Mavs have been there done that in this year’s playoffs

If it appears as though the Dallas Mavericks are in the same place with the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference semifinals that they were with the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of the playoffs, it’s because it’s true.

The Mavs lost Game 4 at home to the Clippers, leaving that series knotted at 2-2. And on Monday, the Mavs lost Game 4 at home to the Thunder, leaving that series knotted at 2-2.

However, any similarities between what happened to the Mavs in the series against the Clippers and what’s happening with the Mavs in the series against the Thunder stops there. At least that’s what the Mavs are implying.

“This (Thunder team) is a different team,” coach Jason Kidd said following Tuesday’s practice session. “It’s not the Clippers. It’s Oklahoma City.

“But we can use that experience (against the Clippers) of going onto the road. We’ve had the opportunity to win in Oklahoma City, so hopefully we can do that in Game 5.”

The Mavs won Game 2 in OKC, 119-110, last Thursday. Game 5 is Wednesday in OKC at 8:30 p.m., and the Mavs want to do to the Thunder what they did to the Clippers in Game 5 in Los Angeles.

Dallas went to LA and defeated the Clippers in Game 5, 123-93, then returned home and closed out the series with a 114-101 victory in Game 6. But while the Mavs can lean on what happened in that series against the Clippers as a blueprint, they know they have to be even more physical to get the job done against OKC.

“It’s a completely different team,” forward Derrick Jones Jr. said, in reference to the Thunder and the Clippers. “They’ve got totally different players over there, they do different things, they want to shoot different shots, so it’s just different.

“It’s a completely different series, a completely different team. The scheme is different for them.”

A day after blowing a game the Mavs clearly had in their hands, Kidd’s message to his team was simple.

“I think just understanding the opportunity we had and to learn from it,” he said. “We’ve been in this situation before, and to be able to turn the page and get ready to watch film and understand some of the things that we can be better at.

“We got good looks. They just didn’t go down for us. So, if we get those same looks in Game 5 we believe we can make them.”

The Mavs want to speed up the game so the Thunder will have less of a chance to set up their defense. That’s what happened at the outset of Game 4 when the Mavs came out pushing the pace and raced to a 22-8 lead with 4:42 remaining in the first quarter.

“We’ve got to try to get out and run,” Kidd said. “I thought we got off to a really good start (in Game 4), but coming out the third quarter we came to a halt.

“So, we’ve got to be better in the second half, especially on the road. We can’t turn the ball over. We got to get shots and hopefully we can do that in Game 5.”

Kidd also is hopeful the Mavs can do a much better job of containing Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who scored 34 points Monday and is averaging 31.8 points in this series. He also had 10 points and four assists in the fourth quarter when OKC seized control of the game.

“Shai is a guy in this league who can score the ball,” Kidd said. “He made some tough shots and he also made some easy shots. We just have to be able to make it tougher.

“You got to tip your hat with the contested shots that he did make. They were tough, but he did get some easy ones. Any time a scorer like that gets some easy ones the tougher ones become easy too, so we have to do a better job on him.”

Gilgeous-Alexander was 14-of-27 from the field. In fact, he converted as many field goals as Luka Dončić, Kyrie Irving and Daniel Gafford combine (14).

“We’re following the game plan, getting him to his right and he’s taking the shots that he likes,” Jones said. “That his game. He likes the mid-range.

“Ain’t nothing you can really change about it. You just got to try to keep him in front of us and contest the shots a little bit more.”

Meanwhile, Irving, known for having an exceptional feel for the game and for picking up his scoring opportunities in the second half, may have to alter that strategy somewhat. Especially since Dončić has been hampered by a right knee sprain and left ankle soreness.

“Kai has been in this league for 13 years,” Kidd said. “He understands how to score the ball. He knows when to go. So, for us it’s put him in that position to be successful and hopefully he can get going a little bit sooner than later.

“The opportunity for Kai to get shots, to hopefully get him some wide-open looks (is important). But Kai is going to play his game and he’s going to play his game at the highest level, and we trust that he’s going to be ready to go for Game 5 and put us in a position to win.”

The Mavs also must do something about slowing down OKC guard Lu Dort, who is sticking to Dončić like glue and has been playing with an extra sense of physicality, although he picked up two fouls less than three minutes into Game 4.

“Just absorb the contact and know that he’s going to foul,” Kidd said, referring to Dort. “There’s going to be calls missed and there’s going to be calls made, and you just got to play the game, but understand that he’s going to be on the floor to make it tough and we just got to accept that and continue to make him work on both ends.

“Again, he’s going to play hard when he’s on the floor (and) he’s going to take shots when he’s open. He had two quick fouls (in Game 4), but we continued to put him in the pick-and-roll and he continued to keep playing hard, and that’s just who he is.”

More importantly from the Mavs’ perspective, while OKC was a machine-like 23-of-24 from the free throw line in Game 4, the Mavs were only 12-of-23 from the charity stripe. Considering the final score was only four points, those 11 missed free throws gave the Mavs an upset stomach.

“It’s tough to win a game when you miss half of your free throws in the game,” Jones said. “You’ve got to go up there and concentrate and lock into what we’re doing there and knock them down.

“It’s 2-2 now and we just got to get two more (wins). It’s one game at a time, but we just got to stay the course and stay with the game plan.”

X: @DwainPrice