The Dallas Mavericks beat the Phoenix Suns in 7 games and managed to close out the series in spectacular fashion, blowing the Suns out of the water in their arena. Luka Doncic dropped another Game 7 masterclass, ending up with the same number of points in the first half as the entire Phoenix Suns team.
It’s hard to disagree with the take that he was the best player in the series. And while there will be a few that argue that it is easy to say so in hindsight, Luka’s numbers speak for themselves as usual. One of the most unreal stats is that Doncic outperformed every one of the Suns’ stars at whatever they do best.
Luka in the Suns series:
— More points than Booker
— More rebounds than Ayton
— More assists than CP
— More steals than Mikal pic.twitter.com/weRy9Nh8j6
— StatMuse (@statmuse) May 16, 2022
While there were fears that Doncic wouldn’t be able to overcome the Phoenix Suns thanks to a heliocentric style of offense, and the Suns having the better players, he proved all the doubters wrong throughout the series. The fact that he performed better than each Phoenix star at the best thing they are known for is a dominant performance reminiscent of a younger LeBron James.
The Suns’ stars didn’t help themselves either, with Paul seemingly falling off a cliff, Bridges proving ineffective against Doncic’s size, and Ayton playing small despite having a huge size advantage in the post. Booker had some excellent performances, but also came up short when it mattered the most, in Game 7.
It remains to be seen what Doncic will be able to do against the Golden State Warriors, whose small lineups and championship pedigree make them a completely different beast. But if he could utterly dominate the best team in the NBA this season in nearly every facet of the game, then the Warriors themselves will have a hard time figuring out how to contain the Slovenian superstar.
