The Dallas Mavericks haven’t had an answer to the Phoenix Suns so far, and now they’re going to try to avoid a 0-3 hole in front of their home fans. Do they stand a chance?
Catch this game live on May 8, at 9:30 AM, Manila time.
Away: Phoenix Suns (2-0, 0-0 Away)
Projected Starting Five:
- PG: Chris Paul
- SG: Devin Booker
- SF: Mikal Bridges
- PF: Jae Crowder
- C: DeAndre Ayton
The Phoenix Suns are looking so good at the moment. They’ve been playing patient and disciplined basketball, and have a lot of weapons at their disposal. Their strength lies in how deep their roster is, with so many players capable of taking over.
In Game 1, it was DeAndre Ayton, who basically couldn’t miss a shot as he bullied his way in the paint. In Game 2, Chris Paul scored 14 points in the fourth quarter and turned a three-point lead into a blowout victory in the span of a few minutes. Paul and Devin Booker combined for 58 points after only having a total of 17 points at halftime.
They even got a good scoring first half from Jae Crowder, who was their leading scorer after two quarters with 15 points. Almost predictably, Crowder didn’t score another point in the game as Booker and Paul took turns getting hot in the third and fourth quarters.
We haven’t even really seen a big game yet from their bench, which could happen at any time considering they have the likes of Cam Johnson, Cam Payne, and JaVale McGee on the roster.
It’s hard to predict who’s going to have a big one in Game 3, which is a testament to how complete the Suns roster is.
Home: Dallas Mavericks (0-2, 0-0 Home)
Projected Starting Five:
- PG: Luka Doncic
- SG: Jalen Brunson
- SF: Dorian Finney-Smith
- PF: Reggie Bullock
- C: Dwight Powell
The Mavericks understand that they’re in deep shit. Luka Doncic has been brilliant and has scored 80 points over his first two games, but he simply cannot carry a team alone against the collective might of the Suns.
Doncic outscored the rest of Dallas’ starting five in both Game 1 and Game 2, which does not bode well for their chances in Game 3. You can’t really blame Doncic for their failures, because their issue is that they don’t have great counters to the Suns’ balanced attack. They don’t have that much size to stop DeAndre Ayton, while the Suns’ backcourt of Chris Paul and Devin Booker have taken their turns dominating.
The only chance that the Mavericks have to get back in the series is to get Jalen Brunson back into the same form as the first round, but the Phoenix defense isn’t going to do him any favors. Brunson went 3 of 12 from the field in Game 2. Spencer Dinwiddie didn’t fare much better, either, finishing with a 3 of 10 shooting clip.
PREDICTION:
Spread: I think the Suns cover +1.5.
Over/Under: I like the over 219.5 on this list.
