The much-anticipated Christmas war has finally kicked off. And the Suns, who reorganized the Big Four in the offseason, are naturally the protagonists of this key event. The reason is simple, the Suns can be said to sit on the most luxurious championship core in the entire league. Whether it is Durant, or Booker and Beal, or even Nurkic, they are all players who can dominate one side, and the traffic they bring is definitely not comparable to ordinary teams. However, it is such an exciting team that has never been able to get out of the troubles of injury, and Beal is out again due to injury.
And their opponent this time, the Dallas Mavericks, is also suffering from injuries. According to the team's injury list released before the game, the team's second leader, Irving, continues to be sidelined due to a right heel contusion, Josh Green also has a sprained right elbow and Kleber, who dislocated his right little toe, has not returned to the game. It can be said that the lone ranger who participated in this Christmas war was completely full of wounded soldiers, and his true strength could not be shown at all. In this competition between the two sides, Doncic, who led the team single-core, showed his magic and helped the team win the final victory with a total score of 128-114.
At the beginning of the first quarter of the game, the Mavericks not only did not mess up because of Irving's absence, but were able to achieve the feat of dominating the crowd in front of the Phoenix Suns. Doncic played the full 12 minutes of the first quarter, shooting 5-of-6 from the field and 4-of-4 from the free-throw line, delivering 17 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 steal, while Lively also had 8 points and 3 rebounds to help the team play a 36-24 lead and take a 12-point lead. Entering the second quarter of the matchup, the Suns, who were behind in the score, could also fight back. Durant made 4 of 4 free throws and delivered 4 points, Booker handed over 9 points, 1 rebound and 1 assist, and Metu, who came off the bench, even handed over 9 points, 6 rebounds and 1 assist, helping the team narrow the gap to 10 points with a score of 30-28.
Entering the second half of the competition, the Suns, who did not have a very obvious effect on chasing points, finally achieved a score overtake. In the third quarter of the matchup, Booker delivered 3 points, 2 rebounds and 6 assists, Gordon shot 3 of 4, sent 8 points and 1 assist, and Allen even shot 7 of 9 and handed over a key 19 points, thus helping the team play a 38-27 score and achieve a one-point overtake. But unfortunately, in the final quarter of the decisive game, Doncic, who led the team single-core, did not compromise, continued to play the full 12 minutes, delivered 10 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal and 1 block, and helped the team play a 37-22 score, and won the game with a total score of 128-114.
Looking back at the data of the game, Doncic, who led the team with a single core, can be described as one against two. He played 43 minutes and 15 seconds in the game, 8-of-16 three-pointers, 14-of-24 shooting, 12-of-12 free throws, and delivered a game-high 50 points, as well as 6 rebounds, 14 assists, 4 steals and 3 blocks. At the same time, his teammates behind him are also very good. Hardaway had 18 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists, Jones also had 23 points and 3 rebounds, and Lively even had a luxurious double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds on 8-of-9 shooting.
Looking at the Suns who lost at home, although they also had 5 players score double-doubles, the core of the championship did not play in the ideal state. Durant battled 42In 5 minutes, he only delivered 16 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists, and his performance was decent, and Booker only delivered 20 points, 3 rebounds and 10 assists, and the scoring contributions of the two were not even comparable to Doncic. However, Allen, who started the game this time, did prove his worth, shooting 8-of-17 from three-point range, delivering 32 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists. Sadly, the Suns were not able to win the Christmas game.