On Sunday afternoon, the Dallas Mavericks defeated the Phoenix Suns 111-101 to tie the Western Conference Semifinal series at 2-2.
Luka Doncic finished with 26 points, 11 assists, seven rebounds, and four steals. Dorian Finney-Smith added a playoff career-high 24 points on 8-of-12 from three-point range, the most three-pointers he has had in a regular-season or playoff game.
Meanwhile, Phoenix’s All-Star guard Chris Paul was plagued with foul trouble all day. Paul fouled out of the game with over eight minutes remaining and finished with only five points on four shot attempts. He picked up a crucial fourth foul seconds before the halftime buzzer.
After being reinserted into the game with three fouls and under a minute to go before halftime, Paul attempted a shot in the final seconds of the half that came up short. He tried to go for his own rebound but bumped Doncic in the process, sending him down to the court and resulting in his fourth foul of the game.
“I saw he was going for the rebound, and I was surprised,” Doncic said. “He said to me, ‘Did I push you that hard?’ I said, ‘No, not that hard. But it was a smart play.’ And he said, ‘Yeah, I know.’”
Until this game, never in Paul’s 17-year career had he drawn four fouls in a single half. Paul picked up his fifth foul just 2:28 after halftime when he backed up into Jalen Brunson (18 points), forcing him to the bench for the rest of the third quarter.
“When we know a player’s in foul trouble, no matter who it is, we’re trying to apply pressure,” Brunson said. “He’s so crucial to that team, and if we can get him out of the game, obviously in a clean way, we’re trying to exploit that.”
Paul returned to the court with 10:28 remaining in the fourth; less than two minutes later, he was whistled for his sixth foul, again drawn by Brunson, to disqualify him for the rest of the game.
Doncic and Brunson combined to draw six offensive fouls in Game Four, including five on Paul and Devin Booker (game-high 35 points).
“JB and Luka and those guys did a really good job of understanding when we were in the bonus,” Kidd said, referring to Paul’s reputation for drawing fouls. “We’re being taught by one of the best point guards ever on the other side of how to do things, and that’s pretty cool this time of year.”
The Mavericks’ odds to advance from this series look much better now after going down 0-2. In 439 best-of-7 NBA playoff series that have started 2-0, just 31 teams (7.1%) have overcome the deficit to advance. After two consecutive wins in Dallas, the Mavericks have turned the series into a best-of-3 and have proven they can contend with the NBA’s only 60-win team.
Doncic also faced early foul trouble, picking up a technical foul just 2:30 into the game and then a second 6:16 into the game. However, Coach Kidd allowed him to play through it, and Doncic rewarded his decision. In the first, he drew a charge and connected on a three to open up the Maverick’s largest first-quarter lead of the series. Dallas held a 37-25 lead after the first quarter.
The 23-year-old All-Star then drew Paul’s third foul 1:52 before halftime, sending him to the bench before he returned to pick up his fourth right before the break. The Mavericks held a 68-56 lead at the break.
Dallas was on fire from three-point range in the first half, making 8-of-13 in the first quarter and 6-of-11 in the second. However, the Mavericks could not completely pull away in the third despite Paul being on the bench for much of the period. Dallas made 2-of-11 from three in the third quarter as Phoenix cut the 68-56 halftime gap to just five points (68-63) at 3:30 after halftime and were down six (89-83) with 7:12 remaining in the game.
Tension was high in the American Airlines Center, but the Mavericks quickly eased the pressure. Doncic scored a short bank shot, then Finney-Smith hit consecutive three-pointers to push the lead back to 14 halfway through the fourth.
“Luka told me when I had five threes, he told me, ‘You’re about to get some more,’” said Finney-Smith, who finished one shy of the Dallas franchise playoff record of 9 threes by Jason Terry in 2011. “When LD tells you you’re about to get some more threes, I figured I was going to get some.”
The lead was back down to eight points when Reggie Bullock and Brunson added two more threes with about three minutes remaining to provide the decisive dagger.
Dallas finished with 20 threes (20-of-44) to match their franchise record for most made threes in a playoff game. The Mavericks’ previous record was also set on Mother’s Day in 2011 when Dallas made 20 threes in a rout of the Los Angeles Lakers, completing a four-game sweep in the second round. The Mavericks are playing beyond the first round for the first time since then.
Game Five will be back in Phoenix on Tuesday, and there is guaranteed to be a Game Six two nights later in Dallas.
The Mavericks have not won in Phoenix since November 2019, but after snapping their 11-game losing streak to the Suns with back-to-back wins over the weekend, Dallas’ confidence should be sky-high.
“If we have a 1% chance, we’re going to believe,” Doncic said. “This team has something special. The bond is special.”
