Suns: Mikal Bridges Gives Props to Luka Doncic
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Phoenix Suns forward Mikal Bridges gave credit where it was due: Luka Doncic isn't your average basketball player.
"I think sometimes him being so close to the rim, because they space out … Him being so close, he’s big. He’s tall. He’s strong. Wide, and his pace, like he can slow-step so slow and get you just to lean your feet and it’s over," said Bridges on "The Old Man & the Three" Podcast with JJ Redick.
"So sometimes, I think we did so well (in guarding him). It’s just him being at the rim. You naturally see him right there, and you look to see if he’s about to make the shot, that dude would just skip that shit across the court, and you would just be like … turnaround, wide open three. I know he’s got the ball a lot, he helped his teammates just get rhythm even though he might’ve had a layup. So I give him credit for that, because that was different. That was messing me up sometimes. Obviously I got better at it during the series, but that whole thing. Just slow, 1-2' it and still doing everything he’s doing and still finding people when he has a wide open layup.”
After being down 0-2 to the Suns, the Mavericks made plenty of adjustments on top of hitting their shots to eventually force a Game 7. By halftime of the final game of the series, Doncic (27) had as many points as the Suns.
Dallas' gameplan of spreading Phoenix out defensively and switching either Chris Paul or Deandre Ayton on Doncic simply proved to be too much for the Suns to handle, as Doncic would drive to the rim and either convert a layup (if no help arrived) or find an open shooter from where extra defensive help came from.
Doncic's ability to find open teammates played a big role in the Mavericks consistently knocking down open threes at a high rate.
Doncic also managed to hit a whole new level during his series against the Suns, as he averaged 32.6 points, 9.9 rebounds and 7.0 assists against Phoenix.
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