What a difference the home court makes.
That was the battle cry of the Dallas Mavericks as they took full advantage of the comforts of American Airlines Center and went out and defeated the Phoenix Suns on Friday, 103-94, before a sellout crowd of 20,777.
The Mavs saw how the home court played a major role in the Suns winning the first two games of this best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series – 121-114 and 129-109 – this past week in Phoenix. Thus, when Friday rolled around and it was the Mavs’ turn to host Game 3, they wasted little time giving the home crowd what they wanted.
“Big shout out to the fans here,” center Maxi Kleber said. “They were incredible — super loud.
“That’s exactly what we needed coming here (down) 0-2 and having the crowd on our side. I think it helped us to play from the jump with the right energy and physicality that we wanted to do.”
With Friday’s win over the Suns, the Mavs now trail this series, 2-1. Game 4 is Sunday at 2:30 p.m. at AAC and Game 5 is Tuesday in Phoenix at 9 p.m.
Here are our five takeaways from the nine-point win over the Suns.
BRUNSON REDEEMS HIMSELF: That Jalen Brunson who terrorized the Utah Jazz in the first round of the playoffs finally showed up in this second-round series against the Phoenix Suns. After scoring just 23 points on 9-of-28 shooting in the first two games of this series against the Suns, Brunson busted loose for a game-high 28 points on 10-of-21 shooting in Game 3. That includes scoring 10 points when the Mavs toted a 29-20 lead into the second quarter, and adding another 10 points when Dallas stretched a 51-44 halftime lead to 82-67 after the third quarter. It was as if Brunson was on a personal mission to prove that his performances in the first two games of this series was nothing but an aberration.
DONCIC DOMINATES: Luka Doncic continues to remind everyone that he’s the best player and the most dominant player in this series. After averaging 40 ppg in the two games in Phoenix, Doncic flirted with a triple-double Friday and may have gotten it had he not been in foul trouble. Still, in 34 minutes Doncic finished with 26 points, 13 rebounds, nine assists and two steals. The four-year veteran was directing traffic with so much passion that, while sitting on his bottom, he tossed a perfect pass which Dorian Finney-Smith turned into a layup. In the first half, Doncic collected 16 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Doncic now joins Charles Barkley, Tim Duncan, LeBron James and Russell Westbrook as the only players in the last 50 postseasons to average at least 35 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in the first three games of a playoff series.
CHRIS PAUL’S TURNOVERS: It’s safe to say Suns point guard Chris Paul didn’t have a very happy birthday. Paul, who turned 37 on
Friday, turned the ball over an astonishing seven times in Game 3. And six of those turnovers came in the first 16 minutes he was on the court. By halftime, Paul had already committed a whopping six turnovers. That’s the most turnovers he’s ever had in one half of a playoff game during his 17-year career. And the seven turnovers were one shy of his career postseason high of eight turnovers. Credit the Mavs for aggressively pressuring Paul and forcing him into committing those turnovers, although a few were also unforced errors. Paul committed just four turnovers in the first two games of this series.
PAINT POINTS: The Suns – across the board – are the much taller team in this series. But that didn’t prevent the Mavs from outscoring the Suns in the paint in Game 3, 50-32. The Mavs were so aggressive at knifing their way to the basket that their first-half paint points (32) were as many as the Suns had in the entire game and as many as the Mavs had in Game 2. In other words, the Mavs were in attack mode all game as 41 of their 90 field goal attempts came inside the paint. Overall, the Mavs made 25 shots in 41 attempts inside the paint for 61 percent, while the Suns converted 16 of their 36 field goals inside the paint for 44.4 percent. Between their 41 attempts in the paint and their 39 attempts from downtown, the Mavs only had 10 other field goal attempts during the entire game.
PARTY OVER HERE: After the two losses in Phoenix to open this series, coach Jason Kidd talked about the rest of his players needing to join the party that was hosted by point guard Luka Doncic. A three-time All-Star, Doncic tossed in 80 points in the first two games of this series. The rest of the Mavs’ starting lineup? They scored a total of just 70 points in the two games. Kidd knows the Mavs won’t get very far with that type of scoring gap. The players obviously heard him, then went out and did something about it Friday as Jalen Brunson tallied a game-high 28 points, Reggie Bullock popped in 15 points and Dorian Finely-Smith contributed 14 points to offset the 26 points Doncic scored.
Twitter: @DwainPrice
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