Phoenix Suns Game 2 Takeaway: Suns Are Deliberately Duping Doncic
Entering this series, I noted how the Mavericks differ from the Suns in that they do not have the luxury of taking things away from the Suns, whereas Phoenix can hunt matchups all day long, choosing from a variety of different options to try and score against.
The most sought-after of all those options was Luka Doncic last night.
The Suns possess the league’s master tactician at their helm in Chris Paul, running with an ideal co-captain in Monty Williams—who resembles a shoo-in for the Coach of the Year award. Between those two, they worked like a highly functioning GPS system, leading Phoenix’s scorers to ideal matchups which they could exploit, often involving Doncic.
It’s one thing to have a singular plan of attack in doing so. That, in turn, renders you susceptible to opposing counters. But it’s another thing to be both versatile and nuanced with your scheme, and the latter is certainly what the Suns were.
They navigated their way to Doncic as the primary defender through pick-and-roll schemes, inducing switches, forcing him to make decisions in help (then, subsequently recover), and tugging at his specific rotations within the Mavericks defensive setup.
It was a thorough exploitation that came in a flash in the second half, and all Suns had relevant opportunities in attacking him from the perimeter.