The miracle goes away. We’re talking about the Mavericks, of course. Jason Kidd’s team falls in the fifth round of the Western Conference semifinal playoff in Phoenix, coming within one loss of elimination. On the night of Thursday to Friday, the series will return to Texas, where the Mavs have won both of their games in this series., but with the water up to their necks and with the Suns as they have played, anything can happen. There it will be seen if a seventh game can be forced or the thing remains, as the Phoenix fans said at the end of the match, in a “Suns in six“. The cry raised by the Bucks fans in the past Finals as a prognosis finally fulfilled has been adopted by the fans of the team that was defeated then. A merely anecdotal fact of a party that had two faces and that ended with the Suns recovering sensations and the Mavs with their minds set on the meeting they have in 48 hours. One with which they can round off a season that is already, no matter what, outstanding.
And that the beginning seemed more similar to those that took place in Dallas than in the two initial duels in Arizona: 3-10, 9-15 and 11-17 in the first stages of the match, in which Luka Doncic came out (he left with 18 points at halftime), Dorian Finney-Smith looked like the one who made 8 three-pointers a few days ago (he scored 2 as soon as he started, but did not hit any more). The result became 16-24, but the Suns slightly fixed the situation up to 23-26, and by halftime they had already turned around a game they led by 3 (49-46), but with the Mavericks very involved and very faithful to the script: to look for the post with Doncic and also with Jalen Brunson and get the ball out from there or get inside thanks to Dwight Powell’s short time in the area (always starting, but relegated to the bench after a few minutes) and Maxi Klebber’s ability to play open, the Slovenian’s best partner.
In the third quarter the doubts of the Suns ended. What Monty Williams told them at the break worked and the team came out to bite and sentence. To show that they had won 64 games in the regular season for a reason. To destroy your rival. With 51-50 on the scoreboard, a 17-0 run already left the situation practically insurmountable for the Mavs, and in total in the fourth the balance was 33-14, and made up by three consecutive baskets by an active Jalen Brunson, but in streaks and with, at times, questionable shot selection. The Mavs, a team that secures the ball a lot, turned over 8 balls in that quarter and allowed 18 points from their turnovers. And Devin Booker, the best DeAndre Ayton of all the playoffs and the correct distribution coming from the usual experience of Chris Paul they left one Mavericks shivering as they entered 22 down in the final period (82-60).
Doncic, who left calm and smiling, finished with 28 points and 11 rebounds, but again abused the triple (2 of 8) although he had, of course, brilliant moments. The base was removed to the bench along with the rest of the starting team with 4 minutes to go and his team 19 down, already with Jason Kidd thinking about the sixth round. Brunson went to 21+7 and Bertans got 10 points and his coach may have to use him more in Game 6, especially when the team is stuck on 3-pointers: 20-for-44 in the fourth round, just 8-for-32 now. Clue. For the Suns, 28 points from Devin Booker (and +25 with him on the court), 20+9+2 from a very active Ayton, 14+7 (with 4 steals) from Mikal Bridges, and 7, with 10 assists, by ChrisPaul. Jae Crowder retired injured when he drew the fifth foul, Bisack Biyombo entered the rotation early and had it late in the game with Marquese Chriss ejected for a late foul. and Cameron Johnson went to 14 points off the bench. Monty Williams shortened his deep rotation to get to everything and the moment of truth will be in Dallas or in Phoenix, depending on the result of the sixth game. For now, the Suns are showing their pride and show what quality they have. We already knew that. Now it’s time to finish. And that is always complicated. Especially if your opponent is Luka Doncic.