Rosen: Southwest Preview

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Originally Posted by Kori Ellis

I guess you actually did forget then. Tony had two very badly bruised thighs in the Mavs series, one sustained in the last game of the Kings series and the other in game 1 or 2 of the Mavs series. It was to the point where two of the games against the Mavs, the night before them he couldn't walk and he was almost scratched from the lineup. It didn't have anything to do with the Mavs causing him to lose focus. He was physically incapable. He had no lift.

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I can't argue with the Tony was hurt slant. Tony was well enough to play 38 minutes/game against the Mavs and average 20 ppg, including 33 pts. and 27 pts. in Games 4 and 5 respectively. The Mavs took away a lot of Tony's passing and assist opportunities by the way they defended him. Tony only dropped 3.1 dimes per game in that series against 2.6 Turnovers per game.

Also, just for what it's worth, I didn't say the Mavs caused Tony to lose focus. I said the Mavs focused on Tony.