Mavs Adjustments vs. Suns: Who Wants to 'Join the Party' With Luka Doncic?
Before the Dallas Mavericks began their second-round series against the Phoenix Suns on Monday night, there was a lot of talk about how Phoenix's defense, led by First Team All-Defense candidate Mikal Bridges, could potentially limit Luka Doncic.
Despite the Mavs falling 121-114 in Game 1, Doncic showed that there's really no true way to stop him, as he finished with 45 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists while shooting 50 percent from the field and 36 percent from deep. This shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who witnessed what Doncic was able to do vs. healthy versions of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George in the previous two postseasons.
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"I think our start on the defensive end was terrible," said Doncic. "I think I missed a lot of layups that I should have made, but I don't think the offense was the problem. ... Communication is going to be key the next game."
As amazing as Doncic is, though, he needs get off to a faster start as this series progresses (he had two bad turnovers in the first two minutes of Game 1 that led to Dallas falling into a 9-0 deficit), and coach Jason Kidd thinks more guys need to step up with him in what is the biggest moment of the season so far.
"(Luka) got whatever he wanted," said Kidd. "When you look at the shots in the paint, behind the arc, midrange, and then also I thought he got his teammates some great looks that we normally (make). I thought he played great.
"We've just got to get someone to join the party."
Maxi Kleber and Dorian Finney-Smith "joined the party" to an extent in Game 1 by scoring 19 and 15 points, respectively, but that scoring was uneven throughout the game. Kleber did most of his damage in the first half and was nearly nonexistent in the second half, whereas it was the opposite for Finney-Smith, who scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half.
Jalen Brunson, who performed like a superstar player in the first round against the Utah Jazz averaging nearly 28 points per game, only scored 13 points on 6-16 shooting in 31 minutes. Just like in last year's first-round series vs. the Los Angeles Clippers, the length of Suns seemed to really limit Brunson from doing what he's accustomed to doing.
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Christian Petersen/Getty Images
Christian Petersen/Getty Images
Spencer Dinwiddie also has to find a way to be more effective than just scoring eight points on 3-8 shooting off the the bench in 30 minutes. Driving to the basket is what Dinwiddie does best, and although the Suns are a phenomenal defensive team overall, they don't have a rim protector at Rudy Gobert's level. Dinwiddie must step up his aggression in Game 2 and try to take advantage of this.
One player that simply not be capable of joining the party this series is Dwight Powell. He barely played in the first-round series vs. Utah, and now it's looking like he could be in for more of the same vs. Phoenix. Powell played just 16 minutes on Monday night, tallied just four points and one rebound, and was a -10 in the box score plus-minus.
If Suns big man DeAndre Ayton gets off to another fast start in Game 2 with little resistance from Powell, then Kidd might have to consider inserting Kleber into the starting lineup and just going with a small-ball unit off the bench.
As deflating as the first game of the series was for the Mavs, the way they finished by out-scoring the Suns 35-25 in the fourth quarter gives them some things to optimistic about heading into Game 2. If Dallas can rebound and get the 1-1 split in Phoenix – which is the main goal of any team without home-court advantage in the playoffs – it will be in good shape as the series shifts to American Airlines Center for Games 3 and 4 over the weekend.
