the team. You just credit their staff and player development. They play the right way and it starts with the head of the snake, SGA (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander), and everybody feeds off that.”
Still a beast: For any Mavericks’ observers who think that Luka Dončić is impaired by the right knee sprain he is dealing with, allow Thunder big man Jaylin Williams to retort.
“To me, he still looked like Luka,” Williams said after OKC’s workout Wednesday morning. “He was hitting tough shots, he was playmaking, he was doing everything he does on the offensive side. At the end of the day, we just got to play team defense.”
That team defense helped force Luka into 1-of-8 shooting from three-point range. He’s been struggling from long distance since suffering the injury in Game 2 against the Clippers.
So is there a key to the Thunder’s defense on Luka?
“We play really good team defense,” Williams said. “And Lu (Dort) pressuring the ball. We have a lot of guys that are great on the ball. Luka’s a great player and we just got to attack him with five. It’s a team defense and when we’re playing team defense, that’s when we’re at our best.”
Not listening to the noise: The Thunder had a terrific home crowd working behind them in Game 1. And both teams noticed.
“It’s insane,” said Williams. “I get chill bumps every time I go out there. Growing up close to here, seeing the crowds from (afar in) Arkansas and now being a part of it? It’s insane.
“We feed of the crowd and play with fire.”
The Mavericks don’t really get rattled by it on the court. Communicating should be easier by this point in the season. A lot of defensive rotations are second nature.
But they did acknowledge that the crowd was big.
“It was definitely loud,” Hardaway said. “And I know it’s going to be louder (in Game 2). You just got to embrace it. That’s what happens when you get to this part of the season. The crowd’s going to get loud. They took care of business yesterday. Now we got to do our job and try to steal one (Thursday).”
Briefly: Williams on the Thunder’s outlook after going up 1-0: “We look at it as zero-zero. We can’t get too excited about one win. A team might win the first two games and then lose the next four.” . . . From the small-world department: Williams grew up and went to high school in Fort Smith, Ark., just across the border from Oklahoma. Mavs’ center Daniel Gafford grew up in El Dorado, Ark., on the southern border of the state. Gafford is four years older than Williams, but the younger player knew about Gafford as both would end up attending Arkansas. “He was older than me. But I was in ninth game and he played against my high school that I eventually went to and I think it was him against Isaiah (Joe, the Thunder reserve guard),” Williams said. “They were playing against each other and I was at that game watching.” . . . For the fatalists among you, the teams that lose the first two games of a best-of-seven series lose the match 92.1 percent of the time (314-27).
X: @ESefko
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