"The loss on our home court against a strong team was a surprise for us," Bjorkgren said in the post-game press conference, "We started with very positive attitudes. However, when they took such an early lead and we faced a foul trouble crisis, we realized that we were destined to lose but still tried our best. In the end, we lost again. But it's not the end of the world; there is still hope for us in the next game! We will fight hard!"
A single day’s rest seemed to have a great impact on the Mavericks' physical condition. Kidd acknowledged that it was their fatigue that contributed most to their defeat.
"This isn't a secret; our energy levels were affected, making everyone feel very exhausted," he said. "But we'll face another game and a new day, and we will strive to regain momentum."
Kidd’s performance today was poor. He attempted five times but only managed one successful shot for two points, with only average play in distributing the ball, registering just three assists throughout the game.
These were largely due to Guan Wang's intense defense causing significant trouble for Kidd. The elder statesman had no space to pass as he did against the Thunder; Guan Wang effectively limited Kidd’s time on the ball with his height and agility.
El New York Times publicó una noticia en línea antes de que el juego terminara, highlighting the historical data. According to this data, in NBA history, there were 30 instances of a team leading 2-0 after two games. Of these, 27 teams ultimately won the championship. This means that historically, if the Knicks won their next two games, they would have a 90% chance of winning the title.
The Mavericks did seem to be in a state of collapse as well. Initially, many experts anticipated an intense battle between the Knicks and Mavericks in the finals based on their overall performance and key shots during the playoffs. However, after just two games, it was clear that there were significant differences in both offense and defense.
Besides historical data, ESPN's championship prediction indicated a bleak outlook for the Mavericks. Before today’s game, ESPN-forecast predicted an 80% chance of the Knicks winning and only a 20% chance for the Mavericks; BPI gave similar predictions: 82% for the Knicks and 18% for the Mavericks.
After the game, these probabilities would surely widen even further. Although trailing 0-2 didn't mean that their finals journey was over, historically, three teams had reversed a deficit of two games to win the championship. However, it was unfortunate that those were all cases where the Mavericks themselves suffered such reversals, adding to the embarrassment.
In 2006, the Miami Heat faced a strong Mavericks team in Dallas and lost the first two games. However, at home with Wade leading the charge, they completely changed their fortunes and won four consecutive games to capture the championship, writing an epic story that made it hard for anyone today to believe the Mavericks could do the same.
Besides the Heat, the Celtics of 1969 and the 76ers of 1977 had also accomplished such a feat. But it must be admitted that such events were rare, especially when one of those teams was the underdog being reversed.
Now for Bjorkgren, the priority was to boost his team’s morale after trailing 0-2 and make necessary adjustments immediately. Perhaps he should watch the 2006 finals footage again; studying how he was once flipped might give him a path forward.