121-114, the Suns defeated the Lone Ranger to usher in the semi-final opening, the key to victory, behind the perfect play of the starting F4, Paul's defense is great.
Paul led the Suns to victory over the Mavericks 19+5+3
First, Ayton's absolute advantage.
The Lone Ranger plays a mini five, while the Suns have Ayton, which is the biggest difference in strength between the two teams, which is reflected in this game:
Ayton's pressed whistle mid-range
Powell, Kleber and Smith, their height, tonnage, strength and talent, completely unable to match Ayton, so the Pauls hung high, Ayton was empty and heavy dunks; Pauls attracted the clip points, Ayton was in the middle distance, the whole game, Ayton shot 12 of 16 and 25 points and 8 rebounds, unable to defend, forcing the Lone Ranger to have to shrink the defense.
Second, Claude's recovery.
Facing the Pelicans' first-round series, Crowder shot just 3-of-26 from outside the three-point line, so he was the lone ranger's starting point that could be let go, but today?
Crowder scored a third three-pointer
Crowder picked up 11 points on 3-of-4 shooting from outside the first-half three-point line, leaving the Lone Rangers defenseless.
When Ayton can punish on the inside and Crowder finally picks up, Booker, Paul and Bridges will not be caught in the lone ranger's attack defense, so Booker 23 points, Bridges 13 points, Paul 19 points, Johnson 17 points, each of them has a stable output, the Suns' offense has no problem.
Note that the Lone Rangers were able to beat the jazz in the first round, and their offense was also very good, which tested the Suns' defense, and Paul delivered an unexpected answer.
Third, the lone ranger's offensive method.
The Lone Ranger's defensive traits are twofold: 1. The team conducts quickly and bombards five outside three-pointers; 2. Doncic's misplaced heads-up and Brunson and Dinwiddie counter-attack; how did the Suns contain the Lone Ranger's offense? Let's look at the first one, defensively for three points.
The Suns defended the Mavericks' microcosm when they were three-pointers.
Doncic attracted a pinch pass, When Dinwiddie received the ball, Bridges quickly pounced, Dinwiddie did not stop the ball and immediately passed the ball to Bullock in the bottom left corner, and Green also made a single block cover for him, but Ayton had a talent advantage after all, flying outside defense, curbing the Lone Ranger's three-point tactics.
The Suns' infinite change of defense, although it did not completely hold the Lone Ranger's three-pointer, did not expose the shortcomings of Ayton and McGee's defense of the outside line too slowly, did not allow the Lone Ranger to achieve the purpose of "three-point projection advantage", forcing them to have Doncic and Brunson lead the personal ability to solve the problem, which highlights the importance of Paul's defensive end.
Fourth, Paul's defensive end plays the role of "team soul".
Against the Jazz, Brunson singled out Conley and teased Mitchell, even if he faced Mitchell, he gave and demanded, but today he faced the veteran Paul, the result:
Paul defended Brunson on the counter-attack
Counter-attack is one of Brunson's specialties, but this counter-attack, he already has the impact and position advantage, the basket is out of the basket, note that in the moment of his shot, Paul picked the ball from the bottom up, affecting Brunson's final end.
In the whole game, Brunson scored only 13 points on 6 of 16, losing his second leadership role against the Jazz, and one of the key factors in the containment of the Lone Ranger's offense.
When the three-point and Brunson heads-up doubles lost their effect, Doncic could only use his personal ability to lead the team, and his misplaced big play was one of the most important means, but today he faced Paul, the result?
Paul defended Doncic one-on-one
Right waist, Doncic back to hit the old cannon, the right hand two steps to chisel in, Paul with the body to carry the impact; Doncic with the front turn to try to use the height to eat, note, in the moment he closed the ball, Paul left hand to the next heavy cut, affecting Doncic's shot action, the ball hit the front of the basket and flew.
Admittedly, Doncic has since responded to Paul 2+1 in the second half, shooting 45 points, 12 rebounds and 8 assists, but in the end he did not play his "big play small" insoluble advantage, the most important factor in the Lone Ranger's offensive constraint, because they have been unable to respond.
At this point, we look at the Suns victory over the Lone Ranger, as mentioned above, the starting F4 and Johnson in the offensive and defensive ends of the excellent play, the real decision of the game trend is Paul, although the data of 19 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal and 1 block is not particularly prominent, but he first pressed Brunson on the defensive end, and then was able to deal with Doncic's misplaced singles, effectively curbing the Lone Ranger attack, which is the most important thing for the team to win, reflected in the data side, Paul's field efficiency value +14, the best in the game!