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The Phoenix Suns will be shooting for their second win in a row to start the second round of the 2022 NBA Playoffs against Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks. The Suns took down Dallas in Game 1, 121-114, and are looking like they are on the verge of taking care of business anew in this matchup. With that said, here are four bold predictions for the Suns for Wednesday night’s Game 2 against the Mavs.
4 bold predictions for the Suns in Game 2 vs Mavericks
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4. Deandre Ayton comes up with an even bigger performance
Prior to the series, Mavs head coach Jason Kidd expressed wariness of Deandre Ayton, saying that unlike in the first round where Dallas faced a Utah Jazz team that featured a defensive stud but offensively mediocre Rudy Gobert, his team will be dealing with Ayton and “guys can put the ball in the basket.” Kidd was right and not a few saw that coming a mile away. In Game 1, with barely any rim protection, the Mavs got carved up by Ayton inside.
The Suns big man led his team in scoring, finishing the game with 25 points on 12/20 shooting. Phoenix set Ayton nicely where he could use his size and soft hands to make easy baskets with little to no resistance at all from the Mavericks. On several occasions, Ayton provided screens before rolling or cutting, and catching pinpoint lobs for point-blank attempts. It was money from start to finish for Ayton, who should continue getting plenty of looks from close range. Maxi Kleber and Dwight Powell can’t stop looking like cardboard cutouts when attempting to guard Ayton on single coverage. With Ayton’s presence, it is suddenly too problematic for the Mavericks to deploy a five-out lineup with Dorian Finney-Smith playing center.
The Mavs have Boban Marjanovic, but Dallas isn’t that desperate enough yet to let him out there. While Marjanovic provides great size, Ayton’s too mobile and athletic for him. Chris Paul will have a field day picking Marjanovic apart defensively. The Mavs will definitely make some adjustments on defense in hopes of slowing Ayton down, but with a guard like Paul and surrounded by excellent scorers, the Suns are more than equipped to ruin Dallas’ defensive game plan in Game 2.
3. Chris Paul posts a triple-double
In the series opener, the Point God stitched together a stat line of 19 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists to go with a steal and a block in 29 minutes. He was also efficient with his shot, draining 7 of 13 attempts from the floor. He was content running the show and taking shots that Dallas gave him. Paul has yet to post a triple-double through seven games in these playoffs, but he’s already got four double-doubles.
Dallas remains a team teeming with potential on defense, but with Ayton morphing into an unstoppable mythic creature and Devin Booker sucking in Dallas’ defense plus Cameron Johnson finding his rhythm in this series right away, it appears that that the table could be set for a CP3 trip-dub special this Wednesday night at home. Booker made only 7 of 20 shots in Game 1, and if he could be more accurate this time presumably on shots coming off Paul’s passes, that could mean 10+ assists for the future Hall of Famer guard.
Rebounding is perhaps the biggest challenge for Paul to get that traditional triple-double in Game 2, but there will be plenty of chances for him, given the fact that the Mavs are shooting below 44.8 percent in the playoffs.
2. Suns hold Luka Doncic to fewer than 20 points
Doncic erupted for 45 points in Game 1 on 50 percent (15/30) shooting, but he will not have that kind of scoring explosion in Game 2. Not just because the Suns will be tightening their defense on him, but also because Jalen Brunson might eat up on Doncic’s shot attempts.
Brunson had trouble managing his fouls in Game 1, leaving him with just 31 minutes of action – fewer than his playoffs average of 37.0 per game. With a fresh set of fouls, Brunson should get more minutes later tonight and get more shots than he did in the series opener. Plus, Doncic probably will be more defensive-minded in Game 2 after the way the Suns dominated them offensively.
1. JaVale McGee scores at least 15 points
Here’s a fun one. McGee is a gift for Suns fans because they just don’t know what they are going to get from the 34-year-old vet. In Game 1, McGee played 14 minutes and scored just 4 points on 2/3 shooting., His most memorable play – or sequence rather– came when he picked Doncic’s pocket in the fourth quarter and jammed one in off that Mavs turnover.
McGee averaged just 9.2 points in the regular season and 7.7 points in the playoffs, but crazy things happen all the time in the NBA. If Game 2 becomes another blowout in favor of either side, there could be more playing time in store for McGee to do JaVale McGee things on the court.
