Doncic crazy: so Dallas forced Phoenix to race-7

Race-7 is needed. Because Luka Doncic is magical, a phenomenon that is enhanced the more the stage becomes demanding. And because Phoenix, who shows up in Dallas with the chance to close the accounts at 4-2, melts at the first difficulty, unrecognizable as Chris Paul, his North Star. Game 7 is needed, Sunday in Arizona, because Dallas follows Doncic and plays a perfect match, won 113-86 by dominating. And you earn the beauty, where the pressure will be all on the Suns, the team that dominated the regular season and that suddenly finds itself less special than it was convinced it was.

Luka show

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“No matter what I did, it was a team victory. We won together and I’m proud of how we played ”underlines Luka after the game, a perfect team man. He is right in underlining the merits of all the Mavs, who have risen up the level with their backs to the wall, but it was his show of him that ignited them, another monstrous performance like the ones he gave to his Slovenia in the summer. . Doncic plays with the same determination, closes with 33 points, 11 rebounds and 8 assists, involves his teammates and drags them along. He plays as a phenomenon, as the leader of a team increasingly aware of his own worth and of the stage he is performing on. Besides Luka, the best in race-6 were Reggie Bullock, 19 points with 5 triples and super defense over Paul, Jalen Brunson (19 points) and Spencer Dinwiddie (18 points and finally up to it). These are the same ingredients that Dallas will have to use in race-7 to beat Phoenix: “This is a special team and I have faith – Doncic says -. But we have to play in defense as we did in this match, only then will we have a chance ”.

Off

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The Suns suddenly went out, as if they had forgotten how to be special. “In attack we have never been so disorganized and it is one of the reasons we have lost – says coach Williams -. We didn’t have the concentration and determination to win a match like this “. Phoenix got everything wrong: 22 turnovers that led to 29 opponents points, defense unable not only to contain Doncic but also his teammates, stagnant attack bogged down at 39.7%. And Paul a shadow of himself, as from game-3 onwards: it’s as if since last Friday he blew out 37 candles on the cake he had suddenly gone out, so much so that in the last 4 games he has more turnovers (18) than baskets (14). “I’m fine – assures him -, but luckily we have an extra day of rest before race-7. We will talk about this match and we will be better in the next one ”. He needs to go back to being the leader who brought Phoenix up to this point, for Booker to shine as he failed to do in Game-6 (19 points but 6/17 shooting), for the defense to hold its own against Doncic . The Suns will have a precious ally in the beautiful, one that has always made the difference in this series: the home factor. “We worked hard throughout the regular season to be able to play Game 7 in front of our fans – recalls Williams -: we have to take advantage of it”.

The match

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After 18 ‘of equilibrium, the Mavs split the game at the end of the second quarter, reaching the break ahead 60-45 with an open run of 19-4. Luka invents other spells at the beginning of the second half, Phoenix does not even try and the advantage of the Mavs expands up to 22 points, making the fourth period a long wait for game-7. The one in which Phoenix will have to prove that it is still the team that was clearly superior to everyone in the regular season. And in which Dallas will ask for another spell from his irresistible phenomenon.

Dallas:Doncic 33 (9/18 from twos, 2/8 from three, 9/14 free throws), Bullock 19, Brunson 18. Rebounds: Doncic 11. Assists: Doncic 8.

Phoenix: Ayton 21 (10/16, 1/4 tl), Booker 19, Paul 13. Rebounds: Ayton 11. Assists: Bridges 5.