Those who watched The Dallas Mavericks Basketball understands that a rivalry with the Phoenix Suns dates back to the Western Conference playoff days of the mid-2000s.
Steve Nash left Dallas after a few truly successful seasons, helping them reach the 2002-03 Western Conference Finals and appearing in a pair of All-Star games alongside Dirk NowitzkiHe joined the Phoenix Suns before the 2004 season, and from there he won back-to-back MVP awards in his first two seasons.
Dallas’ battles with the Suns were fierce at this time, as Nash, along with players like Amare Stoudemire, Shawn MarionAnd Raja Bell helped Phoenix reach the championship several times during this era, although they were never able to break through and win a Larry O’Brien Trophy.
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Yet the rivalry between Phoenix and Dallas was renewed again in the 2022 Western Conference Semifinals between Chris Paul‘sand Devin Bookerthe iteration of the Suns and Luka DoncicThe Dallas Mavericks, where Dallas dealt a mortal blow by completely dismantling Phoenix, 123-90, in Game 7.
Fast forward to 2023: Kevin Durant joined forces with Booker, and while the chemistry hadn’t quite clicked at the time, the Suns still had star power that could compete with anyone. Knowing Luka Doncic’s competition, this was the kind of game he’d wake up for — a prime-time battle on Christmas Day against a fierce foe — on the road. And, like Santa Claus, he delivered.
Armed with a starting lineup of sensational new recruits Derek Lively IIas well as Dante Exum, Tim Hardaway Jr.And Derrick Jones Jr.Doncic led the Mavericks in points with 50 and assists with 15.
The first basket of the game set the tone for how the rest of the night would unfold. It began with a high pick-and-roll from Lively II, which Phoenix blitzed, allowing Doncic to find his young center for a wide-open jam. They fed the Suns a heavy diet of pick-and-rolls from the three-point line, with Lively II either setting a screen or sliding to the basket. He scored 20 points, most of them on such plays.
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As Phoenix continued to double-guard Doncic in those sets, he made them pay by making the right reads, either in the post or on an open three-point shooter. Kyrie Irving On the court, the emphasis was even more on stopping Doncic, who regularly beat the coverage trap by splitting the double team and driving to the basket for easy layups.
Displaying elite speed and functional handling, Doncic analyzed these different blitzes regardless of personnel. The Mavericks also used several different players, including Derrick Jones Jr., and even AJ Lawson and Dante Exum, who were all able to make the defense pay from time to time with a short pass. While the rest of the team only had 13 assists in total, that speaks to Doncic’s ability to score unassisted rather than a lack of consistent effort on offense.
Doncic also made his share of three-pointers in this game — 16 to be exact — hitting eight of them. Most of them were rebounds, and several of those attempts were in transition. He displayed his full range of shooting in his 50-point outing, shooting 15-of-25 from the field and making all 12 of his free throws.
One of the most impressive plays of the night was a jump pass to the weakside corner from Doncic as he came back from an AJ Lawson screen, which the Suns once again tricked, though the screen negated the attempt. He beat Chemistry Metu off the bounce before finding Jaden Hardy in the corner, who made a three as the shot clock expired.
From an efficiency standpoint, it’s hard to beat him (though his 73-point game against Atlanta, where he shot 25-of-33, comes to mind), but his passing prowess was just as effective as his scoring efficiency. That night, he had a 158.0 offensive efficiency rating, a 58.1 percent assist rate, and a 34.9 percent usage rate.
The least talked about aspect of this game was his defensive effort: he had four blocks and three steals to go along with his entire offensive output. Rumors that Doncic was “out of shape” have often been countered by various examples of performances on both ends of the floor, and tonight was certainly one such example.
Hopefully the Slovenian superstar can recreate some of that magic for the 2024-25 season.
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