After back-to-back wins in Dallas to tie the Western Conference Semifinals at 2-2, the Mavericks dropped a pivotal Game 5 to the Suns in Phoenix.
The Suns pulled away in the second half for a commanding 110-80 victory to take a 3-2 series lead. They can clinch the series victory with a win in Game 6 on Thursday in Dallas, but the home team has won each of the first five games of the series so far.
However, the Suns ended another streak that had persisted through the first four games of the series. The team that won the first quarter had gone on to win each game of the series until Tuesday night.
In the first two games of the series in Phoenix, the Suns had scored the first nine points of the game. In Game 5, the Mavericks were the better team out of the gate. Luka Doncic scored 11 points in the opening period, and Dallas held a 26-23 lead to start the second.
The Mavericks led for most of the first half, outscoring Phoenix 12-9 in the first 5:14 of the second quarter. Then a dunk from Devin Booker tied the game at 40, and a Mikal Bridges steal and layup gave the Suns their first lead at 44-42.
The Suns managed to take a hard-fought 49-46 lead into halftime. Booker had 16 at the break, on 7-of-11 shooting for the Suns, while Doncic had 18 points by making 7-of-16 shot attempts.
Phoenix completely blew the game open after halftime. They opened the third quarter on an 11-4 run, which included two three-pointers from Booker, for a 61-50 lead.
Dallas head coach Jason Kidd called timeout to try to stop their momentum, but it was unsuccessful. The Suns continued pouring it on, going on a 21-4 run after the timeout.
The Suns outscored the Mavericks 33-14 in the third to take a commanding 82-60 lead into the fourth. Booker had 12 points in the third quarter and scored 28 points on 11-of-20 shooting. Deandre Ayton added 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting.
The Mavericks had 12 turnovers in the third quarter and only made six baskets during the period. During the regular season, Dallas had averaged 12.5 turnovers a game.
Doncic, who finished with 28 points, 11 rebounds, and a season-low tying two assists, acknowledged that the offense was too stagnant.
“The one thing we didn’t do great today was our pace,” Doncic said. “In the last two games, our pace was very good. I think they are one of the best defensive teams, if not the best, in the NBA. They held us to 80. That’s pretty impressive. We’ve got to move the ball and have better pace — faster.”
Jalen Brunson added 21 points, while Davis Bertans was the only other Maverick to score double-digits with 10 points. Dallas assisted on just 9-of-27 made shot attempts while shooting just 38% as a team.
“We just got to keep getting in the paint and making plays for one another,” Brunson said. “I don’t think we did that enough. I don’t think I did that enough.”
After scoring 24 points in Game 4, Dorian Finney-Smith added only eight points. Reggie Bullock had zero points, going 0-of-5 shooting. He limped off the court with 8:51 remaining in the game.
Dallas trailed by as many as 28 points in the fourth quarter and subbed in an all-reserves lineup with 4:42 remaining.
Phoenix avoided its first three-game losing streak of the season, while the Mavericks’ difficulties on the road against the Suns continued. Dallas has lost 12 of their last 13 games in Phoenix, with the lone win coming in 2019.
The inability to overcome those difficulties has put the Mavericks’ odds of upsetting the Suns to reach the Western Conference Finals in significant jeopardy.
Only 39 of 222 (17.6%) teams that lost Game 5 to fall behind 3-2 in a best-of-seven series have come back to advance in NBA history.
“I think we relaxed,” Doncic said. “That wasn’t us. That wasn’t ourselves. We’ve got to be way better than that.”