Dallas’ weakness exposed

What looked like a perfect game in Game 1 for the Dallas Mavericks against the Oklahoma City Thunder actually was far from it. The Mavs probably played the best game fans will ever see. The German gunner, Dirk Nowitzki, soared with 48 points while shooting 12-15 from the field along with a NBA record of 24-24 free-throw shooting. The bench exploded with 50 points while being led by Jason Terry’s 24 and JJ Barea aka mighty mouse’s 21. Jason Kidd racked up 11 dimes and the team shot 53% from the field and an outstanding 94% from the charity line. Could you ask for more? Despite all these stunning statistics, the Mavs only won by nine points and the Thunder was never out the game.
Dallas’ play last night was flawless in all aspects except one, Defense. Many times the Mavs seemed to be running away with the lead and outplaying the Thunder due to the home crowd erupting every time a basket was made. In reality, the Thunder was neck and neck with Dallas and played a great game as well. There were numerous times both teams had runs and exchanged baskets back and forth. Remember that Dallas has always had a problem with locking down teams and in the past has relied on outscoring opponents to win games, last night was a replay.
As Kevin Durant mentioned in his post-game interview, “I bet my house that Russell Westbrook won’t shoot 3 for 15 again.” Westbrook may have ended the evening with 20 points due to success of drawing fouls, but played a horrible game coming off his triple-double performance against Memphis in Game 7. Durant may be the best player on this young talented team, but the team needs Westbrook to play well in order to win. Westbrook doesn’t need to erupt with 25 and 10 assists every night, but is a very essential part of OKC’s offense. As a point guard on the team, Westbrook's contribution is vital to the Thunder's success and he ultimately needs to be a floor leader.
The Thunder shouldn’t be too worried heading into Game 2 because they’ve seen the Mavericks at their best and hung with them. I may be going out on a limb to say that the Mavs can’t play any better than Game 1, but I don’t make claims unless I can support them. Nowitzki arguably has been the best player in the 2011 playoffs, but I don’t see him playing like Game 1 again. For Nowitzki to score 40 points with only 15 attempts and three misses consistently isn’t rational. In addition, though Nowitzki dissected OKC’s defense and humiliated each defender that attempted to make some effort to slow him down, he made a lot of hard shots that were defended exceptionally well. It was just one of those nights that everything he threw up went in.
One thing is for sure, when the Mavs are connecting on all cylinders they are difficult to beat, but not unstoppable. The Mavs are similar to the Chicago Bulls with how deep their bench is. Bench players from both squads are gifted enough to produce starter numbers on a nightly basis. If the Mavs play remotely close to Game 1 throughout this series they will punch a ticket into the Finals.