The Dallas Mavericks’ postseason opener could not have gone much worse on Saturday night, and the defeat inflicted has left the team licking their wounds.
The Mavericks were eviscerated by Oklahoma City 108-70 in the series opener, and the face of the franchise admitted that he was embarrassed by the performance.
“We’ve just got to show pride,” said Dirk Nowitzki, via ESPN’s Tim MacMahon. “We obviously got embarrassed tonight.”
Nowitzki was the only Dallas player to even score in double figures on the night, and coach Rick Carlisle had to face the music after using a starting five that Dallas had never gone with before.
“I’ve got to get these guys better prepared to play,” Carlisle said. “That’s pretty clear. We had some struggles early, but we were not the team we’ve been the past two-and-a-half weeks, and I take a great deal of responsibility for that. I’ve got to do a better job getting them ready for Game 2.”
Of course, it’s easy to say that Mavericks played poorly. They did. But the Thunder looked a well-oiled machine, too. If they keep that up, Kevin Durant won’t have to be ticked off about this for much longer.
