Monty Williams sums up the Mavs’ problem
45 points from one player sounds intimidating, but if the Mavericks were counting on just their star player, it’s not going to be enough to win this series.
Suns head coach Monty Williams perfectly summed up what the problem was for the Dallas Mavericks in Game 1.
“Any time a guy has 45, you look at that number, and you don’t like it,” Williams said. “But I look at their assist numbers. They only had 16. So, Kleber hit some threes but for the most part, nobody else got going the way that they’re capable.”
In a nutshell. Doncic is a weapon and he takes all the defending opposing teams can give, and that’s what the Suns gave. Though Doncic was still able to put up 45 points in the game, he was alone in that production.
Jalen Brunson was clutch for the Mavs when Doncic was out, but even when he was in, Brunson proved he could be just as much a threat against the Jazz. Against the Suns, however, he simply did not produce, putting up just 13 points. Even worse was Spencer Dinwiddie, who put up just eight points in 3-of-8 shooting in 30 minutes.
“Getting [Brunson] going there in the second half, and Spencer, we gotta do a better job there,” Dallas head coach Jason Kidd said. “[Doncic] was good in the second half, too. We just gotta help get someone to join the party.”
Maxi Kleber did join the party for a bit, hitting five threes and putting up 19 points, but the Suns’ defense shut him down from doing more. The Suns outrebounded Dallas 51-36. Devin Booker scored 23 points with nine rebounds and eight assists. Chris Paul scored 19 points with five rebounds and three assists, and Cam Johnson scored 17 off the bench.