Suns-Mavs Round 2 News Thread

[Split T]

There’s not a better “sidekick” in the nba than Booker. And I only say “sidekick” because he plays off the ball. He’s only a “sidekick” by perception. But take any high usage, always has the ball star(Luka, Trae, Jokic, LeBron, Embiid, Giannis, etc) and I’m not sure there is any better teammate for them to have than Booker.

[Indy]

With zero games on the schedule today, there is no way we are avoiding Foster in Dallas.

[Indy]

There’s not a better “sidekick” in the nba than Booker. And I only say “sidekick” because he plays off the ball. He’s only a “sidekick” by perception. But take any high usage, always has the ball star(Luka, Trae, Jokic, LeBron, Embiid, Giannis, etc) and I’m not sure there is any better teammate for them to have than Booker.

The Suns were using Paul as a sidekick last night, too. It is amazing to watch them running a Spain/stack pick and roll with our bench guys (CP15, Shamet, McGee) and just have Paul as the decoy in the corner. Saving him for the 4th. Such a luxury.

[Superbone]

So weird how the Warriors/Grizzlies played the day before us yet we play again before they do.

The only thing I can think of is that it is about 2000 miles between San Fran and Memphis, and <1000 from Phoenix to Dallas.

Still, we are only talking about an extra couple hours in the air.

Should’ve just gave both teams an extra day, with warriors/Grizz Friday and suns-Mavs Saturday.

Well, it might benefit us as Doncic is more apt to wear down with his high usage rate.

[Superbone]

With zero games on the schedule today, there is no way we are avoiding Foster in Dallas.

We better steel ourselves.

[Split T]

So weird how the Warriors/Grizzlies played the day before us yet we play again before they do.

The only thing I can think of is that it is about 2000 miles between San Fran and Memphis, and <1000 from Phoenix to Dallas.

Still, we are only talking about an extra couple hours in the air.

Should’ve just gave both teams an extra day, with warriors/Grizz Friday and suns-Mavs Saturday.

Well, it might benefit us as Doncic is more apt to wear down with his high usage rate.

True, I’m not gonna complain about it. Definitely benefits us as we are much deeper.

[ShelC]

[bajanguy008]

Yea definitely Book for me

[ShelC]

[Superbone]

Yea definitely Book for me

Book is no nonsense!

[Indy]

oops

[ShelC]

This really sucks for Dario. Thought there might've been a small chance he'd get out there at some point this postseason.

[Flagrant Fowl]

Meniscus procedures are quite variable it seems. Robert Williams returned after about 5 weeks, so I hope Dario's surgery was similar and he'll be good for training camp.

[SunsRIt]

Meniscus procedures are quite variable it seems. Robert Williams returned after about 5 weeks, so I hope Dario's surgery was similar and he'll be good for training camp.

I had mine done in December and it took 2.5-3 months to get back to normal. Of course I’m not very young or in good shape.

[bajanguy008]

I also was to shout out Iffe
He always seem so stoic so I was surprised by his handshake

[bajanguy008]

I was chuckling when ppl were mentioning how amazing it is that he's 2nd All Time now here he is 1st


There is something called Context that is missing so much these days when information is shared lol
Bless him smh

[AmareIsGod]

I was chuckling when ppl were mentioning how amazing it is that he's 2nd All Time now here he is 1st


There is something called Context that is missing so much these days when information is shared lol
Bless him smh

Right?! Like playoff record. Defense. But hey, he scores more PPG therefore he's right there with MJ as the best players in playoff history!

Jordan played in 179 playoff games and averaged 33.4 PPG. 179! Luka has played in 18 career playoff games. I DGAF about his scoring at this point. It's 1/10th of the number of playoff games Jordan played in.

Jordan was 119 and 60 for a .664 winning %. Luka is 7 and 11 in the postseason for a .388 winning %.

That stat means nothing to me but everyone keeps flaunting it. Not an attack on you bajanbuy008. It's me taking a shot at everyone else that is sharing this scoring stat all over Twitter.

[bajanguy008]

Nah it's cool AIG lol
You echoing my sentiments

[The Bobster]

Just don't count on him to guard anybody.

[ShelC]

Suns-Mavericks: Can Dallas find any answers for Phoenix’s offense?

