ESPN's national double header featured two interesting games. The Suns vs Mavericks and the 76ers vs Lakers. Suns vs Mavericks has been a fun rivalry over the last couple years with some really fun games. The rivalry between Luka Doncic and Devin Booker has highlighted some intense games between the two teams. The 76ers and Lakers faced off. Both teams come into the game struggling a little bit in their recent games.
Suns vs Mavericks
This game was awesome. Two teams who are looking to keep pace atop the brutal Western Conference. The Suns come into the game off to their best start in 15 years. The chemistry between Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, and Bradley Beal is sustained and the overall roster is playing really well in Mike Budenholzer's system. Kevin Durant is in MVP conversations with 35 and 32 points in his last two games and shooting 55% from 2 this year so far. Booker has been playing a little up and down. His high games have been really good, but in games he has struggled he's played pretty poorly. The Mavericks come into the game a little banged up. Luka is off to an average start I would say for him. That's not to discredit anything he's doing poorly, but I think he could be a little bit more efficient then how he's playing right now. The defense still looks solid and the fit with Thompson next to Irving and Doncic has really popped. Both teams are playing well early on. Let's dive into the recap.
Recap
The Mavericks were without Derreck Lively, and PJ Washington in this one. While the Suns did not have Ryan Dunn. The Mavericks opened with their usual lineup of Kyrie, Luka, Daniel Gafford, Klay Thompson, and Naji Marshall taking Washington's spot. The Suns countered with Devin Booker, Tyus Jones, Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal, and Jusuf Nurkic. The matchups to start were interesting. Bradley Beal was tasked with guarding Luka Doncic. The commitment Beal has made on this end of the floor has been great so far this year. He's taken on the opponent's toughest matchup and held up well. The Suns don't need to be top 5 in defense this year, but staying in the top 15 with their potent offense should make them feel good. Booker has also beefed up his defense this year. I think him not playing the point guard and worrying about setting guys up has freed him up to take on tougher challenges on defense. Him and Beal have really stepped up this year. Booker started out on Klay and switched onto Kyrie some as well. The game started off very fast for the Suns they were able to move the ball well and put the Mavericks in some compromising rotations to get some easy looks from behind the arc. Booker and Durant both started really well in the first quarter putting up 9 and 7 points each. The Suns defense did a really good job early against Luka and Kyrie. The Suns really helped hard when each was in the middle of the floor and tried to force them away from the paint towards the baseline and sideline. The Mavericks bench was able to provide some type of spark along with Kyrie and Luka getting going. with these types of players if so tough to try and turn off their water completely. Making them work for their and shutting off everyone else is typically the plan teams try and take. The Sun's were able to really push the pace late in the first quarter to take a 31-22 lead after an 8-0 run. They finished the quarter strong and lead 36-24 at the end of it. The Suns also played lot of 5 out on offense putting Gafford in some tough spots for him to recover and rotate out on. However, Dallas was able to get back into the game early in the second quarter. Suns were a little stagnant when the bench came into the game and Dallas's defensive intensity took a step up. Gafford really started to force some issues while in drop coverage. Tyus Jones had a difficult time pinpointing passes out of the pick and roll and Mavs were able to get out in transition on misses. Suns also did a really good job limited Luka's passes for open threes. Luka is really good at going into a shot and then passing out of it to get his teammates open. The Suns were able to double hard and then recover to force of some misses. However, Luka started to get going and put in a couple easy layups and threes. It's hard for the Suns to defend him with Nurkic at the 5 and in drop coverage. Luka usually eats up the big a getting to the basket and getting the lob or layup. While the Mavericks were able to come back a little. Durant hit some really tough shots to keep the Sun's lead at double digits. The Suns lead 63-50 at halftime. Luka had 16 points and Kyrie had 10. Booker had 11 points an 8 assists while Durant had 10 and Royce O'Neale had 11 points on 4/4 shooting. The main difference for the Suns this year is their bench and role players had improved so much compared to last year and has created multiple threats outside of the big three on the court. The Mavericks however, were able to come back in the third quarter. The 1 on 1 