Inside the NBA takes note of Dallas' supporting cast after Game 2.
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PHOENIX — Averaging a tick more than 40 minutes over the first two games of the Western Conference semifinals, Luka Doncic received a needed day off Thursday along with his teammates, when the Mavericks flew back to Dallas ahead of Friday’s Game 3 (9:30 ET, ESPN) at American Airlines Center.
“The mood is fine,” Doncic said after his team slipped into a 2-0 hole Wednesday against the Phoenix Suns, which captured their 11th consecutive victory (regular season and playoffs) against the Mavs. “I think [for] a lot of players [it’s] the first time in this situation. We believe, man. They’ve got to win four. So, it’s not over yet. We’ve got to go back home. Our crowd is amazing. So, we’re gonna believe to the end.”
Dallas owns a series record of 2-10 all-time when it is in a 2-0 series deficit. So, the denouement to the season could arrive sooner than the Mavericks anticipate if they can’t squeeze more contributions from their superstar point guard’s supporting cast.
In the Game 1 loss, Doncic burned the Suns to become the youngest player since Kobe Bryant in 2001 to put up 45 points with at least 10 rebounds in a postseason outing. He outscored the team’s other four starters by six points. Then Doncic poured in 35 points in Game 2 with just two other Mavs — Reggie Bullock and Spencer Dinwiddie — joining him as double-figure scorers in the defeat.
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By comparison, Phoenix’s entire starting five finished Game 1 with at least 10 points. Four of the five starters accomplished the feat again in Game 2 (paced by Devin Booker and Chris Paul’s combined 58 points), not to mention the team’s blistering 40-point fourth quarter. Booker ran the show in the third quarter of Game 2 before Paul took over in the final frame. Pretty much the entire game, the Suns mercilessly hunted Doncic, making sure to bring the Dallas point guard into most of their actions on offense.
“We’ve got to do a better job of helping him,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd admitted. “They’re bringing him up into everything. We knew that coming into the series. We knew that in the last series [against Utah]. We did a better job of protecting one another, not just Luka. We’ve got to get back to protecting one another for Game 3 back at home.”
Phoenix’s constant attack on Doncic no doubt takes a toll on the guard. The Suns continue to make him work on both ends while shutting down the 23-year-old’s supporting cast on offense.
Dallas came into this series counting on heavy contributions from Jalen Brunson and Spencer Dinwiddie. Brunson averaged 16.3 points per game in the regular season, but increased that output in the first round of the postseason to 27.8 ppg. That clip registered as the largest scoring boost from the regular season to the playoffs among players with a minimum three games under their belt. The rising star of the first round, Brunson is set to hit unrestricted free agency this summer. But he certainly hasn’t increased his value over the first two games in the West semis, scoring a total 22 points on 9-for-28 shooting.
Dinwiddie continues to struggle, too, connecting on 6 of 18 over the first two games of this series for 19 points.
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The duo has combined to average 20.5 ppg in the West semifinals after averaging 43.1 points in the opening round.
“He’s tired every night. He plays hard,” Kidd said of Doncic. “But we’ve got to get other guys involved to help him. Right now, it’s just been him. So, we’ve got to get Brunson and Spencer going and [Dorian Finney-Smith].”
Phoenix certainly doesn’t make that goal easy with its size and suffocating defense. Doncic already works overtime to carry the load offensively for Dallas. Then when he’s on defense, the Suns continue to throw a variety looks Doncic’s way to make him work harder.
The idea is to wear out the three-time All-Star guard, and the tactic appears to be working in the Suns’ favor.
“Well, he’s testing us,” Phoenix coach Monty Williams said. “He’s trying to orchestrate on the offensive end as well. We’re just trying to win the game. We feel like we have guys that can be put in certain positions, but within what we do. We don’t want to just pull a guy in a pick-and-roll just to go iso with 18 seconds on the clock.
“We want to make teams work over and over. Over the course of the game, we feel like that serves us well. If we can strategically put guys in a set so that we can be efficient, we’ll do it.”
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Michael C. Wright is a senior writer for NBA.com. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on Twitter.
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