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The Phoenix Suns are two wins away from advancing to the Western Conference Finals of the 2022 NBA Playoffs after scoring two wins in a row to start the second round against the Dallas Mavericks. The Suns just seem to hot to handle for Phoenix, which looks like it can sweep the Mavs. Here are three reasons why that’s possible.
Why the Suns will sweep Mavs after Game 2 win
3. The Mavs have no answer to Deandre Ayton
Ayton was silent in Game 2, scoring just nine points in 18 minutes, but he really didn’t need to be as busy as he did in embarrassing Dallas’ defense in the series opener because the Suns’ perimeter guys were cooking Wednesday night. That paltry offensive output from Ayton in Game 2 does not signify at all that the Mavericks have finally solved him. Ayton simply let Devin Booker and Chris Paul share the wheel while he retreated to the backseat as some sort of insurance in case Book and CP3 cooled off. Ayton actually looked like he was about to be a walking, dunking nightmare anew for the Mavs in Game 2, as he scored all of his nine points in the game in the first quarter.
But since that period, he took just one more attempt from the field, while the Suns’ coaching staff let Bismack Biyombo, who didn’t see any action in Game 1, play 18 minutes and shoot a perfect 4 of 4 from the field before finishing the contest with nine points. The Mavs have a huge problem in protecting the rim and matching up physically against Ayton and the rest of the Suns’ big guys. Maxi Kleber and Davis Bertans are not built to stop scoring and athletic centers which is why Biyombo exploded for nearly 10 points on Wednesday and JaVale McGee has missed just one shot, albeit on six attempts, so far in the series.
Of course, it’s Ayton that’s the biggest headache for the Mavericks’ interior defense. He is shooting 57.7 percent from the field in the second round and practically could score almost at will if he’s selfish enough. The Suns know that they can trust Ayton to deliver when they need him, and it’s a very comforting truth for a Phoenix team that is already halfway through completely taking care of business in this matchup.
2. Luka Doncic will run out of gas
The Mavs will go as far as where Doncic takes them, but even with 80 points already on a spectacular 53.8 percent shooting from the field and 42.9 percent from behind the arc through two games in the series, he still couldn’t lead Dallas to a win. Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd saw the obvious after two losses to the Suns and spoke about the lack of help Doncic has been getting following Game 2.
Via Tim McMahon of ESPN:
“He had a great game, but no one else showed,” Kidd said. “We've got to get other guys shooting the ball better. We can't win with just him out there scoring 30 a night — not at this time of the year. And we're playing the best team in the league, so we've got to get other guys going.”
Doncic has been a monster in the series, but he can only spend so much energy in carrying his team. Jalen Brunson and Spencer Dinwiddie, the two guys expected to give Doncic the most support offensively in this series, have both been outscored so far by Kleber and Reggie Bullock. After Doncic, the Mavs’ next top scorer in the second round is Kleber, who’s got 28 points. Consider this: the gap between Doncic’s and Kleber’s total scoring output in the series (52) is bigger than the combined scoring production of Brunson and Dinwiddie (41) in the last two games.
Apart from the heavy offensive load, Doncic is also getting targeted on defense by the Suns, with Chris Paul repeatedly toying with the Slovenian in the fourth quarter of Game 2. Phoenix had fun hunting for Doncic and exposing his defense no matter how hard the Mavs tried to hide him. The Suns might not be having lots of success in slowing down Doncic’s offense, but they are gradually making sure that he’s going to be running on fumes sooner than later.
1. The Suns simply own Dallas
When was the last time the Mavs won a game – in the regular season or in the playoffs – against Phoenix? To get the answer, you have to go all the way back to 2019. Since then, the Suns have racked up a total of 11 wins in as many meetings against Dallas. The Suns seem to have Dallas’ number and they have the Mavs read like a book. One more win and the Suns virtually have this series in the bag, and with the way things are going, it’s not hard to imagine them extending their win streak versus Dallas to a dozen.
