What are the takeaways from the Mavericks’ Game 1 upset over the Wolves?

The Dallas Mavericks went into Minnesota for Game 1 on Wednesday and emerged victorious, 108-105, to steal home-court advantage in the Western Conference Finals.

The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz shared their thoughts on the upset on Thursday’s show.

After Amin admits to being a good dad and only catching the first half due to his kids’ graduation, JuJu steps in and takes the wheel. He says the Wolves’ loss was a testament to Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns not playing like their size. JuJu says the play finesse basketball, they play like paper soldiers. Rudy may be the defensive player of the year, but he did not play the paint in the same way as he did when he took up the challenge of the Joker in the last round.

Jeremy points out that the Wolves played a lot of drop coverage, which Mike Conley admitted wasn’t initially the game plan. Whether it was a coaching mistake or an execution mistake by the players, Jeremy says you saw Kyrie Irving taking advantage all night long and then ultimately Luka Doncic also took advantage, all in pick-and-roll actions.

Dan says Kyrie carried the Mavs in the first half, but then in the fourth quarter Luka just took over the game. JuJu says Kyrie can play like this all the time, he just sometimes chooses instead to get his teammates involved. And once he saw Luka wake up? JuJu says he was like, “Cool, my job is to facilitate now.”

Meanwhile, on the other side, JuJu says you can’t waste these performances out of Jaden McDaniels. He woke up in the Denver series and if he can play like this and Ant-Man and the rest can get their legs under them, they’re going to pose a problem.

Amin says the other thing we’re not talking about is this Dallas team has been a tremendous defensive team since the trade deadline. And it’s not just because of P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford as well as moving Dereck Lively to the bench. Amin points out that Kyrie is playing defense at a level he hasn’t played before and Luka is also playing defense at a level he hasn’t played before. And now that you’ve got a system and everybody has bought in, it makes life a lot more difficult for the opponent and makes things easier for the Mavericks’ offense since they don’t have to be the greatest offense of all-time. They can just be great in pockets.

Check out the full Best Of video above, and tune into The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz Monday-Friday at 11 a.m. ET on DraftKings Network!

SHOW BREAKDOWN

Local Hour: Blue’s Clues

• Today’s cast: Dan, Amin, Chris, Jeremy, Jessica, JuJu, and Lucy. Dan and the crew kick off today’s show be responding to an in-office accusation that Miami is a “hell hole.” Then, Charles Barkley called out women for hating on Caitlin Clark, but is that narrative a reality? Jess, Lucy, and JuJu discuss the difference between online criticism and athlete-to-athlete criticism. Plus, is there anyone or anything that can be universally loved? Do you know the difference between Bluey and Blue’s Clues?

Big Suey: LeanbackeR

• Who is Joe Piscopo? Mike Ryan joins us via zoom as he and Chris Cote lead our conversation on the Florida Panthers dominating the Rangers in New York in their Game 1 victory. Also, Mike leads the Shipping Container into an apology to Dan. Then, Lucy has ALL of the airport gadgets needed for top tier travel and it sparks a debate of whether or not it’s okay to recline your seat on a plane. Plus, Stan Van Gundy is here to break down Game 1 of the Mavs and Wolves, Kyrie Irving’s handles, winning at the free throw line, the sexiness of the Pacers, and basketball TV rights.

Hour 1: Pick a Side, Brutus!

• Stan Van Gundy sticks around to share his thoughts on Harrison Butker’s bigoted commencement speech, Rick Carlisle accepting the blame, and the Top 5 inbounders of all-time. Then, is Charles Barkley allowed to change his mind about a series prior to Game 1? Could Draymond’s Warriors beat Shaq’s Lakers? And the Top 5 Seths! Plus, Rich Ford of The BigAmatuerism Monologues joins the show to discuss reports of the NCAA undergoing a lobbying campaign to reverse recent progress in NIL as well as a possible settlement in lawsuits involving student-athletes.

Hour 2: Triumph the Insult Comic Dog

• Comedy legend “Triumph the Insult Comic Dog” of the new game show “Let’s Make a Poop” joins the show as our Trump correspondent, but he also has words for our show, John Tesh, David Zaslav, Mike Ryan, and Post Malone. Then, we discuss Dan potentially being left out of an ESPN documentary while Tony patrols the streets of Miami to find out if anyone knows where the Panthers play.

Postgame Show: I Dig You

• JuJu kicks things off with Thursday Thunder before his spliff notes, and we also make fun of Jeremy’s stumble to end today’s live show.

VIDEO:

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