Dallas – In Phoenix Suns He got here less than a week ago with swollen chests and chin up and a 2-0 lead against Dallas Mavericks In the semi-finals of the Western Conference.
Two losses at the American Airlines hub have left Suns in need of repair. “We need to fix a few things,” coach Monty Williams said afterwards. Sunday’s loss 111-101 in game 4.
The list of fixes is long. Where to begin seems to be an apt question, given the defensive slack, the porous defense, the struggles of the 37-year-old goalkeeper, and the meager output from the bench in games 3 and 4.
But it is not.
The biggest problem was the defense which allowed for a lot of penetration into the lane and gave the Mavericks as many undisputed 3 point attempts as they get in a shootout.
And the penalties are what the first half looked like on Sunday afternoon. The Mavericks made 14 of 24 three-pointers in the first half to take a 12-point lead.
The Suns improved in the second half, but the damage was done. On Sunday, it was irreparable.
“I thought our defense in the first half was as bad as it has been all year,” Williams said. “This is something I have to fix as a coach.”
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Combine defensive lapses with 17 turns and point guard Chris Paul fouled in the fourth quarter after scoring just five points in 23 minutes, and it looks like a statistical anomaly that didn’t drop the Suns by more than 10.
What should bother them is that most of their troubles in losing to Dallas are signs that the team’s mental superiority is over with a 2-0 lead.
Pick a cliche, but the team that focuses, locks up, doesn’t give up as much penetration as the Suns did, fails to lock in bowlers as they often did and throws the ball away as many times as they did.
After the match, Williams spoke about the Suns’ need to take ownership of their mistakes in their last two games. It’s the only way to get through the scratches and again look like the team that went to the finals a year ago and won 64 games in the regular season.
Williams included himself in it, as he should. He was knocked out of his training in the last two games by Jason Kidd, who, after two losses, quietly pushed his best players to play better, and then gave them the tools to do so, most notably the offensive tackle that left the Suns behind. reacts. The reaction is often bad.
While embracing personal responsibility for losing both games in Dallas, Williams also noted “we’ve worked” in the regular season to be in this position: getting the home grounds advantage in a tight streak.
The guard said the series is now back to winning two of the last three, and people shouldn’t be surprised by that Devin BookerWhich leads the Suns with 35 points.
Booker noted that in the past two seasons, the Suns had been in a series against the Lakers, clippersAnd dollars A swan that went six runs. Only once did the sun sweep against nuggets Last season.
He said, “We understand it’s a streak, it’s the playoffs for a reason, the best teams in the NBA here. Taking all of that into consideration, getting rid of this game and coming up with the right mindset. If we’re worried about the last two games, I think we’re at a disadvantage.”
But having a problem means that you have acknowledged that there is a problem. Booker pointed out defensive deficiencies for the Suns team, but emphasized once again that officials have had an undue influence in the last two games.
It’s a topic that Booker won’t let go, but he stopped fine. He said just go watch the last two games, and see what you think of the verdict.
No doubt Paul’s limited availability is due to an ugly problem. But the Suns could have controlled some of that. Paul made three fouls when Williams put him back in the match with 45.7 seconds left in the second quarter.
Paul was called up for his fourth foul after a rebound in the final seconds of the game, which wasn’t a wise move given his situation. Williams said he should have kept Paul on the bench.
Paul’s fifth mistake came in just two and a half minutes in the third quarter when he dribbled in front of the goal Galen BronsonContact fee. That’s a mistake for an offensive player these days, and once again, a wiser option was available to Paul. The sixth foul came about 90 seconds after he entered the fourth quarter. That was a bad call.
This was Paul’s second poor match in a row. He made seven turnovers in the first half of Game Three, and his early error problem on Sunday made his comeback even more difficult. But that was not impossible.
The Suns were nine points behind, with 2:21 remaining in the second quarter. The strong ending could have turned the game around. Instead, they lost four shots, including two three-point open attempts, and Paul picked up the fourth foul. The Mavericks boosted their lead from nine to 12 points in that time.
end of the third quarter following a similar pattern. They missed their last four shots and their only point was a poker free throw.
The Suns shot less than 50 percent for the second game in a row, and the drop in production is directly related to the defense slippage. The Suns like to play in transition, but as Booker said, it’s hard to play quickly when you get the ball out of the net so often.
As disastrous as this trip has been for the Suns, they can overcome it. Game 5 will take place in Phoenix on Tuesday night before the flight back to Dallas on Thursday. Winning these games is how you shut out the Pelicans in the first round.
But they return home wounded, vacillated and weak.
This article originally appeared on The Arizona Republic: The Suns have a chain in their hands after a disaster against the Mavericks
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