After six high-quality first games, the Suns and Mavericks meet in Phoenix for this seventh and final round. A Game 7 that closes this series, epic until now. While the Warriors wait to find their opponent, it’s a « Win Or Go Home » situation for both teams in Arizona.
During a completely lunar first half, the Suns simply delivered their worst basketball of the season. Like a Chris Paul – Devin Booker duo tense and totally off the mark (3 points, 0/11 on cumulative shots…), Monty Williams’ men tangle their brushes, find no solution and only score… 27 points at halftime! All at 10/41 on shots and with 7 bullet losses (for 8 assists). The best team of the regular season is simply unrecognizable in this first half of Game 7.
Conversely, the Mavericks are on cloud nine. Under the impetus of a monumental Luka Doncic (27 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists), who disintegrates the opposing defense with a smile, the Mavs air-condition the Footprint Center. The Slovenian is especially very well supported by his bench. Especially Spencer Dinwiddie, who scored 21 points in just 15 minutes.
At the break, at the end of a surreal first period, during which Phoenix was humiliated in front of his own public, Dallas sailed very far in the lead and offered an already almost fatal gap to the locals: +30 (57-27)!! !
In the second half, there is obviously no miracle. On the contrary, things get worse for the Suns, who collect 35 points in the third quarter. The gap reached +42 after 36 minutes (92-50) and the spectators began to leave the room at the start of an insignificant last act, during which Monty Williams’ players reduced the gap, for the honor. The final result is nonetheless final (123-90) and the Mavericks, at the end of this one-sided Game 7, qualify on the floor of the finalist in title.
After two consecutive eliminations in the first round, in 2020 and 2021, Luka Doncic and Dallas cross a big collective milestone and join the final square of this 2021/22 season. At the rendezvous now: the Warriors, in the conference final.
WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER
— The terrible crush of Chris Paul and Devin Booker. The two leaders of the Suns missed their game in the big widths. Suffocated by the good defense of the Mavericks? Overwhelmed by the pressure and the challenge? Simply on a (very) bad night? Hot, the explanations are difficult to give, as their cracking leaves us speechless. For his first career Game 7, Booker finished 11 points and 3/14 on shots. As for Paul (10 points, 4/8 on shots), it is already the fifth time in his career that he has lost a series, when his team was leading 2-0. And it’s a (sad) NBA record…
— The outside shooter, the Mavericks’ weapon of mass destruction. Jason Kidd’s men posted an incredible 19/39 from behind the arc, which disintegrated the defensive patterns of the Suns and Monty Williams. When the Mavs are so adept at 3-pointers, they have virtually no league equivalent on offense. In the conference final, against the Warriors who are also well armed in this exercise, it should make sparks…
TOPS / FLOPS
✅ Luka Doncic. The Slovenian spent « only » 30 minutes on the floor, but he was not idle: 35 points (at 12/19 on shots), including 27 in the first half alone, with 10 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 interceptions! On a cloud throughout the first period, he almost folded the meeting at halftime. In this intense series, marked in particular by his altercations with Devin Booker, he finally had the last word, with manner. For the Mavs prodigy, this match is already a « classic » of his career in the playoffs. The type of performance that will be remembered for a long time…
✅ Spencer Dinwiddie. A perfect match for the Texas back off the bench, since he scored 30 points, 11/15 on shots (including 5/7 at 3-pts). Like Luka Doncic, he did most of his damage in the first half, including a very big heat stroke in the second quarter. Note that he and Doncic are the first teammates since Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal, in 2002, to plant 30+ points in a Game 7.
⛔️ The Suns. Despite the advantage of the field, the men of Monty Williams sank and they see their huge season come to an end in the most brutal of ways. Surprised from the start by the aggressiveness and skill of the Mavericks, they failed to respond and quickly lost track. Like their leaders, in distress in attack, Phoenix did not succeed: 33/87 on shots, including 12/34 at 3-pts. NBA finalist in 2021, the Arizona franchise takes the door in the second round in 2022, after a clearly less convincing playoff campaign than a year ago.
THE FOLLOWING
Vacations for Phoenix, the conference final for Dallas (starting Wednesday night, against Golden State).
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