[Dallas41]

I went back and watched like 6 games over the last two seasons between the Suns and Mavs. Hard to believe it but Phoenix has won like 10 straight games vs Dallas.

The thing that always stick outs like a few others pointed out already is that Phoenix always seems to turn it on vs Dallas in the 4th Qtr's.

The key to this series IMO will be finding someone to compete with C.Paul and D.Booker defensively in the 4th qtr's where they have owned Dallas.

The Mavs like to run teams off the 3-PT line but the Suns are the best team in the NBA in mid range shooting because of Paul/Booker. Those shots are bad shots for most teams but not Phoenix they love hunting for mid range shots.

DFS has not been a good matchup defensively on Paul. So instead if I'm Dallas I would try to switch it up and give Bullock a shot on Paul while DFS matches up more with Booker.

I think you can hide Brunson or Luka on Crowder which saves their legs on offense. But one of them will still have to deal with Bridges or Cam Johnson.

Having said that living in Phoenix I get to see most of their games and I believe the Mavs can win this series but they are going to need to protect the ball and play smart in crunch times. They can't get sucked into these Luka Iso's late in games because Phoenix is too good defensively.

I can't believe I'm going to say this but I think the Mavs will find away to stop Ayton from dominating our big's. KP and Maxi actually faired well vs him at times in those 6 games I watched. Now granted KP isn't here anymore but Maxi should be able to hold up for about 20-24 MPG vs him.

I'm taking Dallas in 6 because I think they will find away to steal a game in Phoenix and that will give them a huge confidence boost to get that monkey off their backs when it comes to beating Phoenix. I predicted DFS would have a huge defensive IMPACT in the 1st round. This time I'm taking Bullock and Maxi because I think those two guys will have some game changing moments defensively late in games doing this series.

I also want to mention that I expect Josh Green to play much better in this series. I know some fans are down on him after 1st round but for some reason I think in this series when Dallas goes small he's going to make an impact in a few games.