Game Day: Mavericks (0-0) @ Suns (0-0), Wed 12/23/20

[carey]

Really unimpressed by our $40M dollar man tonight.

[specialsauce]

Bridges and the Cams had themselves a hell of a night

Galloway was a flamethrower in limited minutes

Everyone else was average to below average to awful

And we won. I’ll take it.

[INFORMER]

SportsCenter Highlights:

Doncic missed shots
Booker layup
Doncic possible ankle turn
Doncic floater
Chris Paul midrange jumper
Doncic fancy pass
Doncic spin move on Bridges and layup
Doncic shot over Booker plus bogus foul
Doncic floater over Coach Paul
Doncic missed 3 with a minute to go
Booker nail-in-the-coffin midrange jumper

Suns win

[Superbone]

A lot of meh performances in the first half, but Mikal Bridges is having himself a game. If he really breaks out this year, that'd be amazing for us. Maybe our real "Big 3" are Booker, Paul, and Bridges?

Booker, Bridges, Cam Johnson right now.

How about Cam Johnson? He showed a lot of variety tonight.

[specialsauce]

I am so high on Cam Johnson. He is nearly untouchable in a trade, as is Mikal. Suns are going to have to make some tough decisions in the future if these guys continue to grow.

[INFORMER]

Haven't been impressed with CP so far.

Crunch time is where he's a difference maker. He's already paying dividends.

That's a very expensive steal and close range jumper combo.

[Superbone]

All those fluff articles about Paul and so far I've been unimpressed by the point god.

Patience, my son.

[Wally_West]

It’s the first game, guys. If Paul is still playing like this when it’s game 15 or 20 then I’ll start worrying, until then imma just enjoy this win and celebrate Suns basketball is back!

[Superbone]

Time to dust this baby off.

Yes, it's back! Undefeated since the start of the bubble, baby!

[Superbone]

Ayton with 19.5 points/12 rebounds/3 blocks per 36 minutes.

Ayton played well tonight. Got the quick fouls, but they were from being aggressive on offense. He got good position in the post a few times and scored. His defense was solid. He did just watch Luka dunk the ball there at the end when Bridges and Booker both switched off Luka...other than that, no real defensive mistakes that stand out.

Yeah, you can't just sit there and let the other team waltz to the basket for an uncontested dunk. That will be a point of emphasis when watching film. And it's not like it's the first time he's done that.

[specialsauce]

I liked his aggression. I can accept mistakes from being too aggressive. I can’t accept mistakes from a lack of aggression. Good learning game, and he was solid for the most part while he played

[Superbone]

Glad we hung on. Payne, Bridges, and Cam kept us in it in the second half. Nice to see guys step up

These close games are the one we're going to have to start winning this year to finally make it back to the playoffs. Also need to learn how to step on an opponents throat and not let it get this close.

[Split T]

Ayton with 19.5 points/12 rebounds/3 blocks per 36 minutes.

Ayton played well tonight. Got the quick fouls, but they were from being aggressive on offense. He got good position in the post a few times and scored. His defense was solid. He did just watch Luka dunk the ball there at the end when Bridges and Booker both switched off Luka...other than that, no real defensive mistakes that stand out.

Yeah, you can't just sit there and let the other team waltz to the basket for an uncontested dunk. That will be a point of emphasis when watching film. And it's not like it's the first time he's done that.

Ya, and it’s not like he didn’t see him. His body was turned, but I saw him turn his head and see Luka coming with plenty of time to react. And foul trouble wasn’t an issue. He only had 4 and there was 30 seconds left. Just go up and challenge him.

[Superbone]

SportsCenter Highlights:

Doncic missed shots
Booker layup
Doncic possible ankle turn
Doncic floater
Chris Paul midrange jumper
Doncic fancy pass
Doncic spin move on Bridges and layup
Doncic shot over Booker plus bogus foul
Doncic floater over Coach Paul
Doncic missed 3 with a minute to go
Booker nail-in-the-coffin midrange jumper

Suns win

Doncic is a media darling. That's for sure.

[Split T]

Someone posted a head to head comparison earlier. Bookers stats in games against Luka are better and the Suns are I believe 7-1 now.

[Superbone]

Haven't been impressed with CP so far.

Crunch time is where he's a difference maker. He's already paying dividends.

That's a very expensive steal and close range jumper combo.

Sometimes you've got to pay top dollar to put yourself over the top. It's the little things he does that makes a difference. He's also teaching the other guys what it takes to be a winner. He probably won't have super impressive stats this year but it's not always about that. He's also a veteran who's going to improve with his new teammates as the season wears on.

[Nodack]

Bridges was awesome. Luka got 32, but took him 26 shots and 12 FTA. Added 18/7 and 2 blocks to his great D on Luka.

And only 5 assists. Luka couldn't get the rest of the Mavs going because we didn't need to double team him.

It seemed like the Mav’s (Doncic) game plan right off the bat was to get our bigs in foul trouble and it worked like clockwork from the start. Maybe we should have doubled a few times.

[Split T]

Bridges was awesome. Luka got 32, but took him 26 shots and 12 FTA. Added 18/7 and 2 blocks to his great D on Luka.

And only 5 assists. Luka couldn't get the rest of the Mavs going because we didn't need to double team him.

It seemed like the Mav’s (Doncic) game plan right off the bat was to get our bigs in foul trouble and it worked like clockwork from the start. Maybe we should have doubled a few times.

Ayton’s fouls were all on offense. It only worked on Jones.

[Nodack]

A lot of players contributed. Cam Payne, Cam Johnson, Bridges, Galloway and the Rookie looked pretty solid too. Crowder and Paul a little slow out of the gate. Jones wasn’t on the floor long enough to do anything due to foul trouble being a big and all. Ayton in quick foul trouble spent a lot of time on the bench. He came in the fourth and did some damage.

There were some breakdowns on defense at times and other tines their defense was scary good.

[Aztec Sunsfan]

We barely survived this game. Our stars went to work like five possessions, and the overrated Mavs couldn’t stop them. Hopefully CP3 and Booker adjusts for the next game, or this is going to be awful to watch.