The Dallas Mavericks signed one of the big surprises of the playoffs early this Monday by eliminating the Phoenix Suns, the best team of the regular season (64-18). Led by a great Luka Doncic, author of 35 points and ten rebounds, the Texan team was far superior in Game 7 of the West semifinals and will now face the Golden State Warriors in the Conference final starting on Wednesday.
Doncic had 27 points at the break and reached his 35 points in just thirty minutes on the court, supported by Spencer Dinwiddie's 30, on a night in which the Mavericks technically, tactically and mentally dominated the Suns who missed the best version of Devin Booker and Chris Paul, its two main stars.
The role of protagonists was assumed by Doncic and Dinwiddie, who became the two players on the same team to score more than thirty points in a seventh playoff game since they did it and two legends like Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal in 2002 .
Once again, the decisive moment was when Doncic looked his best. He finished with a twelve of 19 in shots and six triples, without needing to play the last minutes, with the match already widely sentenced. The Mavs connected 19 triples in 39 attempts, close to 50%, and will play a conference finals again eleven years after the last time, in 2011, when they were champions.
The Suns ended their season in the most bitter way, with eleven points from Devin Booker (3 of 14) and ten from Chris Paul (4 of 8), with only four assists. And it is that the Mavericks came out to bite from the first moment and did not give any option.
Booker arrived at the equator of the clash with a zero of seven and Paul, with zero of four. It is the first time in 154 games played together that they had negative ta numbers. Neither hit the field goal and only scored from the free throw line. His failure was the thermometer of Monty Williams' team, completely surpassed on a technical and mental level by the Texans.
And if the first half was devastating, the third period saw the Mavs keep stepping on the accelerator and delving into the wound of some unrecognizable Suns. The margin touched a maximum of 46 points, before the Suns cut it in the final stretch, already inconsequential. The last minutes were a funeral for the Suns, with Paul and Booker sitting on the bench reflecting, and a party for the Mavericks, in which Doncic was able to follow his teammates managing energies and with homework done.
Shortly before the elimination of the Suns, finalists last year, the Boston Celtics did the same in Game 7 against the Milwaukee Bucks, defending NBA champions, and qualified for the Eastern Conference finals, where they will face the Miami Heat beginning Tuesday.
Pushed by the seven triples by Grant Williams (27 points), the five by Jayson Tatum (23) and the four by Payton Pritchard (14), the Celtics knocked down some Bucks who barely scored four three-point shots and handed over the title of champions conquered last year.
Tatum, the leader of the momentous victory achieved in the sixth game for Milwaukee, scored 23 points, with six rebounds and eight assists, but the great protagonist was Grant Williams, with the best performance of his career. He sealed seven 3-pointers for 18 and also had six rebounds and two blocks. The Greek Giannis Antetokounmpo could not avoid the debacle of his Bucks, despite contributing 25 points, 20 rebounds and nine assists.
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