Not many people gave the Dallas Mavericks the benefit of the doubt in deciding Game 7 of their second-round series against the Phoenix Suns. But the Mavs not only beat the Suns to make the Western Conference Finals but also blew them out of their own arena with a 123-90 win on Sunday night.
Luka Doncic had another monster game, dropping 35 on Phoenix, including 27 in the first half alone. On the other hand, the Suns, as a team, only managed to get 27 points during that period.
Dallas saw some big contributions from Spencer Dinwiddie and Jalen Brunson as well. Dinwiddie had 30 points off the bench in just 25 minutes on the floor, while Brunson scored 24. Doncic, Brunson, and Dinwiddie combined for 89 points, while Phoenix managed just 90 for the entire game.
“I can’t remember the last time that somebody went to the away game and did this, so I’m really proud of what we did today,” said Doncic after the game in which the Suns trailed by as many as 46 at one point.
While the Mavs’ stars thrived under pressure, the Suns’ best players failed to get going. All-Stars Chris Paul and Devin Booker scored 10 and 11 points, respectively, while no other Phoenix starter got more than five points. This is probably the key reason why the Suns blew a 3-2 lead in the series and are back to the drawing board.
The Dallas Mavericks are now set to play the Golden State Warriors for a shot to make the NBA Finals for the first time since their championship run in 2010-11. This is also the first time that the Mavs managed to get out of the first round in the postseason since then.
