Phoenix — Dallas Mavericks coach Jason Kidd sent a similar message following their two previous Western Conference Semifinals games: Lukas Doncic He needs more help against the top seeded Phoenix Suns.
Dallas squandered another impressive attacking performance from Doncic in Game 2 on Wednesday as he scored 35 points on a 13-of-22 shot in a 129-109 loss as the Suns went 2-0 up. The Suns repeatedly took aim at Doncic defensively while the Maves scored 71 points in the second half.
“He put on a great game but nobody else showed up,” Kidd said. “We have to get the other players to shoot better. We can’t win alone by scoring 30 points a night – not at this time of year. And we’re playing against the best team in the league, so we’ve got to get the other guys going.”
Kidd specifically mentioned that the Mavs need more production from the guards Galen Bronson and Spencer Dinwiddy, who scored just 41 points on a 32.6% shootout in two losses in center footprint. It’s a particularly stark contrast to the previous series for Bronson, who starred in a first-round win over the Utah Jazz averaging 27.8 points in a six-game streak.
Chris Paul and Devin BookerThe Suns all-star guard partially dominated Wednesday night by relentlessly chasing Doncic. This was especially true in the second half when Booker scored 21 from 30 and Paul scored 20 from 28.
“It’s a tough game to guard, but he’s going to have to pay a little attention,” Booker said of Doncic.
According to second-spectrum tracking, Doncic was the defender who could count on 19 screens on the ball in the second half, the third-most in each half of his career. Suns averaged 1.81 points per chance on this trait. This is the highest efficiency achieved by a single defender who has made at least 15 direct picks in the past three seasons.
“I have to play better in defense,” said Doncic. “That is.”
The Suns blew up the game in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter, extending their lead from six to 15 when Paul took control of the game, recording 14 points and two assists during that period. Paul Doncic pressed the buttons for some easy passes and retractable jumps, as well as finding Cameron Johnson For pointer 3 during the deciding round 21-7.
“We need to help him better,” Kidd said as he took aim at Doncic. “They take him to everything. We knew about his entry into the series. We knew that in the last series. We did better to protect each other, not just Luca. the 3rd game of the others at home.”
It was a historically effective offensive performance by Booker, Paul and the Suns. Phoenix set a playoff record by shooting 64.5% off the floor, with 84.2% in the fourth quarter. The Suns had a true shooter percentage of 75.7%. According to ESPN stats and intelligence research, this ranks second all-time in a playoff and trails the Los Angeles Clippers by 77.8% in a Game 5 win over the Mavericks in the first round of 2020.
Paul was particularly brilliant, also having eight assists. He went off the floor 11 of 16, including 9 of 10 in the second half. Booker went 11 of 19 off the floor and 5 of 8 from a 3-point range, all 3s coming after the break.
“If you look at CP and Book, they take turns,” Kidd said. “One took the third quarter, the next the fourth, and we had no answers… They got the shots they wanted. CP got into his positions and he took the kicks and he did jump shots. The book made 3 seconds. You are really good. You understand the situation. You’ve seen everything. We just have to get better.”
The Mavs, playing in the second round for the first time since the 2011 franchise championship, will be looking for solutions when they return to Dallas on Thursday.
“Many players are in this situation for the first time,” said Doncic. “We think man. They should win by four so it’s not over yet.”
–
