Brunson was in aggressive attack mode throughout Game 3

Attack, attack, attack. . .and attack some more.

That’s the way Jalen Brunson eloquently explained how he was able to flush his subpar performances in Games 1 and 2 of this best-of-seven series against Phoenix and ultimately burn the Suns in Game 3. After playing so pedestrian-like in the opening two games of this series, Brunson was in attack mode all night Friday while helping the Dallas Mavericks to a 103-94 victory over the Suns.

“I think I played with a little bit more hop in my step and was getting to spots quicker and making decisions faster,” Brunson said. “The decisions came to me being aggressive, and my teammates just kept giving me confidence to go make plays and I just kept doing that.”

The results: Brunson tallied a game-high 28 points Friday when he was 10-of-21 from the field. That’s a complete 180 from Games 1 and 2 when the fourth-year guard had just 23 points on 9-of-28 shots.

“It was awful, it was terrible,” said Brunson, in reference to Games 1 and 2. “But I found a way to bounce back (Friday).”

Brunson’s teammates and the Mavs’ coaching staff had no doubts Brunson would bounce back.

“JB was locked in,” forward Reggie Bullock said. “A lot of people was probably talking down about him.

“He’s been excellent for us all year. He just had two tough games early, but he came out and showed what type of player he is in the third game.”

Coach Jason Kidd’s confidence in Brunson never wavered. He knows players sometimes fall into a slump – be it a mini-slump or a long-term slump.

“We talked about, not just with Jalen, but everyone,” Kidd said. “We got to get back in character, we got to get back to helping one another on the defensive end and the offensive end, and I thought JB did that on both sides.

“I thought he was in character, I thought he attacked early in the clock, I thought he didn’t wait, and that’s who he’s been all season, especially in the playoffs. Especially in that first series (against the Utah Jazz) he wasn’t waiting. He was attacking and I thought he did that extremely well for us (Friday) night.”

In the six playoff games against the Jazz, Brunson averaged 27.8 points and shot a solid 48.4 percent from the field. He also scored at least 23 points in all six games, including a career-high 41 points in Game 2.

On Friday, Brunson got off to a tremendous start with 10 points in the first quarter. And when he added 10 more points in the third quarter, the Mavs were able to carry a comfortable 82-67 lead into the fourth quarter.

“I just felt like whether the ball was going in or not, the mentality was to be aggressive,” Brunson said. “I’ve started games before 0-for-5 or 0-for-6 and maybe finished 7-for-12 or 13.

“I saw the ball go in (during) the first quarter a little bit, and I just kept going and my teammates kept finding me.”

Kidd said he didn’t know if Brunson had the ball more than usual on Friday.

“I will leave that up to analytics to inform me if he had the ball more or not,” Kidd said. “But I thought when he did have the ball he wasn’t passive, he wasn’t deferring.

“I thought he was attacking and getting to his spots where he likes to score.”

Bullock said he didn’t intervene and talk with Brunson after his poor performances in Games 1 and 2 of this series.

“JB is a great player,” Bullock said. “I knew that he would get out of it, he’ll watch film, he’ll try to be better. He’s been good for us all year. I knew he would watch film to get himself going.

“I’m not a player that really talks to players or anything like that. We’re all NBA players. We’ll figure it out. We’ve been doing it for so long. He’s an excellent player, so it was good to see him come into himself (Friday) night.”

Bullock, however, did notice something about Brunson in Game 3 that caught his attention and led to him having a conversation with the savvy guard.

“He held us down on the offensive end (and) he made good plays,” Bullock said. “And I told him after the game when I saw him putting the defensive pressure on Mikal (Bridges) it definitely turned me up a notch to know that I saw another teammate out there putting ball pressure and locking down, too.”

Brunson knows he must bring that same defensive – and offensive – intensity when the Mavs try to even the series at 2-2 when they host Game 4 Sunday at 2:30 p.m. at American Airlines Center.

“(We’ll) probably have to play even harder because they’re going to come out playing a lot harder, and we’re going to have to take it another notch up,” Brunson said. “They’re not going to lay down.

“They’re a really good team, so we’re going to have to step up, and I think we’re prepared for it.”

As far as him personally piggy-backing from how he performed Friday, Brunson said: “I just can’t be satisfied with this. Sunday is going to be another brutal game.

“I have to bring the same energy, the same intensity and the same everything.”

And keep attacking.

Twitter: @DwainPrice