I could live with these stats all year. I expect Ariza to drop and Anderson to score more.

Harden 29-7-11
Gordon 17-4-2
Ariza 13-6-2
Anderson 11-7

Pretty solid defense played in both Mavs games. Eric Gordon has been surprisingly good on D, and KJ looks like a solid defender as well.

Game time moved due to World Series game across the street tomorrow. 5pm ROOT.

Watching the full game highlights from the last game (only got to watch the last 4 min live). A few thoughts:

• Ryan Anderson is no stiff. Maybe it was just me, but in my head, Anderson wasn't a guy that was gonna beat anyone off the dribble, back someone down, or have an arsenal of go-to post moves. However, there are several times I'm seeing where he straight up bullied Andrew Bogut or beat someone in the post. Super pumped about that.
• A "joking but serious" thing I like is that we have a white dude bench crew that is constantly engaged in the game, just like any college basketball team's group of walk-ons who are responsible for keeping the bench and floor energy up. Wiltjer, Anderson, Dekker, and even Bev are constantly engaged in what's going on and keeping teammates focused.
• Eric Gordon is a somewhat underrated defender. Yes, seriously.
• Sideline out-of-bounds plays and end-of-quarter plays look SIGNIFICANTLY better.
• 3rd quarter highlights were painful to watch. PnR defense HAS to get better. Nene needed to either recover back to his man quicker or go to the bench. That being said, the Mavs made some pretty ridiculous shots.
• No one looks more excited to be playing basketball than Sam Dekker right now. Dude is all in. Glad to have him out there.
• Absolutely in love with Nene as a passer, especially that picturesque pass to Harden at the end. If you've ever played basketball, you know how unbelievably difficult it is to throw a lengthy bounce pass with the right spin, height, speed, and touch to hit a cutter in stride. Add Wesley Matthews's hawking defense to that, and the equation is nearly impossible. But he pulled it off.

I have also been impressed with Gordon's defense so far. When we signed him I had the impression that he played absolutely no defense but he seems to be able to stay in front of his man pretty consistently. Which is good because James has already had some pretty glaring breakdowns of defense.

Thing I like most about Gordon is his aggressiveness and confidence. Harden has been the only guy who has both of those qualities and can back it up. Now you have the luxury of throwing Gordon out there with Ariza while Harden sits to preserve a lead or at least keep you in the game.

Way too early comment but I will say it anyway....I love the attitude of this team through three games. Look completely different from what we saw last year. Guys are encouraging one another and you don't see a lot of pouting and finger pointing when things don't go our way. Will monitor it going forward to see if it continues, but I am happy with where we are. Chemistry will only get better as these guys play more games together.

Hope Gordon continues to get lots of touches. He gets moody, and thats when you see matador defense, pouting, etc.

A center who doesn't demand touches in a 3 point shooting offense

Brewer looks soooooooo much better than last year.

And how long has Matt Thomas been doing play-by-play on the radio? Listened to him driving home during the first quarter and he did a pretty good job.

This team is night and day when Harden is on the floor. Up 6 after the first then down 9 while he was sitting.

Get a mothereffing stop!

damn, good trap and cleveland gets the scramble drill ball for a wide open three

Just horrible defense. Winnable game against the defending champs and let it slip away.

Cavs are unreal. They'll win it all again this year.

We gave the Cavs all they could handle. Glad we made a run at them.

Kyrie got bailed out there in the corner. They wouldn't let Nene touch him

the end of a basketball game is so horrible with all the fouls and timeouts

Lost to the defending champs by 8 on the road. Competitive from beginning to end. Got a lot to work on but I like the fight in this team.

Harden
41 points
15 assists
7 boards

Harden as the leading rebounder probably is not the way we need to win.

He's going to have an absurd year though.

Came here to comment while watching the game but then realized the game was already over and we had already lost. Didn't notice the "replay" wording at the top right.

Frok said:

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Came here to comment while watching the game but then realized the game was already over and we had already lost. Didn't notice the "replay" wording at the top right.

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Damn, that sounds horrible.

tremble said:

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Harden as the leading rebounder probably is not the way we need to win.

He's going to have an absurd year though.

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Yep. Clint really needs to work on being a physical presence in the paint and Nene is really doing some things great (passing for one) but he isn't going to be a huge rebound guy.

CFTXAG10 said:

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Lost to the defending champs by 8 on the road. Competitive from beginning to end. Got a lot to work on but I like the fight in this team.

Harden
41 points
15 assists
7 boards

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The defense is lacking but they are far more entertaining so far.

I really think the defense will get better as the guys play together more.

Hickory High said:

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I really think the defense will get better as the guys play together more.

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agreed. It is already better from game 1 to now.

This guy is incredible. Just wow.

Also, everyone should check out this article. I'd probably read The Ringer more if they wrote more analytical stuff like this. Really insightful stuff. Apparently, Harden is better at decelerating when dribbling than any athlete ever measured.

Off the face was the icing on the cake.

Didn't see the game tonight. Harden with 30 pt 15 ast. What a ****ing beast. May lead the league in ppg and apg this season.

Forum Troll said:

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Didn't see the game tonight. Harden with 30 pt 15 ast. What a ****ing beast. May lead the league in ppg and apg this season.

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Well it's either him or Westbrook

RIP Sam Dekker's career. It's a shame it came to this. There's no coming back from that.

That was a beatdown of the Knicks and James is playing out of his mind right now.

WES2006AG said:

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That was a beatdown of the Knicks and James is playing out of his mind right now.

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His assist to turnover ratio is just sick

Harden is averaging 31.8 points, 7 boards, and 12.4 assists.