In a way, the Dallas Mavericks‘ latest loss was something new. During the second half on Wednesday, Chris Paul and the Phoenix Suns pushed a foundational element of modern basketball to an extreme. It was sort of like when Stephen Curry burned down Madison Square Garden from beyond the arc for 54 points, but, instead of hunting 3s, the Suns persistently, ruthlessly hunted Luka Doncic.
Doncic had been picking apart the team that didn’t pick him first overall, and then, on virtually every possession, Phoenix was picking on him. Over and over, Paul called for Doncic’s man to set a pick, and, over and over, that action created an advantage and the advantage led to a bucket. The Suns put him in 19 ball screens in the second half and scored 1.81 points per chance on those possessions, per ESPN and Second Spectrum.
In another way, the Mavericks’ loss was the same old story. Just like Game 1, and just like many of their playoff losses against the Los Angeles Clippers in 2020 and 2021, Dallas had scored enough points to win, but it couldn’t get the stops it needed. It was yet another defeat in which Doncic had been extraordinary early and exhausted by the end.
These are precisely the problems that the Mavericks have been trying to solve. With a new front office led by Nico Harrison and a new coaching staff led by Jason Kidd, they signed Reggie Bullock, empowered Jalen Brunson, ditched Kristaps Porzingis, acquired Spencer Dinwiddie and finished the season with the fourth-best record in the West and seventh-best defense in the NBA. Without Doncic at the beginning of the first round, Dallas took a 2-1 lead against the Utah Jazz.
Friday’s Game 3 is a moment of truth for the Mavericks, and not just because they are down 2-0. Have the moves they’ve made put them in a meaningfully different place? Is Phoenix such a juggernaut that Dallas could be both significantly improved and thoroughly…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at CBSSports.com Headlines…