defense held strong and was able to force some tough shots for the Suns. The Mavericks didn't double Durant and Booker at all because of the spacing on the floor. In the third you started to see the Mavericks push the pace as well. This as been an emphasize of Jason Kidd over the last two seasons. Getting Kyrie and Thompson up the floor can put a lot of pressure on the defense and create mismatches for Kyrie to attack. It also didn't allow the Suns to set their defense. They were constantly playing out of rotations and affected their offense as well. They didn't seem comfortable and resorted back to trying to attack 1 on 1 with Booker or Durant. However, something they have utilized more often this year is either Beal or O'Neale screening for Durant. Beal oftentimes has smaller defenders on him and is able to get the defense in awkward spots when they switch on Durant screens. Beal is then able to play 4 on 3 and make the right play. The Mavericks were able to cut into the lead a little heading to fourth quarter down 87-83. Naji Marshall really played well in this one for the Mavericks, he was a key target for them to replace Derrick Jones. Jr. and be the wing defender next to PJ Washington. An under the radar thing also has been Klay Thompson's defense. He's not going to be the All-NBA type of defender he was early in his career with the recent injuries, but it's been more than serviceable this year. Luka, when he wants to, has been really good at holding his own in 1 on 1 scenarios too. Dwight Powell also looked good with the minutes he played. His defense in drop and keeping Nurkic off the glass really gave the Mavericks an advantage. It allowed them to get out in transition and really get them back into the game. They tied it at 91 before the Suns hit two three back to back. Bradley Beal also played a lot more on the ball at the end of the game then in the past. Usually it's been Durant, but this game Beal was able to take advantage of the mismatches. Durant and Kyrie trading buckets found the score at 109-106 with the Mavs leading before an O'Neale three tied the score. A Gafford dunk saw the Mavs take a short lived lead before a Nurkic layup. Nurkic played really good defense the next possession down to force a stop on Luka. Nurkic was then able to get a put back to take a 113-111 lead. Luka hit Gafford on a lob the next possession down to tie it at 113. The final possession saw the Suns clear it out for a Durant ball screen and used O'Neale as the screener. Durant hit him and he missed a floater. Nurkic was able to get the offensive rebound and fouled with 0.8 seconds left. He made a free throw and Luka missed a 40 footer for the win at the buzzer. The Suns hung on for a 114-113 road win. Durant had 26 points and Booker had 12 assists in the game. The Sun had 5 guys between 13-18 points. Luka had 30 points along with 7 assists, and 7 rebounds and Kyrie had 29 points 6 assists and 7 rebounds for the Mavericks. Naji Marshall had 18 points and Klay struggled going 4/13 from the field. The Suns move to 8-1 while the Mavericks drop to 5-4.
Reaction
First off what a game. Lived up the hype of it and was really enjoying to watch. Both sets of stars showed well in this one. To start with the Suns they are now 7-0 clutch games this year. That is far and away the best record in the NBA. The fourth quarter offense has flowed well. They have shooting to space the defense out and are making all the right plays. They never panic when teams go on runs. When in doubt they always go to Beal or O'Neale screening for Durant and have them make plays. Grayson Allen hasn't shot the ball well so far this year, but he's been attacking the basket with pace and putting a ton of pressure on the opposing rim protector. The Suns great so far.
The Mavericks are off to a bumpy start, 5-4 is nothing to sneeze at, but the West is challenging and finding ways to pull out wins against really good teams is something they need to start doing a little bit better. Luka has been good this year, but I want to see him be a little bit more efficient around the basket. I feel like he's trying to foul bait a little too much and that's why he's missing some easy ones around the basket. No team should ever try and play drop coverage against him and he should punish it every single time with how good he is. The bench also needs to play a little better. I thought Quentin Grimes would be able to punch it up and Jaden Hardy hasn't been great to start the year. I still feel confident with them though.
Lakers vs 76ers
The Laker vs 76ers are two teams really trying to find themselves. the 76ers have won 1 game so far this year and needed Tyrese Maxey to score 45 points in order to win in overtime against the Pacers. The Lakers came into this one 1-4 after their 3-0 home start. Noticeably D'Angelo Russell has been shaky to start the year. His shooting from three hasn't been great and he got benched in their past game against the Grizzlies. Nonetheless let's dive into the recap.
