DALLAS, TX – The Dallas Mavericks defeat the Suns in American Airlines Center 103-94 on Friday night and take game three in the West Semi-Finals. The series is now 2-1 with the Suns still in the lead.
The first quarter started off slow for both teams. The Mavs weren’t hitting any three-pointers but that was their go to every time down the court. Dallas went 0-of-4 from three in the first five minutes before Dallas stepped it up.
The Mavs went on a 9-0 run with four minutes remaining in the first quarter giving Dallas a 20-13 lead and it was led by Jalen Brunson.
Dallas ended the quarter with a 29-20 lead for Dallas.
The first four minutes of play in the second quarter was all defense. Neither team scored until Spencer Dinwiddie had a driving layup with 9:20 left in the quarter. The Mavs continued their lead and it was for two reasons; defense and driving to the basket.
The Mavs were 4-of-16 (25%) from three so clearly they were not shooting how they wanted too. They responded with driving to the basket and creating open looks that Dallas has a way higher percentage of converting on.
Dallas was also playing lockdown defense. They shut down Booker and Chris Paul in the first half. Booker was held to nine points and Paul was held to seven. Paul had six turnovers with seven minutes left to play in the first half. They forced the Suns to have 12 turnovers in the entire game.
Mavs took a 51-44 lead at the half.
Doncic led Dallas with 16 points, nine rebounds, and six assists. Brunson added 14 points and three rebounds.
Dallas did not turn the ball over a single time in the first half.
The Mavs did their third quarter thing like usual. They out scored the Suns 31-23 and kept the lead the entire third quarter.
Dallas went into the fourth quarter with a comfortable 82-67 lead.
Phoenix went on a 5-0 run with 7:22 left in the fourth quarter making the Mavs lead smaller and smaller. Dallas still had a 12 point lead but it forced Jason Kidd to take a timeout.
Dallas answered, coming out of the timeout and breaking the run with a made basket by Maxi Kleber. The Suns brought the lead down to nine with four minutes left in the game but Dallas didn’t let them get anymore than that.
With 1:01 left in the game the score was 99-91, Dallas had the lead and Reggie Bullock nailed a corner three to make the game 102-91. That shot really put the nail in the coffin for Phoenix.
Dallas takes game three in a 103-94 victory. Game four will be at American Airlines Center on Sunday at 2:30 PM.
KEY PLAYERS:
Luka Doncic had 26 points, 13 rebounds, and 9 assists.
Jalen Brunson had 28 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists.
