Original title: 80 points in the two battles is still difficult to win Kidd: Others help Doncic!
In the Western Conference semifinals, the Mavericks and the Suns played two games. Not only were the process and results relatively similar, but even after the game, Mavericks coach Jason Kidd’s remarks in an interview were almost the same. After these two games, Kidd’s core point of view is that when facing the Suns with the best regular season record in the league, Luka Doncic, the core of the Lone Ranger, needs his teammates to provide him with more support and support. help.
In the second game of the series against the Suns, Doncic’s personal data, although not as gorgeous and shocking as the 45 points, 12 rebounds and 8 assists in the first game, he still showed his comprehensiveness and efficiency. On offense, Doncic made 13 of 22 shots, including 5 of 10 from beyond the arc. While scoring a game-high 35 points, Doncic also contributed 5 rebounds and 7 assists. Item data is also the highest on the team.
But even if Doncic played to such a degree, the Lone Ranger still lost to the Suns by as many as 20 points with a score of 109-129. “He had a great game on his own, but nobody came forward but him,” Mavericks coach Kidd said after the game. “We need other players to play better, because if only He’s got 30 points in a game by himself, and we’re not going to win, at least not at this stage of the season. We’re playing against the best team in the league, so the rest of us have to step up. OK.”
As the team coach, Kidd’s comments do not end there. In a later interview, he also “named and criticized” two players-Jaylen Brunson and Spencer Dinwiddie. In Kidd’s view, the two of them are the ones who should stand up next to Doncic. out of players.
In the face of the head coach’s criticism, Brunson and Dinwiddie really can’t say anything, because the two Mavericks did not perform well in the first two games of the Western Conference semifinals. In these two games, the two combined contributed only 41 points, and the shooting percentage was only 32.6%. Especially Brunson, when facing the Jazz in the previous round, he can be described as “turned out”, averaging 27.8 points in 6 games. Kidd is unhappy with how they’ve played in the past two games because he knows the two have such ability.
Looking at the Suns, they not only have outstanding star players like Doncic, but also a number of role players who have played stably and have seen strong winds and waves. Under the leadership of the two stars of Booker and Paul, the Suns showed a state of play on the court in the two games against the Lone Ranger. In the second game of the series, Booker scored 30 points, Paul scored 28 points, and the two contributed 21 points and 20 points respectively in the second half, helping the Suns scored an astonishing 71 points in the last two quarters of the game, allowing the lone line The slight advantage that Xia played in the first half disappeared.
The Suns were able to crush the Mavericks in the second half, and an important means was to target the Slovenian defender on offense. According to statistics, in the second half of Game 2 of the series, Doncic went to defend the ball carrier 19 times after the Suns launched the pick-and-roll, ranking third in his career. And the Suns’ offensive players can also score an average of 1.81 points per chance when facing Doncic behind the pick-and-roll switch. Among all players who have faced this situation at least 15 times in the past three years, Doncic’s The number of defensive points allowed is the highest.
Doncic has to lead the charge on offense and be targeted by the sun on defense, so the pressure he faces can be imagined. In addition, his teammates were unable to provide him with effective help, and it was not surprising that he eventually lost the game by 20 points. However, Doncic did not pass the responsibility of losing to his teammates like head coach Kidd. “I have to play better on the defensive end next,” Doncic only left such a simple sentence after the game.
As a leader player, how to lead the team forward and how to make teammates play better on the court is also an important aspect to test his leadership ability. For the young Doncic, this may be the subject he will focus on in this series. If the answer cannot be found quickly, the situation in the first two games of the series is bound to continue. This is why Kidd is so anxious and urgently asks the players around Doncic to stand up quickly.
“We have to help him better,” Kidd said after finding out about the Suns’ actions against Doncic. “They’re really not going to give him a moment’s respite on the court. In fact, in this round We anticipated this before the series started, we went through a similar situation in the last round of the series, and we protected our core players well in the last round, not just Luka. So, By the time we get back home for Game 3 of the series, we have to go back to that model where players are protecting each other on the court.”
In the first round of the playoffs, when the Mavericks faced the Jazz, Doncic missed 3 games, still leading 2-1. However, now in the Western Conference semifinals, the opponent they face is no longer the Jazz, but the Suns with the best regular season record. Even more frightening is that today’s Suns are a more consistent and efficient team than the regular season.
In the second game of the series, the Suns team hit a 64.5% shooting percentage in a single game, and in the fourth quarter, their sports shooting percentage reached an astonishing 84.2%. Calculated in the audience, the sun’s true shooting percentage reached 75.7%, which is the second-highest single-game record in NBA playoff history. The first place is the Clippers in 2020. In the fifth game of the first round of the playoffs that year, the Clippers had a 77.8% true shooting percentage in a single game. The Clippers’ opponent back then was the Lone Ranger who is now standing opposite the sun.
“Look at our opponents, they have CP (Paul) and Booker, and the two really take turns,” Kidd said after the game. “One took over the third quarter, the other took over the fourth quarter, and we There’s really nothing they can do about it, they can do whatever they want. CP finds his rhythm and keeps making layups and jumpers, Booker keeps making 3-pointers, and they both play so well. They have a very good understanding of the situation on the court. They can really control everything on the court, so we have to play better in the following games.”
Although the first two games of the series were horribly lost, the Mavericks also needed time to adapt and adjust for a team that reached the Western Conference semifinals for the first time since 2011. Fortunately, in the next two games, they can play in venues and environments they are familiar with. This is undoubtedly the best chance for Doncic and his teammates to find a standard response.
“A lot of players on our team, they are facing such a situation for the first time,” Doncic said, “We still believe in ourselves, after all, the opponent has not won four games, so this round of the series is not over yet. “(Sports Weekly)Return to Sohu, see more
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