After falling into an 0-2 hole against the West’s no. 1 seed, Dallas head coach Jason Kidd again bemoaned the lack of production from Mavericks not named Luka Doncic. While it’s true that Jalen Brunson and Spencer Dinwiddie combining for 41 points on 46 shots through two games is less than ideal, the Mavericks’ offense—their intentionally very, very Luka-centric offense—has been more or less fine in this series, averaging 116.9 points per 100 possessions outside of garbage time—a rate that would’ve finished no. 2 in the NBA during the regular season.

The problem is on the other end of the floor, where the Dallas defense finds itself hanging precariously over the Hellmouth on seemingly every possession: Phoenix has scored 135 points-per-100 outside of garbage time through two games, shooting 62.3 percent on 2-pointers, 45.3 percent on 3-pointers, and 92.3 percent on free throws … as a team.

The Mavericks won more regular-season games and advanced past Round 1 for the first time since winning the 2011 NBA title in large part because of the advancements Kidd was able to coax on the defensive end. Dallas moved from the bottom third into the top 10 in points allowed per possession, defensive rebounding rate, and opponents’ free throw rate and effective field goal percentage, with Dorian Finney-Smith and Reggie Bullock taking on the toughest one-on-one assignments buoyed by a teamwide commitment to quicker rotations, sharper closeouts, and more disciplined execution. And none of it’s meant a goddamn thing against a Suns team with the talent, skill, versatility, and savvy to pinpoint an opposing defense’s weakness and just hammer it until it breaks open.

Case in point: the fourth quarter of Game 2, in which Phoenix turned a six-point game into a 20-point blowout with ruthless ease, thanks to Chris Paul’s gift for manipulating coverages to manufacture good looks, and Devin Booker’s ability to rise up and rain fire:

In the competitive portion of that fourth quarter, Dallas really managed only one good defensive possession, which resulted in a turnover … and which they promptly squandered, with Luka turning the ball over, sending the Suns out on a fast break that ended with Paul lofting a lob to Mikal Bridges for a dunk. On just about every other possession over an eight-minute stretch with the game and home-court advantage on the line, the Suns created wide-open or extremely comfortable looks. This is the residue of design: the system that Monty Williams has crafted, implemented by players who can think, move, and execute at an elite level, no matter what coverage an opponent throws at them.

Stay in drop coverage, and the Suns will step into the space you’re conceding and cook you: Among 123 players to take at least 150 pull-up jumpers this season, Paul, Bridges, and Booker finished third, fifth, and 13th in field goal percentage, respectively, according to Second Spectrum, while Deandre Ayton is shooting a blistering 63.4 percent on non-restricted-area 2-pointers. Switch pick-and-rolls to try to take away those pull-ups, and now you’ve got to worry about Paul and Booker hunting your weak link, or Booker taking a smaller defender to Mamba Academy in the mid-post, or Ayton getting a deep seal in the paint before going up over the top for a layup or a soft-touch floater.

Try to trap or blitz Paul and you’re almost assuredly drawing dead, daring one of the greatest passers in NBA history to slip a pocket pass through to his rolling big man or swing it to a pressure-release wing on the opposite side who can trigger a four-on-three attack. Try to junk things up by going zone—something Dallas only did about two possessions per game during the regular season—and there are Paul and Booker to shoot you out of it, cutters slicing through it to collapse it, and Ayton (and Bismack Biyombo and JaVale McGee) rising up for lobs over the top of it.

Phoenix has dusted Dallas when it has gone big with Maxi Kleber or Dwight Powell in the middle. When the Mavs have gone small, eschewing centers in favor of playing Finney-Smith at the 5, the Suns have scorched them. They have been surgical and shocking, leaving Doncic and the rest of Dallas’s defenders licking their wounds and looking for answers … that are starting to seem like they might not exist.

It’s up to Kidd to prove otherwise—to come up with something beyond just hoping some non-Luka Maverick starts scoring so he can fight fire with fire against a Phoenix offense that’s generating exactly what it wants, whenever it wants it. If he can’t, then no matter what heroics Luka might have in store back at home, the only question left in the series might be how much time Phoenix gets off before Grizzlies-Warriors wraps up.