Tim Hardaway Jr. is shooting his way off the Dallas Mavericks, something his father won’t like to hear.
The small forward who came to the Mavs as part of the trade for Kristaps Porzingis, once a crucial component of the team’s future success, has ran into what appears to be a brick ceiling. A few things have emerged as the Mavericks’ second-round playoff series against the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder has progressed:
First off, Luka Doncic is closer to Batman than he is a bad guy. Wednesday night, in the Mavs’ decisive victory against OKC, one-legged Doncic tallied 31 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 assists. He tried to stop complaining to the officials, and it’s no accident that he had his best postseason performance to date. By defeating the Thunder on Saturday night at the American Airlines Center, the Mavs can wrap up this series and go to the Western Conference Finals. No. 2: Mark Daigneault of OKC is being outcoached by Mavericks coach Jason Kidd. This series would have ended in Game 4 if the Mavs had made any of their free throws.
When Daigneault decided to bench starting Josh Giddey prior to Game 5, he set off a chain reaction. Giddey has started all 210 games in his three-year NBA career, but it was clear in Game 3 that he has no business being in this series. That is possible in a series consisting of seven games. Lineups are determined by matchups, and players are exposed. Furthermore, Giddey should have been established by Daigneault. Get him going and get him outside early. On the other hand, Kidd made a significant change by moving Jaden Hardy to the bench, which reduced Hardaway’s amount of available playing time. Seeing Hardaway sit and Hardy play was a telling switch.
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