Dallas Mavericks guard Tim Hardaway Jr. passes Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (1) during the first half of an NBA basketball game on Wednesday, December 23, 2020, in Phoenix. (Photo by AP / Rick Scuteri)
PHOENIX – Monty Williams quickly shut down a reporter, this reporter, who considered the Phoenix Suns ’106-102 victory over the Dallas Mavericks to be an unknown game.
“They do not label them as separate victories. We got a win against a very good team, ”the coach said.
Is true!
Still, the Suns had 19 business losses, a number Williams considered disappointing and said he can’t pass against good teams. Devin Booker had eight. Deandre Ayton had serious problems and then his backup, Damian Jones too. Newcomers Chris Paul and Jae Crowder spent the nights.
And yet, the Suns kept enough control of the game so Paul and Booker could jump from mid-range clutch back to back with less than 90 seconds to make a 4-0 mini run to seal it when it mattered. .
This was thanks to contributions elsewhere through the juice we saw developing in the bubble. This included a huge two-band performance outside of Mikal Bridges. The third-year winger provided 15 of his 18 points in the first half with an offensively aggressive mindset, while protecting Dallas star man Luka Doncic.
The Suns bench produced 41 points. Cam Johnson had 15, Cam Payne added 11 and Langston Galloway got 11 in just nine minutes. Due to serious problems for Ayton and Jones, along with Dario Saric losing the game, this meant that rookie Jalen Smith was called up when he wasn’t even a lock he would play.
He responded well in 16 minutes that the Suns needed every second. Smith adapted to the team culture, playing hard constantly, even through some rookie mistakes.
“Jalen really stepped us up,” Johnson said. “It’s hard … the low season is short and being a rookie is hard enough to figure out all the calls and every little detail of the game is really hard. I really give it a lot of credit for stepping up, competing and playing hard and giving – what we needed “.
While Booker’s turnovers were problematic, he had 22 points on 8-of-15 shots. Paul had his moments when he made his impact on the game felt even in below-average performance. He finished with eight points, four rebounds, five assists and two steals in 3-on-9 shots. Overall, he got a strong defensive effort with this Phoenix juice. not more offensively enough to get a win.
It was a fun game, thanks in large part to Doncic’s uneven play. Whether he got hurt early or was not yet in maximum air condition, the All-NBA guard missed a few blast steps and hit him all the time. With that in mind, as all great players do, he finally made his way to 32 points, eight rebounds and five assists in the 11-of-26 pitch. The Mavericks go as they shoot him and his shot. , so when Doncic is a little off and shooting 9-of-37 (24.3%) from three points, it’s usually not his night.
The Suns headlines never managed to keep their pace offensive and while the changes were bad, they were often stagnant in terms of movement. They led just one after a quarter and eight at the break, while Doncic worked his numbers. The game remained even from that point on, with both teams still stumbling as they hit trying to hit, but the Suns were running harder as they stumbled. That was enough to get to the closing time with the game to play, and it was definitely worth it for both Paul and Booker to be prepared for.
This source of spirit will win the Suns games like Wednesday’s if it is as present as in victory. Three Suns players had at least seven rebounds: Crowder (9), Ayton (8) and Bridges (7), while Paul (4) and Booker (5) made a total of 33 for the starters. Dallas had 39 in total.
There were some flawed rotations on defense, but the Suns had no slippage in their effort, a term Williams uses to emphasize small stretches where the game will move away from them. Bridges reflected on what this constant energy can do to the defense for their team.
“It’s trustworthy,” he said. “We know what we can do at the other end offensively. We have the guys for that. Once we know we stop and they say, ‘All right, we’re missing shots we’re working on, some business losses we need to clean up,’ as long as we are out watching and helping each other, that will be the key to our success: continuing to defend as a team. “