PHOENIX — In almost any other setting, Luka Doncic’s fourth-quarter dunk and ensuing shot block on Phoenix Suns All-Star Chris Paul might’ve provided the Dallas Mavericks a spark to ignite a late comeback push.
But Dallas needed more fire to complement their 23-year-old superstar Monday night in a 121-114 loss to the Suns in Game 1 of this second-round series.
Doncic finished with 45 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists, his highest-scoring game of these playoffs and his sixth 40-point game in 17 playoff appearances. He shot 15 of 30 from the field, 4 of 11 from three and 11 of 14 from the foul line in 44 minutes.
But, the Mavericks’ 10-point advantage in the fourth quarter and 24-9 run into the final minute didn’t offer much of a scare for the Finals-favorite Suns in Footprint Arena.
No other Mavericks besides hot-shooting Maxi Kleber (19 points while 5 of 8 from three) and Dorian Finney Smith (15 points in 40 minutes) provided the “timely shots” coach Jason Kidd had emphasized before the game.
Phoenix’s leading trio of Paul (19 points), All-Star Devin Booker (23) and Deandre Ayton (25), meanwhile, kept Dallas’ defense off balance with a barrage of mid-range looks and crisp ball movement.
So continued the Mavericks’ skid.
They’ve lost 10 straight to Phoenix and 17 of the last 20 matchups.
And Game 1 for a second consecutive playoff series.
Teams that open 1-0 leads have won 75.6% of best-of-seven series in NBA history (439-142), but Dallas joined Memphis in the first round as the lone teams to advance this season after losing the opener.
The Suns, however, are not the break-up-bound Utah Jazz. In more ways than one.
Dallas hasn’t won in Footprint Center since November 2019 — before Paul arrived to spark the franchise’s turnaround championship outlook — and has suffered six defeats in its last seven trips since the 2016-17 season, more than a year before Doncic joined the franchise.
Against the Jazz, the Mavericks won twice in a Salt Lake City arena where they’d started the series with an 11-game losing streak.
But the Suns’ tempo, depth, patience and Finals-worthy swagger presented the Mavericks with a steeper challenge than they’d faced at any juncture last round — with or without Doncic. Despite Doncic’s offensive push Monday, Dallas failed to counter, even with Doncic at 50-point pace after a 26-point first half.
Most trends and metrics entering Monday’s series opener signaled a close game, perhaps one with upset potential if Dallas could hold steady in the fourth quarter.
In three regular-season games against the Suns — two without Doncic and another a few weeks before the Kristaps Porzingis trade at the deadline — the Mavericks led by at least five points in each fourth quarter.
Then the Suns out-scored them by a combined 41 points (105-64).
Neither side waited for suspense to build in Game 1.
In their first three possessions, Doncic committed a turnover, then missed a mid-range look, then drew a whistle for traveling. The Suns started on a 9-0 run, then 18-6, then 22-7. Sooner after, Reggie Bullock and Jalen Brunson headed to the bench with two fouls apiece.
The Mavericks racked up enough fouls to enter the penalty before the Suns committed their first of the game, 3:37 before the end of the first quarter when Ayton bumped Doncic on a drive with enough force to send the 23-year-old All-Star tumbling into a baseline cameraman.
Doncic helped him sit back up.
But, he couldn’t help the Mavericks up from a double-digit deficit for a second consecutive playoff game.
Dallas cut Phoenix’s lead to four points (51-47) after a Doncic 3-pointer from his left-wing sweetspot and a lob assist to Dwight Powell 5:48 before halftime.
But, then Paul subbed back in, and Phoenix scored the next five points.
And 8 of the next 10.
And 14 of the next 19.
The Mavericks trailed 69-56 at halftime — one point shy of the season-worst 70-point first half Dallas allowed the Miami Heat in early November. Doncic (26 points) and Kleber (16) combined for 42 points at the break while the seven other Mavericks who played totaled 14.
The disparity and disjointed flow might’ve hurt just as much as the kick to the groin Doncic took midway through the second quarter, for which officials assessed Suns forward Jae Crowder a flagrant-1 foul.
Despite his efficiency waning as the game progressed, Doncic worked to manipulate switches off Bridges and Crowder to drive against Paul and isolation looks against center Ayton.
But, he received little help otherwise.
After a breakout, free-agency-defining series against Utah, Brunson battled foul trouble and struggled with the Suns’ lengthy defense throughout the first half and finished with 13 points on 6 of 16 shooting.
Spencer Dinwiddie — the post-trade-deadline X-factor missing from the Mavericks’ regular-season losses to Phoenix — didn’t make a basket until less than two minutes remained in the fourth quarter.
Bullock, one of Dallas’ primary defenders against the Suns’ All-Star backcourt, fouled out with 2:40 remaining.
The good news for the Mavericks? Just two days until Wednesday night’s Game 2, when they’ll have another chance to snap the skid and prevent the franchise’s first Western Conference semifinal series from spiraling in Phoenix’s favor like their deficit did Monday.
____
