DALLAS, TX – The Dallas Mavericks force a game 7 after beating the Phoenix Suns in Dallas 113-86 in Game six on Thursday night.
The Mavs went back and forth in the first quarter with the Suns. They were not converting well on shots. Luka Doncic was 1-of-5 early on in the game and Dallas was 5-of-15. Even with poor shooting we still managed to hold off Phoenix and take a three-point lead into the second quarter.
Dallas turned things up in the second quarter going on a 19-6 run over 5:44 to lead 60-45 into the locker room. They shot 47 percent from the floor and connected on 10 three-pointers while the Suns only had three.
The Mavs were looking good going into the half with a 15 point lead. The only downfall they had was Dorian Finney-Smith grabbed his third foul with 1.3 seconds remaining putting him into foul trouble for the second half. Finney-Smith had four points and three rebounds in the first half.
Doncic led at the half with 18 points.
Mavs entered the third quarter and every Maverick on the court got a little bit of the action on offense. Brunson and Dinwiddie started getting hot and Dinwiddie went from six points entering the third quarter to finishing with 12.
Brunson had 18 entering the fourth quarter. Luka still led with 28 points entering the fourth.
The Mavs continued to hold their lead the entire third quarter out scoring Phoenix 34-27 taking a 22 point lead into the fourth quarter.
What helped Dallas keep their lead in this game was the turnovers. The Suns had 15 turnovers by the end of the third quarter and the Mavs scored 21 points off of those turnovers. Dallas had a 22-point lead entering the fourth and all of them came off turnovers from Phoenix.
Entering the fourth quarter, Doncic gets his fifth foul within the first two minutes and head coach Jason Kidd challenges the call. Kidd was successful and the call was overturned which meant Doncic only had four fouls with 10:02 remaining in the game.
During the fourth quarter Doncic hit his 700th career playoff point. Doncic is tied for the third-fastest (in terms of games played) in NBA history to reach 700 playoff points. He trails only Wilt Chamberlain & Michael Jordan.
Luka finished the night with 33 points, 11 rebounds, and 8 assists after he was taking out with three minutes left in the game due to the damage already being done here in Dallas. The Mavs took a 18 point lead into the final minutes of the game and Dallas brought this one home.
Game 7 will be on Sunday night in Phoenix. Tip off time is to be determined.
