How can Mavs stop ... Serge Ibaka?!?
You wouldn’t know that by watching Game 1 of this series.
Ibaka exploded for 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting in the Thunder’s 99-98 win. Yes, the same Serge Ibaka who averaged 9.1 points per game and had a season high of 20.
How can the Mavs keep the Thunder’s complementary offensive threat from killing them?
“Well, we’ll try to take away his 3s,” Mavs coach Rick Carlisle deadpanned.
OK, so the shot from the top of the arc that Ibaka drilled before the halftime buzzer was only the third 3-pointer of the high-flying power forward’s career. Ibaka has nice touch on his midrange game, but, as usual, he did the vast majority of his damage around – and above – the rim.
“We don’t want to let him dunk the ball easily around the basket,” Carlisle said. “There are things we can do.”
The Mavs can’t let Ibaka light it up. They have their hands full enough trying to contain Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden.
Tim MacMahon
ESPNDallas.com- Joined ESPNDallas.com in September 2009
- Covers the Dallas Cowboys and Dallas Mavericks
- Appears regularly on ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM
ABOUT THIS BLOG
Tim MacMahon
Tim MacMahon joined ESPNDallas.com in September 2009. Tim covers the Cowboys and Mavericks. He has covered the local sports scene from high schools to colleges to pros during his six-year tenure at The Dallas Morning News. MacMahon is a graduate of UNT.
Marc Stein
Marc Stein began writing for ESPN.com in 2000 and signed on full-time in 2002 as Senior NBA Writer. He also makes regular appearances on "SportsCenter," "NBA Shootaround," "NBA Fastbreak," "NBA Coast To Coast," ESPNEWS, ESPN "First Take" and ESPN Radio.
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TEAM LEADERS
| POINTS | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Dirk Nowitzki
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| OTHER LEADERS | ||||||||||||
| Rebounds | S. Marion | 7.8 | ||||||||||
| Assists | D. Collison | 5.1 | ||||||||||
| Steals | D. Collison | 1.2 | ||||||||||
| Blocks | E. Brand | 1.3 | ||||||||||
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