Mavericks vs. Suns Game 2
109-129 Suns
Series 2-0 Suns
The story of this game is just how accurate the Phoenix Suns were. The Mavericks really did not stand a chance as the suns were shooting 64.5% from the field and 52.0% from 3. With the return of Devin Booker, the Suns look like there former selves and look like the team to beat in the West. It is going to be very hard for the Mavericks to turn this around as they do not have the firepower to beat a team like the Suns. Even though Luca is great, he is not good enough to be the only all-star on the Mavs and carry the entire team to a late playoff run. If the Mavs want to go further in the playoffs in the future, then they are going to need to find another superstar. In my opinion I think they need an elite big man. The Mavericks are a weird team to me because they are good enough to make the playoffs every year, but they never really seem to be very good. After all this is the first time, they are in the second round in a decade. Part of me thinks that Luca might be the problem. There are certain players in the league that to me their play style just does not win games. James Harden, Russel Westbrook, DeMar DeRozan are the first few players that come to mind, and even though they are good players, they always seem to come up short. I feel like Luca is falling into this same category.
| Mavericks | Team Stats | Suns |
| 45.6 | Field Goal % | 64.5 |
| 41.5 | 3 Pointer % | 52.0 |
| 83.3 | Free Throw % | 85.7 |
| 25 | Total Rebounds | 34 |
| 19 | Assists | 28 |
| 1 | Blocks | 6 |
| 7 | Steals | 6 |
| 14 | Turnovers | 16 |
| 32 | Points in the Paint | 50 |
| 26 | Fouls | 28 |
76ers vs. Heat Game 2
103-119 Heat
Series 2-0 Heat
The 76ers seem to have no chance now that Embiid is out for the rest of the season. Their bad performance in this series shows that Embiid may have been the best candidate for MVP as they seem to fall apart without him. I think the biggest surprise of the series however is seeing just how far Harden has fallen off. To me this series really just shows that he is not the same player he used to be. For one he is not the focal point of the team anymore as the team is built around Embiid. Even though many superstars would not do great on a team that was not built around them, I do still think they would play better than Harden is playing right now. Harden has always seemed to lack that sort of dog mentality, the one that someone needs to win a championship. On the other side of the ball, the Heat look great. They look to be as good as they were when they made their finals run a few years back. I do not think that they are good enough to make it to the finals this year as I think the Celtics or the Bucks are better, but it is not impossible as I thought the Celtics were better last time. It will really come down to how well the Heat plays as a team.
| 76ers | Team Stats | Heat |
| 45.2 | Field Goal % | 51.3 |
| 26.7 | 3 Pointer % | 48.3 |
| 86.4 | Free Throw % | 80.6 |
| 34 | Total Rebounds | 44 |
| 17 | Assists | 25 |
| 5 | Blocks | 3 |
| 10 | Steals | 5 |
| 8 | Turnovers | 14 |
| 54 | Points in the Paint | 42 |
| 25 | Fouls | 22 |
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