Three Thoughts - Mavs Strike Back, Game 2
Strong response: Dallas completed their business trip with a valuable road win in LA.
Now, that is more like it.
On late Tuesday the Mavericks pushed back and transformed into that team we have seen since the trade deadline with a gritty, tough, defensive win in Los Angeles. Sending word to those Clippers that any laughing from Game 1 can be tabled.
Dallas took Game 2 with a 96-93 win and evened the series at one game each before the series heads to Dallas on Friday Night.
These are my Three Thoughts:
– Nothing beats the playoffs and in particular when your team is getting humiliated and they respond properly at the very next opportunity.
See, that is the entire thing about April through June in both playoff basketball and playoff hockey. It tests you. It tests your resolve and your willingness to put pain and fatigue aside and just keep digging because you do not want to give in. If you do give in, you can go spend your millions at the location of your choice and congratulate yourself on a hard-working season that now is over. It is the easy path, and many take it as their quest to be a champion has faded away.
But, those aren’t the guys we remember.
The guys we remember are the ones that take haymakers on the chin and let it fester for 48 hours as they look in the mirror. This is not about money. This is about planning on conquering and when adversity hits, the resistance increases. That is what the playoffs give us when you see a response like Dallas had on Tuesday Night. Now, it is only a small step towards getting out of the 1st round, let alone any talk of being a champion someday, but doggone, it feels great when you see the punches being answered in kind.
Dallas was so much tougher and determined in this game. They did not ease in and they certainly did not go quietly. There is part of all of this sport that is dependent on the ball going through the basket and your opponent missing a few shots, too, but the number of times Dallas was able to get a stop and then clear the boards while attacking the paint showed that they were not going to wilt in two straight games. Good for them, because if they returned to Dallas down 2-0, the odds of getting out of this series alive would decrease substantially. They would need more from all involved and they really received it.