By Josh Whittemore, PSO Sports Operations Executive
Feb 02, 2021

 

The ‘Best of the Day’ is a daily PSO original series showcasing the most significant stories, highlights, and facts going on in the land of the NFL, NBA, & MLB every day. Get a recap on EVERYTHING that happened on 2/1 here

Monday night saw a slate full of NBA games with an abundance of close finishes, highlighted by the Suns-Mavericks contest. Phoenix’s Devin Booker hit a game-winning 3-pointer in the closing seconds to secure the Suns’ second straight win over Dallas. Also, 4x All-Star and 3x World Series champ with the Boston Red Sox Dustin Pedroia announced his retirement, and despite his overall success, Luka’s struggles in crunch time continue to cost the Mavericks. 

Here is the best of the day from February 1, 2021:

Devin Booker drained the game-winner in Dallas after CP3’s dominant 2nd half

The Phoenix Suns earned their second win in three days over the Dallas Mavericks Monday night by a razor thin 109-108 margin. It looked murky for the Suns, who trailed 77-66 with 4:48 remaining in the third. However, as was the case on Saturday when they were down by 15 in the third quarter in their win over the Mavericks, Phoenix rallied. A dominant stretch saw the Suns turn an 11-point deficit into a five-point lead midway through the fourth. From there, both teams traded buckets until the end when, with his team trailing 108-106 as the clocked approached zero, Devin Booker hit a 25-foot 3-pointer with 1.5 seconds remaining. 

Luka Doncic’s missed shot at the buzzer secured the comeback win for the 11-8 Suns, who have now won three in a row. Booker, after missing the previous four games with a hamstring strain, finished with 24 points in 31 minutes, connecting on 4-of-8 of his 3-pointers, while Chris Paul, who assisted on the game-winner, had 34 points, nine assists, and nine rebounds. For the struggling Mavericks, this will run their streak up to six consecutive defeats, bringing their record to 8-13 on the season, including 13 straight losses in one-score games. 

Honorable Mention: 4x All-Star Dustin Pedroia announced his retirement

Related: Stories of the Day

Luka’s lack of success in crunch time is holding the Mavs back from being a playoff team

Few teams were expected to take a bigger jump this season than the Dallas Mavericks after the year Luka Doncic had as a Sophomore and considering Kristaps Porzingis would theoretically be healthy for most of the season. However, the Mavs have failed to string wins together and their issues in crunch time have continued. Doncic is one of the best players on the planet, but in those final minutes with the game on the line, his production significantly drops

Tim Hardaway has become the team’s best consistent shot-maker in the final moments as Luka often passes it off when defenses key in on him in those situations. The Mavs often find themselves staying competitive until the final possession, as they have in each of their last two battles against the Suns that have each come down to the wire. However, their best player’s inability to hit those crucial shots when the game is on the line has prevented them from walking away with victories on multiple occasions this season. 

Luka had arguably one of the greatest individual playoff performances last year when he racked up a 43-point triple-double on a bum ankle with his partner in crime unavailable and his team on the cusp of facing a 3-1 deficit if he didn’t drain an iconic buzzer-beater and come up clutch for Dallas down the stretch. As amazing as that game was, it was one of the few times where Doncic has come through multiple times in those type of occasions. 

Any Mavericks fan is obviously an admirer of Doncic as he’s an international superstar and potential next face of the entire league once LeBron retires. However, if they have been continuously watching Mavs games this year, they’ve witnessed Luka fail to make shots or instead decide to put the game in his teammate’s hands when the clock gets closer to zero. 

The Slovenian Superstar is still only 21 years old and considering King James had a ‘choker‘ label on him until he got into his 30’s, Doncic has plenty of time to develop that clutch factor and become the hero Dallas needs to make a run at the postseason in the wild, wild West.

COLORS KEY | FULL MAVERICKS FUTURE OUTLOOK
 

Related: NBA Takeaways of the Day

DBook drained the game-winner in Dallas

Related: NBA Highlights | Phoenix Suns Highlights

PG Chris Paul, PHX (W @DAL): 34 PTS (14-20 FG | 4-7 3P), 9 AST, 9 REB, 0 BLK, 2 STL, 5 TO

Related: Players of the Day

Phoenix Suns (109) [GW-3P] vs. Dallas Mavericks (108)

 [HighlightsSUNS (+128; $12.08) d. @MAVERICKS (-128; $8.28109-108 (GW-3PM) [PHX +2.5 | o216.5]

Related: Games of the Day

Aaron Donald is in a class of his own on the interior

  • His 456 QB pressures are the most among DL since 2016. The next closest DL only has 302

 

Related: Facts of the Day 

NBA Game Reviews: February 1, 2021 by Rob Mason

Monday saw six of the nine games finish within single-digits in a night full of close games, clutch shots, and more incredible highlights

Related: Latest PSO Posts

 

 

 

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