In the second game of the Western Conference Semifinals between the Lone Rangers and the Suns, the Suns beat the Lone Rangers by 20 points 129-109 and took a 2-0 lead in the series, a game that completely showed the huge gap between the Suns and the Lone Rangers in the lineup, the Suns side, they have a deep enough lineup to share the pressure of veteran Paul, so that the latter can only organize and tandem the team in the first three quarters, leaving the physical strength in the fourth quarter to harvest the game.
Throughout the game, Paul shot 11-of-16 and 1-of-2 from three-point range, scoring 28 points, 6 rebounds, 8 assists and 1 steal, including 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting in the fourth quarter. So far in the playoffs this season, Paul has shot 63.8 percent from the fourth quarter. Paul is a good proof that when there is a group of reliable teammates around, superstars can really improve their own game to another level, on the contrary, if the teammates are not reliable enough, then even if they are tired and vomit, it is difficult to win, such an example is Doncic.
In fact, Doncic's performance was better than Paul's in this game, and throughout the game, Doncic played 36 minutes, shooting 13-of-22, including 5-of-10 three-pointers, 4-of-5 free throws, and 35 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists and 1 steal. In the last game lost to the Suns, Doncic also slashed 45 points, 12 rebounds and 8 assists, 2 games down, Doncic was a father and a mother, averaging 40 points per game, but even 1 game could not win, becoming the saddest empty slash king in this year's playoffs.
After the game, even Mavericks coach Kidd couldn't sit still, bluntly saying that the team can't rely on Doncic alone, Kidd said: "He played a good game, but others didn't show it... We can't just rely on him to score 30 points per game on the court to win, especially at this stage of the season, when we're playing against the best team in the league. ”
As Kidd said, the Lone Ranger can't just think about relying on Doncic, his burden is too heavy, not only the organization of the team depends on him, the offense depends on him, even the defense depends on him. The Suns know very well that as long as Doncic's physical strength is constantly depleted, he can't stand up in the fourth quarter like Paul and harvest the game, basically he can win. Speaking about forcing Luka Doncic to burn on the defensive end, Sun Booker said: "It's very important, I think the opponent is trying to create the matchup they like and we're doing the same thing on the other end. Defensive alignment is tough, but he has to defend. ”
It is worth mentioning that this is the 12th single-game 30 points in Doncic's career playoffs, tying Karim Abdul-Jabbar and ranking fourth in the league's playoff history before the age of 24, behind LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant. Such a great record, excellent performance, but because of the loss, it seems dim. And seeing such a helpless Doncic, people can't help but think of James that year, especially in the 2009 Eastern Conference Finals, that when facing magic, even if they played the performance of the gods, they could not beat the magic James.
In the 2009 playoffs, James, who won the first MVP of his career, led the Cavaliers to the Eastern Conference Finals, but no one thought that the Cavaliers, who had the first record in the regular season, were beaten to no avail when facing the Magic, and the series was eliminated 2-4, that round of the series, James can average 38.5 points, 8.3 rebounds and 8 assists per game, but the helpless teammates are too poor, the cavaliers lineup depth is far less than the Magic, and the loss of the playoffs also makes James's luxurious data in that series somewhat unworthy.
It is also because of the importance of his teammates that James chose to join the Miami Heat in the summer of 2010, and won 2 championships in the Heat, taking his career to another level. Try to think that if James had stayed with the Cavaliers, maybe he could have continued to take the MVP and luxury stats, but he might not have been able to go any further in the playoffs.
Whether it is James before or Doncic now, it has been proved that basketball games cannot be won by one person, and even strong stars need excellent teammates, otherwise they can only become the king of empty slashing, let their peaks be wasted in the bad construction of the team. With James' example, no matter how the Lone Rangers end this season, perhaps Cuban needs to think hard about how to find a real helper for Doncic next season.