The Suns overcame 45 points from Luka Doncic to take the first game. There is a time and a place for it.
One of the most anticipated second-round games of the NBA playoffs, pitting Defensive Player of the Year runner-up Mikal Bridges against perennialMVP candidate Luka Doncic, was a mismatch in the Dallas Mavericks favor. It did not matter.
The Mavs fell behind in the Western Conference semifinals with a 121-114 loss to the Phoenix Suns despite the fact that Doncic had 45 points, 12 boards and eight assists in the opener.
The Suns didn't try to force the ball out of Doncic's hands. He did a lot of damage, making 15 of 30 shots from the floor, including eight layups and two dunks, but Phoenix prevented the Mavs from getting into a rhythm. In his 17 career playoff games, Doncic has scored more points than the other four players in the starting lineup.
He got whatever he wanted, when you look at the shots in the paint, behind thearc, and then also I thought he got his teammates some great looks that we normally had made.
We have to get someone to join the party.
The star of the first-round series against the Utah Jazz had an off night with 16 points on 6-of-16 shooting. The other player Dallas relies on as an offensive creator was held to eight points.
Suns coach Monty Williams said that he looked at the assist numbers of the players and that they only had 16. For the most part, nobody else got going the way that they were capable of, even though Maxi Kleber hit some 3s.
The Suns usually played drop coverage in the pick-and-roll and switched screens when Powell was on the floor. Doncic had 14 points on 4-of-5 shooting with Bridges as the primary defender.
Doncic was 4-of-11 from 3-point range and all of his field goal attempts were off the dribble.
Doncic, whose career scoring average of 33.4 points matches that of Michael Jordan for the highest in NBA history, said that they need to attack more paint. The paint is a lethal weapon. We can score with 5-out and they have a big rotating. We need to attack more paint.
Doncic was more concerned with the Dallas defensive performance in the first half. The Suns shot 63.6% from the floor and 50% from 3-point range in the first half.
Phoenix attacked Doncic early and often. The Suns scored 24 points on 10-of-18 shooting when Doncic was the primary defender.
Doncic said that the defense lost the game. I know we can play better defense.
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