OKLAHOMA CITY – Are the Dallas Mavericks flustered because they dropped Game 1 of their best-of-seven Western Conference
semifinals against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday, 117-95? Sure, they are.
But not to the point where they’re ready to pack their bags and call it a season.
“If it was just (a) one-game (series), we would be out,” coach Jason Kidd said following Wednesday’s practice at the Paycom Center. “It’s a (seven-game) series.
“We’re on the road. We lost Game 1. We have to learn from that. We have to be better in Game 2.”
Since Kidd became the Mavs’ coach in 2021, they went into this series against OKC with Game 1 losses in four series. And the Mavs re-grouped and fought back to win those series three times.
In 2022, the Mavs lost Game 1 against Utah in the first round, but won that series in six games. That same year the Mavs dropped Games 1 and 2 to Phoenix in the conference semifinals, but battled back and captured that series in seven games.
Also in 2022, the Mavs lost the first three games of the Western Conference Finals to Golden State before losing that series in five games to a Warriors’ team that went on to win the NBA title.
And in the first round of this year’s playoffs, the Mavs dropped Game 1 to the Los Angeles Clippers, but rose like a phoenix and won that series in six games. So they’re hoping that trend continues.
Kidd is a master at making adjustments following a loss in Game 1 of a series. And the Mavs know losses in a series opener have no bearing on how that particular series will play itself out.
“It’s Game 1 and it’s at (the Thunder’s) place,” guard Josh Green said. “It’s very similar to the last series (against the Clippers). We all still got our confidence. We’re ready to go.
“Just come out the next game and make sure we don’t have the second quarter that we had the last time. It’s about us making the adjustments that we need to make and come out and play harder.”
Game 2 is Thursday at 8:30 p.m. at the Paycom Center. And from Kidd’s perspective, the adjustments they must make are fixable, which is what watching tape of Game 1 on Wednesday was dedicated to.
Kidd knows the Mavs missed too many open shots, blew too many defensive assignments and gave up way too many offensive rebo
unds to a Thunder team that is not classified as a great rebounding team. The sellout crowd was very loud, but Kidd said that had no bearing on his players’ inabilities to communicate more effectively on the court.
“We’ve got to be better on the defensive end,” Kidd said. “We didn’t have great balance. Not to say it was the noise.
“But there’s going to be some breakdowns and you’ve got to be able to minimize those. Just looking at the tape and talking about it today as a team, we can be better. So that’s a good thing.”
Tuesday was the fewest points the Mavs scored in a game that both Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving played in since Jan. 1 when they lost in Utah, 127-90. The Mavs made adjustments in Wednesday’s practice to give the offense and defense a smoother look.
“We watched a lot of film this morning as to what we need to go through,” Green said. “And then now we’re on the court working on what we need to work on individually, and it’s been a good day and it’s been productive.
“To me, it’s making sure that I’m coming in every game with as much energy as I can. Whether that’s zero shots or 10 shots, I need to make sure I’m playing with the same energy and putting in the effort.”
Green added that putting in the effort means “making the right reads on the defensive end and following our principles. I think overall just playing hard.”
What also got under the Mavs’ skin in the aftermath of Game 1’s debacle is that an OKC team that ranked 27th in the NBA in rebounding this season was able to out-rebound the Mavs, 52-39. That includes a 16-11 advantage on the offensive end of the floor.
OKC had six players grab at least five rebounds in Game 1.
“They shouldn’t be having that many offensive rebounds,” Green said. “We need to box out and make sure we’re hitting them first.
“They’ve got one big guy (in Holmgren), but a lot of pesky guards. So, we’ve got to make sure we’re able to box them out.”
And also remember that one game does not a series make.
Here are some other nuggets surrounding Game 2 between the Mavs and Thunder.
“Mavs point guard Luka Dončić is listed as probable with a sprained right knee that hampered his movement and production and causes him some 
pain in the series opener. Kidd said Dončić did “everything” at Wednesday’s practice session. Also, center/forward Maxi Kleber (right shoulder AC joint separation) and forward Olivier-Maxence Prosper (left ankle sprain) will miss Game 2.
*Tuesday’s game was just the fifth for the Thunder since their regular season finale against the Mavs on April 14. The other games occurred during their four-game sweep of the New Orleans Pelicans in the first round of the playoffs. Thus, the Thunder have benefited from having tons of rest.
*The Mavs’ Luka Dončić finished third in the voting for the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award, which was announced Wednesday. Denver’s Nikola Jokic won the MVP for the third time in four seasons, and OKC’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finished second. Jokic collected 79 first-place votes and 926 points, Gilgeous-Alexander had 15 first-place votes and 640 points, and Dončić finished with four first-place votes and 566 points.
*One thing coach Jason Kidd noticed on film – although he also noticed it while it was happening live – is that the Mavs didn’t get up and down the court in Game 1 fast enough. And they missed too many wide-open looks at the basket. “We got some great looks that didn’t go down for us,” Kidd said. “And our pace was probably a little slower than what we wanted it to be.”
*The Thunder haven’t allowed more than 95 points in any of their five playoff games. In addition to the 117-95 win over the Mavs on Tuesday, the Thunder beat the Pelicans in the two games in OKC in the first round of the playoffs – 94-92 and 124-92. They also beat the Pelicans twice in New Orleans – 106-85 and 97-89.
*The Mavs will host Games 3 and 4 of this series at American Airlines Center. Game 3 is Saturday at 2:30 p.m. and will be televised on ABC, and
Game 4 is Monday at 8:30 p.m. and will be televised on TNT.
*OKC led the NBA in three-point shooting this season at 38.9 percent. In Game 1, they shot 45.7 percent from downtown (16-of-35), but the Mavs are hoping to force them into taking less three-pointers. “They don’t shoot a lot of them, but they shoot a high percentage,” coach Jason Kidd said. “There are ones that we’ve got to be able to close out better and recognize who’s shooting them. Being able to load up on Shai (Gilgeous-Alexander) and (Jalen) Williams, you’ve got to also understand who’s out on the perimeter, and we just have to be better at that.”
*In giving the Thunder their deserved credit, guard Josh Green said: “They’re a very young and talented team. They play very fast, and I think we have to play just as fast as them and I think we will.”
DALLAS MAVERICKS (0-1) at OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER (1-0)
When: 8:30 p.m., Thursday
Where: Paycom Center, Oklahoma City
TV: ESPN
Radio: KEGL 97.1 FM The Eagle; 99.1 FM Zona MX (Spanish)
X: @DwainPrice
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