PJ Washington locked up Kevin Durant.
Kevin Durant is regarded as a once-in-a-generation scorer. Since he came into the league from Texas, not a lot of defensive specialists could stop him. However, Jason Kidd and the Dallas Mavericks may have cracked the code. They unleashed PJ Washington against the Phoenix Suns and it all worked out.
There have been countless other players that PJ Washington has locked up. Mavericks fans have called his knack for defensively shutting down players as ‘PJail.’ The latest addition to that list was Kevin Durant. Only nine shots were made by the Suns’ elite scorer out of 22 attempts, per All Things Mavs. This netted Durant a measly 23 points which is way below his average of 28 a night.
Washington was pesky immediately when the Suns saw a passing lane to Durant. He swiped the ball away with ease which forced him to five turnovers. Whenever there were no options to pass or make plays, the Slim Reaper bails out the Suns with a three-pointer. Against the Mavericks’ elite defender, he only sunk two out of his eight attempts.
Jason Kidd knew what he was doing when he played Washington for 31 minutes. The Mavericks forward also put up 12 points and dropped an assist on offense. He rounded the night out by grabbing six rebounds.
Mavericks edge out the Suns
When Durant was having a relatively off night, Devin Booker stepped up for the Suns. He got 35 points while dropping eight dimes to get their offense going. In total, six players got double-digit scoring numbers for this squad. However, none of that was enough to outgun the Mavericks or even just Luka Doncic.
The Mavericks’ lead star knocked down 14 out of his 27 attempts for 41 points. He led the team in rebounding by grabbing nine of them. Moreover, he was also assigned to floor general duties by Coach Kidd. Three turnovers might be the direct result of how he ran the offense but his 11 assists more than made up for those lapses. This marked the 33rd win for the Mavericks this season. If they keep going, they could usurp the New Orleans Pelicans for the fifth seed in the Western Conference standings.
About the Author
Jay is a lifelong motorsports and tennis fan. His need for speed may no longer be on the grid or courts but has stayed with him through writing.
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