But, it is only 1 game. Doesn’t matter whether we lose by 30 or 3. A loss is a loss.

Would it make us feel any better if KL or PG had a season ending injury? Of course not.

Lot of baggage that we all have as fans.

The series is still alive, and yes, the yellow engine warning light is on (and maybe some some coming from the engine compartment).

Kawhi — if you are not going to help us, you need to sit or play better. Same for you, Norm, Russ and Plums.

PG — remember why you are such a special talent, just basketball, man.

T. Mann, Coffey and Zu have to be our foundation.

No more microball.

One play, one quarter at a time.

We can do it!

Life isn’t as bad as it seems. Can’t get too high, can’t get too low. Ready for next play.

What happened with the “SYSTEM” Harden promised us?

I cringed when he said that line. It showed he learned nothing at all from the last four teams he had quit on. The “Harden System” has produced nothing but gaudy regular-season stats (before he got too old to keep that up) and embarrassing playoff losses. Also, we already watched the same “system” for years with CP3 and it was the exact same story with him.

The only way Harden was ever going to win anything in his career was if he gave up on being “the system” and embraced being a team player instead. Pass the ball, move off-ball, take smart shots instead of just chucking threes, stop dribbling the air out of the ball. He’s not LeBron, he was never good enough to make a heliocentric style of play work. At this point, it’s too late since he’s old and slow now, though.

Calling Luka fool’s gold is a little ridiculous. We’ve seen more than enough stressful playoff games against him to know he’s the real deal. The Mavs have just sucked at putting the right team around him, much like how it took them forever to build the right team around Dirk. I don’t like his whining, but he’s objectively a great player.

Sub Westbrook to keep Harden fresh.
I would even use Bones, particularly if he needs to shadow Kyrie. He has the speed to keep up with him in the perimeter. It can’t hurt to try.

Use Kawhi and Norm accordingly for boosts of defensive intensity or offense. Kawhi doesn’t need to play a lot if he is struggling. Norm doesn’t need to play a lot if he is not hot.

No two bad defenders on the perimeter, so no Harden-Norm pairings.

If Zu needs a rest, use Theis (not Plumlee). For example: Mann-Kawhi-PG-Theis with anyone else as the fifth guy, should hold defensively.

Kawhi and PG are underperforming by quite a wide margin. Harden has been ok, mostly great in G1, but he can’t be relied on to carry this team offensively. I would rather he has 15 assists than 30 points.

I would rather see passion and grittiness than a bunch of tired dudes. Let Mann put up 12-15 shots, let Zu do his thing. Both should play 30+ minutes.

Keep things flexible with constant movement and best shot selection. If we have any tricks up our sleeve, now is the time to use them. Don’t need to force things out, it’s a mentality issue, play to win. We beat them in game one without Kawhi and it was easy. We almost got game 2, game 3 was a disaster.

I don’t see a great Mavs team, I see us playing at a much lower standard than our potential.

Luka is and always has been fools gold, IMO, and if/when they advance it will be another 2nd round exit for the supposed superstar. I don’t even understand how his 5th team seed has him w/ an MVP claim over SGA, for example, or Tatum. He’s undoubtedly a great offensive player but the hype and superstar treatment at this point in his career is absurd.