Dallas Mavericks vs Phoenix Suns: Winning the second game will be hard for the hosts

The win for Dallas was crucial and essential for the series, but the issue is that the visitors did not play with much confidence, and even though the game was very close, the next game is vital for the guests to win, and it's possible, with the leaders playing confidently.

Dallas finally got a win, but there are still a lot of questions. In the first two matches, the main complaint about Jason Kidd's men was their lack of confidence. While Doncic was putting up terrific numbers, the team was still losing.

In the winning game, Dallas' leader didn't score in the first twelve minutes, but he got his teammates going and finally, Brunson, Kleber and others got in on the action for the points. The series still doesn't look very easy and it is the opponent who is in favor, but now it's not a fatal 3-0, but quite normal 2-1. That's why we'll be watching Doncic and others with great interest.

Monty Williams knows his team very well, and that was pretty clear from the first two games in the series. The team simply let the Mavericks star play, while the rest of the opposing team was unable to play up to their potential.

But it was either Paul's birthday or the belief that they would win the series smoothly that led to such lackluster play in game 3. The team distributed the shots very evenly between everyone and as a result, Booker and Paul were not the players who made the most attempts, and the visitors' realization suffered. Perhaps the next game will fix that, but the score in the series now is more than acceptable for the home team.

• Dallas: Tim Hardaway Jr.
• Phoenix: Torrey Craig.

It's hard to believe that Phoenix will lose again tonight. Both Booker and Paul are likely to take more shots and Ayton will be more confident in the paint. Yes, Kidd and Luka Doncic are not going to give up, so we likely won't see much of a difference in points. Still, too much depends on playing the entire home team rotation as opposed to the visitors, which has been difficult so far, and even then only against the poor play of the Suns' leaders.

• Phoenix Handicap (-1) for 1.704;
• Each Team Over 102.5 for 2.03;
• Chris Paul Three-Pointers TO (3) for 6.50.

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