The start of the 2024 NBA Playoffs saw the home teams get off to hot starts. They went 8-0 to start, that number stretched to 11-0 after the Cleveland Cavaliers, New York Knicks and Denver Nuggets protected their home court for a second time on Monday night.
Not only did the home teams win, they did it convincingly. The first nine games of the 2024 NBA Playoffs featured the home teams covering their spreads without a sweat. Several of the team went wire-to-wire, never trailing in the game.
Many teams had performances they would like to forget, but arguably the most disappointing was the Dallas Mavericks. They had a golden opportunity to seize control of their series against the Los Angeles Clippers despite not having a homecourt advantage.
NBA NEWS & RUMORS: Jason Kidd, Tim Hardaway, Dallas Mavericks Updates
As the No. 5 seed, there were a lot of analysts who believed the Mavericks were favorites in the series with the Clippers not having Kawhi Leonard in the lineup. Leonard’s availability for the series is up in the air as he deals with inflammation in his knee.
Despite that advantage, Dallas laid an egg in Game 1. They trailed by as many as 29 points in the game, eventually losing 109-97. They looked better in the second half, but the hole they dug themselves into was just too deep to climb out of as they spent the last 36:39 of the game behind by double digits.
It was an ugly performance that has drawn the ire of some onlookers. One of the people who ripped the Mavericks is former NBA star Tim Hardaway. His son, Tim Hardaway Jr., is on Dallas and he has not been shy about sharing his opinions on the team before.
This time, it was the team’s offensive game plan that the elder Hardaway was picking apart. He didn’t like what Dallas brought to the court on Sunday afternoon, saying the NCAA Champion UConn Huskies had a better offense than the Mavericks.
NBA NEWS & RUMORS: Jason Kidd, Tim Hardaway, Dallas Mavericks Updates
There is some truth to what Hardaway was saying. The Mavericks are heavily reliant on Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving running a lot of pick-and-rolls and isolations, which can lead to other players getting iced out of the offense just standing around.
If the Mavericks want to do any damage in the NBA Playoffs, they need other players to step up. There were times during the game when Doncic was getting visibly frustrated with his teammates, and as a leader, he needed to hold those emotions in check.
It will be interesting to see what Kidd changes with his game plan. Going small did help get them on track in the second half, and the Mavericks could turn to that earlier in the game. They cannot afford to get off to as slow of a start as they did in Game 1.
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