PHOENIX — In hockey, they call it penalty killing.
In the Mavericks’ universe, they call it winning the non-Luka minutes.
Or at least surviving them.
They did a lot more than just survive them on Sunday night on their way to a 123-90 blowout of the Phoenix Suns in Game 7, punching the Mavericks’ ticket to the Western Conference finals against Golden State.
The Mavericks had a hugely successful run in the second quarter with Luka Dončić on the bench for his usual five or six minutes to start that stanza.
Spencer Dinwiddie, who has caught some flak for his play in the playoffs, made up for everything with his play on Sunday night, but particularly in the second quarter.
With Dončić taking his usual rest, Dinwiddie had 13 second-quarter points, including eight when the Mavericks turned a 27-17 lead into a 41-23 advantage.
Opening up that gap with Luka sitting simply deflated the Suns and put the Mavericks in control of a game that they eventually would lead by as many as 44 points.
When Luka returned, he could play free and easy, as could all his teammates.
It was a heck of a lot more than just a good job of penalty killing. It was an absolute textbook example of how to defend the best regular-season team in the NBA, one that won 64 games.
And the group that started the second quarter was huge for the Mavericks. They limited the Suns to 4-of-18 shooting and outscored them 30-10.
“I thought Spencer was aggressive right off the bat. He didn’t wait,” said coach Jason Kidd. “It was carrying over from Game 6. And not just Luka being out, but we ended with JB (Jalen Brunson) out in that second quarter.
“I thought Spencer was incredible for us off the bench. It’s a great team win against one of, if not, the best teams in basketball. Everybody had something to do with it. Luka set the tone. But Spencer came off the bench and gave us a big lift.”
The Suns were fighting from behind all night and the Mavericks looked like the superior team from start to finish. They never wavered, with or without Dončić on the floor.
He had a team-best 35 points, but Dinwiddie poured in 30 off the bench. Luka made his first two shots. Then, when Dinwiddie took the floor, he made his first two, both 3-pointers.
From there, it was a three-way tag team as Brunson got involved big time in the second half.
“Anytime your leader goes into battle and is on point, he’s the type of guy that wants to throw the knockout punch,” Dinwiddie said of Dončić. “I give him credit for that. He’s never scared of the moment. He wants to go toe-to-toe with the best. It was great for him to come out and calm the storm quick. And the defense kicked in and obviously everybody was able to chip in after that.”
For Dinwiddie, who had averaged just 8.3 points in the first six games of the series, it was a much-needed hot-shooting night. He had hit just 16-of-45 shots in those six games.
However, he perked up in Game 6 by hitting five of seven shots from 3-point land. Ergo, the carryover. He hit 11-of-15 from the field in Game 7 and 5-of-7 from 3-point range for the second game in a row.
“Big, man,” Luka said of the importance of that time of the game when he was on the bench. “We have great players. Everybody can turn it on at some point. This was a great win. I can’t stop repeating that. It was amazing. The whole team played really, really well today.”
Dinwiddie said it’s always a bit of a guessing game when he’s coming off the bench about how the game will roll with him in it.
“Being the third guy and understanding it’s super fluid the type of looks you’re going to get,” he said. “Some games it could be five shots. Some games it could be 15 shots.
“In this particular game, JB started a little slower and my first two went down. After that, you step into that second role for the first half and you’re just trying to assist Luka in the best way possible. And then obviously, when JB gets rolling in the second half, let him cook as the No. 2. It’s a constant real-time read.”
And on this night a real-time party celebrating the Mavericks second series win in two weeks after not getting past the first round in 11 years.
Friendly faces, voices: It was a heartfelt meeting after the final buzzer between Dončić and Dirk Nowitzki, who most certainly are the two best players in Mavericks’ history.
Nowitzki had watched the team he led for 21 seasons eliminate the defending Western Conference champion Suns on their home floor. He gave Luka a big hug afterward and whispered some words of encouragement to him.
“He was just happy, man,” Dončić said. “It gives everybody on this team a lot of confidence when you see Dirk sitting courtside and away games. Everybody really appreciates him. Dirk is Dirk. He’s been through everything. He’s been a champion. So I think every player and every coach is appreciative that he’s there.”
In addition, there were several times when chants of “Let’s Go Mavs” broke out from a small but vocal group of Dallas supporters.
On a couple of occasions, those chants became “Let’s Go Suns” as the home crowd tried to give its team an emotional push. But by the end, it was like: why bother?
Meaningful words: Before the game, Kidd was asked about Brunson’s time at Villanova, where he won two NCAA championships, which requires a little different mentality when it’s win or go home every step of the way.
But in Game 7, that mentality is very useful.
“He’s been in these situations. He’s won national championships at Villanova.” Kidd said. “It’s one game or go home. He understands what’s at stake. He does have the experience of that. And hopefully he can use that.”
Brunson responded with 24 points on 11-of-19 shooting. All but two of his points came after halftime, when he hit 10-of-12 shots.
Meanwhile, Suns’ coach Monty Williams had a wise way of describing the importance of Game 7.
“Nobody’s going off to war or anything like that, but this is important to us, coaches, players, the organization, the city,” he said. “So yeah, I thought about it all day, all night. That’s how it is. I’m not going to sit here and tell you I was able to go in my backyard and prune a few bushes to get my mind off it. That didn’t happen.”
“Worst game of the season” for Suns: The postgame mood obviously was gloomy for Phoenix, which won 64 games in the regular season but now begins what will be a longer-than-expected offseason.
Coach Monty Williams said he hurt for his team.
“I know they didn’t want to play that way,” Williams said. “We basically played the worst game of the season tonight. That group has a lot of character and integrity and I know how bad they wanted it. We just could not execute tonight, couldn’t make a shot early, and that messed with us a little bit, and Dallas played their tails off from start to finish.
“There are days where it doesn’t go your way and you got to stand right there and show character and integrity and take it – that’s life.”
Briefly: Early in the third quarter, Dončić had 30 points. The Suns had 29. It wasn’t quite on the level of the 2005 Kobe Bryant game when he had 62 points at the end of three quarters and the Mavericks had 61. But the stakes were considerably higher in this one . . . As he danced off the court and toward the locker room, two-way player and chief of morale-boosting on the sideline Theo Pinson kept yelling: “Suns in four, Suns in four.” That became a sort of rallying cry for the Mavericks. “At first, it was Suns in Four,” Luka said. “We believed. We are going to believe to the end, so that’s it.”
Twitter: @ESefko
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