"They should be ASHAMED of themselves!" - Kendrick Perkins with a damning response for 12-time and 3-time All Stars' terrible Game 7 performance for Phoenix Suns as "That damn Luka!" and Dallas Mavericks hand them blowout defeat
The Phoenix Suns' aspirations to do one better than finishing as runners-up in the 2021 NBA Finals have come to nought. The Suns crashed to a 90-123 defeat versus the Dallas Mavericks in Game 7 on Sunday, bringing an end to their title ambitions this season. The final contest of this Western Conference semifinals saw the Suns lose at Footprint Center, the first time the home team suffered a defeat in this series.
Luka Dončić (35), Spencer Dinwiddie (30) and Jalen Brunson (24) combined for 89 points in the Mavericks’ Game 7 win tonight.
Phoenix combined for 90 as a team. https://t.co/fwUTYdGMT6
It was a disappointing display by the Phoenix Suns from the very beginning of this crunch game. Having lost only 10 games on their home floor (nine in the regular season and one in the postseason) all season long, the Phoenix Suns put up a most insipid effort on Sunday. They scored just 27 points in the first half, while combining for just 10 points in the second period.
Devin Booker, Deandre Ayton and Chris Paul were a combined 1-for-15 from the field and had only six points cumulatively after the first two quarters for Phoenix. Booker (11 points, 3-of-14 from the field), Ayton (five points) and Paul (10 points) finished the blowout defeat with 26 points between the three of them.
On the other hand, Luka Doncic himself contibuted 27 points to the Mavs' cause at the halfway mark and had 35 points against his name by the end of the game. The Mavericks three-time All-Star also had 10 rebounds, four assists and two steals, even as he shot 63.2% from the floor and 6-of-11 (54.5%) from downtown to punch Dallas' ticket to their first Conference Finals appearance since 2011.
Luka Doncic has 27 points, the Suns have 27 points, and the rest of the Mavericks have 30 points.
Only 2 players in the entire game have more than 5 points (Doncic 27 and Dinwiddie 21). https://t.co/5iGmW4tmSz
Former NBA champion and sports analyst Kendrick Perkins was truly disappointed with the Phoenix Suns' effort in such a big game. He took to Twitter to call out Paul and Booker while appreciating Doncic in his own inimitable style:
"That damn LUKA!!! I’ll address CP3, Devin Booker and the Suns by like the numbers on a house tomorrow. They should be ASHAMED of themselves! Carry the hell on… #NBAToday"
That damn LUKA!!! I’ll address CP3, Devin Booker and the Suns by like the numbers on a house tomorrow. They should be ASHAMED of themselves! Carry the hell on… #NBAToday
Chris Paul of the Phoenix Suns suffers yet another disappointing playoff exit
This was yet another embarrassing playoff loss for Chris Paul. The Phoenix Suns finished the regular season with a 64-18 record, placing them far ahead of every other team in the league. Expectations were high that this would be the year that Paul finally lands his first NBA title. After taking a 2-0 lead over the first two games of this series, the chances were that Phoenix would make it to their second straight Conference Finals.
However, things started falling apart for Paul after Game 2. Having averaged 23.5 ppg in the first two games of the series, Paul averaged only 9.4 ppg while coughing up 18 turnovers and attempting just four free throws over the last five games of the conference semifinals.
CP3 since turning 37 (5 games):
27 assists
22 turnovers
20 fouls
17 baskets
The Point God has an expiry date of exactly 37 years. https://t.co/ivlNpLI6bs