during the first three quarters against the phoenix suns on wednesday night in game 2, the dallas mavericks stood their ground and had a chance to steal a game away from home in this series.
however, the fourth quarter was controlled solely by phoenix and the suns really made their mark throughout the second half of this game to post a 20 point victory.
devin booker and chris paul were fantastic in game 2, scoring a combined 58 points on 22-35 (62.9%) shooting, but the suns as a whole really came alive, outscoring dallas 71-49 in the second half.
Between their ability to defend at a high level and put up massive scoring runs, the Phoenix Suns have made it clear that they are the team to beat in the nba and we already knew this going into the nba playoffs as they the Suns owned the best record in the league at 64-18 during the regular season.
as for the mavericks, luka doncic scored 35 points, another great scoring night for him, but once again, the rest of this team didn’t really come to play.
reggie bullock (16) and spencer dinwiddie (11) off the bench were the only other two mavericks players to score at least 10 points and outside of doncic, this team shot 39.6% from the floor, with no counting bench players who entered “junk time” late in the game when the Suns had basically already won.
Someone else is going to have to step up for the mavericks in this series if they want to have a chance of beating the suns, and so far, phoenix is on pace to pull it off in back-to-back years in the western conference finals.
is there anything dallas can do to avoid falling into a 3-0 hole in this series? These are the most important takeaways from Phoenix Game 2 Victory.
iso-ball doesn’t work against phoenix
luka doncic is one of the best isolation scorers in the league and has been masterful in two games in this series, scoring a combined 80 points and shooting 53.8% from the floor.
However, Dallas as a whole has really struggled and this iso-ball philosophy for their offense isn’t working against one of the best defensive teams in the league.
doncic could probably go for 50-60 points in game 3 and this team would still lose if they don’t get others involved simply because the suns have too many weapons and too much depth.
against the utah jazz, doncic had a lot of success playing one-on-one, but against the suns, this type of offensive set-up hasn’t worked out for the team’s good because jalen brunson and spencer dinwiddie got lost in the mix.
it’s very clear that even though doncic is a fantastic player, and don’t get me wrong he’s been amazing, he just can’t take the mavs past the suns in this series.
whether it’s dinwiddie, brunson, bullock… someone else is going to have to step up and be a constant threat to score in this series, otherwise dallas will be swept by phoenix.
the suns are the best offensive team in the league at full strength
devin booker and chris paul showed what they are capable of as a defense duo in game 2, deandre ayton has been a force under the paint throughout the playoffs, mikal bridges has proven to be a scoring threat at times and the overall depth of suns is much deeper than just four players.
phoenix front office has done an amazing job of putting together not only scoring weapons, but also a well-balanced team that has players on the bench who can fill numerous different roles.
even players like torrey craig and bismack biyombo near the bottom of the bench have enough experience to be able to sign up for any game and play their part.
Offensively, the Suns have plenty of weapons to put the ball in their hands and not worry about what might happen. Their bench score is near the top of the league and when Devin Booker is healthy they are on the brink of unstoppability.
During the regular season, Dallas finished second in points allowed per game (104.7). So far in this series, the Suns are averaging 125.0 points per game.
It’s really hard to miss the fact that the phoenix offense is playing at an elite level right now and there’s really nothing mavericks can do to stop them in this series unless they have a night off throwing to basketball.
In Game 2, the Suns shot 64.5% from the floor and 52.0% from 3-point range as a team.
the best offense in the league right now and showing no signs of slowing down, the phoenix suns appear to correct their mistakes from their opening series against the new orleans pelicans.
dallas has no depth
Perhaps the biggest problem with the Dallas Mavericks, as briefly mentioned before, is their overall lack of depth.
This team doesn’t really have a clear no. 2 scoring options alongside luka doncic and the phoenix suns are exposing this right now in the western conference semifinals.
Jalen Brunson stepped up in Dallas’ first-round series, but Spencer Dinwiddie has been kept in check as a scoring option off the bench and the Mavericks’ front is a complete mess.
perhaps trading kristaps porzingis will turn out to be a bad move after all, especially since the mavericks are being outrebounded and outplayed in the paint.
Having no cap room to move up and really no reliable options on their bench to fall back on, the Dallas Mavericks seem to be in a bit of trouble right now.
luka doncic can’t do it all alone and without depth around him, mavericks are nothing more than what they are currently showing in this series. It’s hard to imagine them having a chance against the Phoenix Suns the rest of the way, especially given that the Suns have eliminated Brunson as an offensive option.
nba basketball related stories
- this is what chris paul tweeted after game 2: on wednesday chris paul and the phoenix suns beat the dallas mavericks in game 2 of their second round playoff series. After the game, Paul sent out a tweet. click here.
- 3 things we learned from game 2 of the 76ers-heat on Wednesday: miami heat defeated the milwaukee bucks 119-103 in Game 2 of their conference semifinal series this Wednesday to take a 2-0 series lead to Philadelphia. click here.