The Phoenix Suns are one victory away from a place in the Western Conference Finals after dominating the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday night in a 110-80 victory and a 3-2 lead in the series. The Suns took advantage of the dominant result in the second half, with four players finishing in double, led by 28 points and seven rebounds by Devin Booker. Deandre Ayton added 20 points after the Suns made a point to attract him more actively in the attack, and Michal Bridges managed to escape from his shooting breakdown and finished with 14 points.
Despite a strong first half, Dallas fell behind in double digits at the start of the second half and never returned to the game. Poor shooting and 12 turnovers in the third quarter revealed the game widely in favor of the Suns and now the Mavericks face elimination in Game 6 on Thursday night.
Here are three excerpts from Game 5 between Suns and Mavericks.
1. The Suns have revived this magic since the beginning of this series
Phoenix looked like a shell of its own over the weekend in a series of losses to Dallas. Chris Paul had uncharacteristic turnovers in Game 3 and went completely bankrupt in Game 4. The Mavericks looked on par with the Phoenixes at home, but in Game 5 on Tuesday the Suns reminded Dallas – and everyone in the league – why they were the best team in the game. the regular season.
While the first half was even, the Suns solidified their dominance in the third quarter and never looked back. Phoenix beat Dallas 33-14 in the third quarter, keeping Mavericks just 6 against 16 on the field, while making 12 turns. Dallas looked completely incapable of attack, content with bad shots due to Phoenix’s suffocating defense, and seemed completely helpless on the other side, while Booker and Bridges simply continued to cook after halftime.
That was the exact performance Suns needed after two poor performances on the road. They turned to the open man for better defense and limited Doncic’s ability to drive to the edge and kick him to the perimeter. Without these kicks by boys like Dorian Feeney-Smith, Reggie Bullock and Maxie Kleber, this forced the Mavericks to beat the Suns with Doncic alone, and like the first two games in the series, the plan didn’t work.
2. Role-playing players in Dallas were the Ministry of Interior
Entering Game 5, the Mavericks had three boys who shot well over 40 percent of their depths at Feeney-Smith, Bullock and Kleber. On Tuesday night, these three boys combined only 3 against 12, and Bullock missed all three attempts. Dallas will not win many games when all three of these boys are fighting, and that was just part of the bigger picture, which was the Mavericks offense, completely scattered in the second half.
Between missed open glances and silly turns, Dallas seemed to have completely forgotten the formula that had won it in the last two games. According to ESPN statistics and information, the 12 turnovers that Mavericks made in the third quarter were the most that a team allowed in the playoff quarter of the Knicks in 2012. It’s just ugly.
It wasn’t just the role players. By the time Doncic finished the game with 28 points, he was once again struggling to be effective beyond the arc, making just 2-for-8 from the center. He is now 3-for-18 in the last two long-distance games. Although Doncic amassed 11 boards, he finished with just two assists, returning to a lack of full confidence in his teammates, something Dallas head coach Jason Kidd has touched on many times this season.
After finishing Game 4 with 22 assists, the Mavericks had just nine on Tuesday night. This is simply an unacceptable figure for a team that has such a great pass as Doncic. This low general assistant paints a picture of Dallas’ lack of ball movement and can’t enter Game 6 – the elimination game – playing the same way it did on Tuesday night.
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3. Suns on the verge of the conference finals for the second year in a row
Phoenix completely outplayed Dallas in various ways on Tuesday night and now the Suns are heading to Game 6, a game to end the road. While Phoenix was in exactly that position before in this series, up before going on the road, something in Game 5 felt different from their first two wins in this series. Not only did the Suns force Doncic to beat them while limiting everyone around them, they also did a decent job of limiting his overall impact on the game. Doncic didn’t get to the edge as easily as he did this series, and Phoenix’s plan to stop including ball screens helped Bridges stay ahead of Doncic.
This looks like a formula that the Suns can carry over in Game 6, and while I don’t think Dallas players will play as badly as they did in Game 5, I think Phoenix can pull off another win to close the series. If that happens, it will be the first time the Suns have reached consecutive Western Conference finals since 2004-2006.
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