3 ways Luka Doncic humiliated the Phoenix Suns in Game 7

3 ways Luka Doncic humiliated the Phoenix Suns in Game 7: Mismatch hunting

If you know playoff basketball, you know each series is predominantly defined by which team can exploit their opponent’s weaknesses the most. This train of thought isn’t exactly rocket science, as it’s basic human nature to seek your counterpart’s feebleness in the field of competition.

In the Dallas-Phoenix series, the Suns found out that; in Luka Doncic, the Mavericks have the ultimate exploitation devise on offense. If the Dallas phenom is clicking on all cylinders from distance, good luck.

There is no defense equipped to handle a 6’7 point guard with the vision of Doncic. If you trap, he’ll hit the open man with a bullet pass. If you sag in the pick and roll, you better be ready to accept three points against your tally. If you elect to switch, it’s bully-ball time for Luka. Stay home and guard one-on-one, Doncic will cross you up on the way to two points at the cup.

After struggling to find his rhythm against the pesky Bridges in Games 1 and 2, Doncic was able to finagle his way back to his devastating ways on offense. As the series progressed, so did Doncic’s ability to manipulate the Suns’ defenders to his liking.

Game 7 encapsulated this, as Doncic ruthlessly targeted Deandre Ayton in the pick and roll. His first bucket of the game came via a pick and roll, where Doncic drew Ayton on the switch and proceeded to shake the seven-footer with a series of moves, before finishing with a feathery jumper out of a smooth spin move:

Per NBA.com, the All-NBA guard finished the game scoring 10 points, on 4-of-5 shooting with Ayton as his primary defender. While those numbers are impressive, the fact that Doncic scored that much with the Suns big only defending him for a total of 101 seconds is demoralizing. Put simply, Doncic realized his fellow draftsman’s deficiencies as a pick and roll defender and proceeded to relentlessly attack at every opportunity.