04/28/2012 Mavericks @ Thunder (Round 1 PLAYOFFS, game 1)

[Tydude]

This game between the Oklahoma City Thunder (47-19) and the Dallas Mavericks (36-30) will be played at the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Downtown OKC.

Gametime is 8:30 PM CDT and is being televised on FS Oklahoma and National TV on ESPN. You can listen to the game on WWLS the Sports Animal 98.1 FM in OKC and 97.1 FM in Tulsa and on the Thunder Radio Network.

This is the first game of a round 1 playoff series (Best of 7) between these Western conference teams.

The 2nd Seed Thunder won the regular season series 3-1 against the 7th seed Dallas.

Thunder were 26-7 at home this season and Dallas were 13-20 on the road

Thunder is a 7 1/2 point favorite and the over/under is 193 points.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/odds;_yl...NghCRtkIi8vLYF

[KDisNotNice]

We have got to protect home court in this series. One advantage we have is a great road record. OKC and Dallas both protect home court very well (by NBA standards) so we can't give the Mavs a break by losing a home game.

[Tordön]

Set the tone early.

KD goes off for 35+.
Russ gets 10+ assists.
Serge gets 8+ blocks.
Harden hits 8+ freethrows.
Dirk gets 1+ technical.

94
DAL 87

[BIG EDDIE]

I hope Harden is 100%.

Yeah, we should set the tone and take a good 7-8 point lead early and keep them down all the way.
We should definitely drive a lot to the basket and draw fouls on them, get to the line a lot.

Go Thunder! (Btw, I predict the Heat lose to NY in game 1)

[Rumble]

Yip, set the tone early. Attack, attack, attack. Cut down the turnovers. Evey possession counts today. No stupid mistakes.

[Rumble]

I wonder how many minutes Harden gets today? Guess it depends on how he looks and how tight the game is?

[KDisNotNice]

Harden is 100%, he'll play his normal minutes.

It is almost scary that virtually every prognosticator is picking the Thunder to win this series over the defending NBA champs. I know Dallas is not as good as last season but they still have championship experience so I expect them to kick things up a notch.

It should be interesting though! ThunderUp!

[Tydude]

105
Mavs 98

[Thunderhead]

I'm cautiously optimistic.

Mavs 79
127

[Thunderstruck83]

I'm cautiously optimistic.

Mavs 79
127

LOL. Me too, but not quite that optimistic.

Mavs - 89
Thunder - 103


Harden scores 25 in his return.

[KDisNotNice]

Thunder 102
Mavericks 97

tiebreaker 1: 19 (pts by Harden)
tiebreaker 2: 4 (missed 3's by Dirk Diggler)
tiebreaker 3: 18203 (announced attendance)

[Serge Protector]

Rick Carlisle believes that Serge Ibaka may be the key to this series. I'm more concerned about the Thunder's ability to execute in the half-court and limit turnovers. This should be an exciting series.

[BIG EDDIE]

7 points down with 3 minutes to go.
Feels like we are 7th seed playing the 2nd seed Mavs in their arena.
Sad

[Betts]

Whew! That's all I've got to say.

[BIG EDDIE]

7 points down with 3 minutes to go.
Feels like we are 7th seed playing the 2nd seed Mavs in their arena.
Sad

Haha I jinxed it.
It was reverse psychology

Glad we got the win, kinda lucky.
Still, I dont feel good about this game at all, hopefully game 2 will be better.