Recap
The Lakers switched up the lineup with Cam Reddish taking D'Angelo Russell's spot next to LeBron James, Rui Hachimura, Austin Reaves, and Anthony Davis. The 76ers were without Tyrese Maxey as he injured his hamstring in their game against the Clippers on Wednesday. Their starting 5 was Kyle Lowry, Kelly Oubre, Caleb Martin, Andre Drummond, and Paul George. The Lakers started the game with a ton of energy quickly sprinted out to an early lead against Philadelphia. The Lakers do a really good job of establishing Davis early on through early post touches and hitting him on rolls to the basket. He has not been taking as many threes this year and shooting low percentage on them, but he's getting to the basket and mid post extremely well so far this year. The Lakers also looked really good in transition as well. They were consistently getting out and pushing the pace. Austin reaves has been really good at making decisions in transition and having Lebron blow it up the court is always great offense. The 76ers were able to start hitting some shots to get back in the game. After the quick Lakers' start they lead 36-29 after the first quarter Davis was unstoppable putting in 16 points in the first. Russell checked in the game and seemed engaged after his poor performance against Memphis. He was able to play within himself and didn't have any lapses on defense. The 76ers however, were able to get back in the game due to Paul George. He was pretty quiet in this one, but he started making some shots and sitting up his teammates well in get the 76ers back in the game. They eventually took a lead late in the quarter before Austin Reaves to get going. He had 5 first half threes. That saw the Lakers take a 68-60 lead at the break. Davis had 22 points and Reaves had 17. Lebron had 8 assists. I think the Lakers are best when Lebron is handling it. Not an obvious take, but his vision and they was he sees the game is second o none. he can make every pass in the book and always puts it on time to his teammate. His ability to this consistently while Davis handles the scorer load help a lot. The third quarter saw the Lakers really get after the 76ers. After the ball movement and good passes in the first half, the Lakers shut down a lot of what they were trying to do. Russell had two great sequences on defense back to back. He was able to stab at the ball while Drummond had it in the post and recover out to force a bad miss from Jared McCain. Next possession down he was able to blow up the hand off and force Drummond to get somewhere else for a screen. Russell then didn't over help the screen and forced Martin to make a difficult cross court pass. I think this Russell with his engagement on defense is great mainly because the other team doesn't have someone else to pick on. This effort really keyed the third quarter run for Los Angeles as they took a 98-81 lead. The Lakers really like to use Lebron at the elbow with Davis either setting a backscreen for Reaves or Russell. They then go into a ball screen lower on the floor with Lebron and Davis at the foul line, which puts a ton of pressure on the defense. Lebron was able to make the right reads and the Lakers were able to get some easy looks. After a couple minutes into the fourth and some Lebron buckets the 76ers waved the white flag. Lakers would go on to win 116-106 and move to 5-4 while the 76ers, lose has them at 1-7 on the year. Lebron had 21 points 13 assists, and 12 rebounds, Davis had 31 points and 9 rebounds, Reaves finished with 20 and Russell had 18. Jared McCain finished with 18 points and Yabusele had 14 points. George finished the game 4/13 from the field.
Reaction
I'm going to say the quiet part out loud right now and that is the Lakers should bring Russell off the bench for the rest of the season. Cam Reddish's defense is much better next to the other starters and having Russell run the offense for the bench unit isn't the worst thing in the world. I'm not really seeing how Russell fits with the Davis-centric offense and I think Reddish has better defense to offer. He held Paul George to 1/6 when defending him tonight. The Lakers are still trying to figure out Redick's identity. They aren't taking a ton of threes like he wants them too, but they're playing faster and dominating the offensive glass. They also get to the free throw line more than any team in the NBA with Davis taking 12 a game. I still think they're a good team, but they need to figure out how to defend the transition defense if they want to be an elite team in the West.
I know this is the third 76ers game of the week on this page so don't worry they'll be featured less on here going forward until Embiid returns. I still think Embiid changes so much of their offense and defense so I'm not fully out on them. The East isn't as good as the West so they can still sneak up the standings when they get him back, but no Tyrese Maxey really hurts. I do want to see more Jared McCain though. He attacks the paint well and shoots the ball well too. Both things that are much needed for the struggling 76ers. We will see what this team looks like with everyone healthy, if that ever happens.
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