Pre/Post-Game Preview: Mavs vs. Suns (10/19)
Pre-Game Analysis
The last time the Dallas Mavericks and the Phoenix Suns faced off was in Game Seven of the Western Conference semi-finals, in which Dallas came out victorious in an astoundingly demanding 123-90 win. Luka Dončić finished that game with 35 points, while Spencer Dinwiddie and Jalen Brunson put out high-point performances with 30 and 24, respectively.
The first half was full of highlights, with Dončić and his teammates putting on a highlight reel by cooking Cameron Johnson to close out the half, picking apart Phoneix’s defense, and commanding his team’s 57-point first-half outburst. Dončić had the same amount of points the Phoenix Suns put up in the first half, 27.
The Suns’ performance in this game was abysmal, from Cameron Johnson getting worked by Dončić to Chris Paul not contributing a field goal until the Suns were down by 40 points. Devin Booker, the defiant star of the Phoenix Suns, finished with 11 points to lead his team in scoring.
The Mavericks are without guard Jalen Brunson due to his departure to the New York Knicks after he signed a four-year, $104 million contract. The Mavericks added guards Jaden Hardy through the draft, and Facundo Campazzo through free agency, with guaranteed deals. They have also added JaVale McGee and Christian Wood at the center position. Campazzo and McGee add a veteran presence in the locker room on a roster, with the average age of the roster being around 26 years old.
The Phoenix Suns have also added to their roster, signing Josh Okogie and Damion Lee to guaranteed deals. They also signed center Jock Landale, who averaged over 13 points, six rebounds, one block, steal, and assist through four games in the preseason. However, with the questionable handling of the re-signing of Deandre Ayton, Jae Crowder openly voicing his wanting to move on from the team, and Paul getting another year older, it raises many questions for the Phoenix Suns this year.
Will they be a playoff team this year? It seems to be a legitimate question to ask when their star player is coming off an 11-point performance to lead their team in a 33-point defeat in a Game Seven conference semi-finals game. How the Suns open up the season against the Mavericks will either silence a lot of critics or lead to many more questions about how this team can compete for a championship.
The Mavericks have seemingly made the changes they feel are necessary to surround Dončić with the proper roster for this team to make it past the conference finals and make that final push to the ultimate goal, the championship.
Post Game Analysis
The Mavericks’ starting lineup included McGee, Dončić, Dorian Finney-Smith, Spencer Dinwiddie, and Reggie Bullock, while Wood and Tim Hardaway Jr. came off the bench in a nine-man rotation; also including Maxi Kleber and Josh Green.
The Suns went 12 men deep and played their guys that performed the best throughout the game. Thanks to this coaching strategy used by Monty Williams, Damion Lee played a great game and hit an “implausible”, contested, mid-range jumper over an outstretched Dinwiddie, who is a healthy 6-5, to give the Suns the lead with 11 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
I like what the Suns did: keeping Booker and Mikal Bridges on the floor for 41 minutes each, working in pieces around them, and allowing the Suns to play through Booker offensively. Booker has developed his playmaking these past few years, earning him a spot at point guard within the rotation when Paul goes to the bench. Paul finished the game with six points, nine assists, and three uncharacteristic turnovers. It seemed Paul struggled against the tall and athletic Maverick’sMaverick’s lineup, causing Williams to leave Cameron Payne in the game for the final 6:30 of the fourth quarter. Bridges took the main defensive role while pouring in a healthy 13 points and 11 rebounds with one block and assist.
Booker handled the offensive end by having 28 points, nine assists, and four rebounds; while also going 50 percent from the field and 7-for-7 from the free-throw line. Booker also finished the game with the highest +/- of all players with a plus-20.
Dončić finished the game with 35 points, nine rebounds, and six assists while going 10-for-23 from the field and 2-for-10 from three-point range. In the final 9 seconds of the game, the Mavericks had possession of the ball, and with two seconds left, Dončić hoisted one of his patented stepback jumpers from way outside the arc. But, unfortunately, for all Mavs fans, it did not go in as it usually does.
The Suns were routed by the Mavericks in the playoffs last year and seemed to have learned from that series. It seemed that the Suns took a page out of the Mavericks’ book by surrounding their stars with complimentary role players, which worked for them. It will be interesting to see how the rest of this season unfolds with the rotation of the Suns, while it seems quite set for the Mavericks.
