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Spencer Dinwiddie poured in 30 points off the bench and Jalen
Brunson added 24 as fourth-seeded Dallas steamrolled the
top-seeded Suns. The Mavericks led by as many as 46 points while
reaching the finals in the West for the first time since winning
the 2011 NBA Finals.
Dallas will face the third-seeded Golden State Warriors in the
conference finals. Game 1 is Wednesday night in San Francisco.
"I don't know what to say but this was an amazing team win,"
Doncic said afterward. "Everybody was locked in, everybody was
playing as hard as they can. We didn't take one play off. This
is an incredible team win.
"I'm going to enjoy this win tonight, and tomorrow we will think
about Golden State."
Devin Booker scored 11 points on 3-of-14 shooting in his first
career Game 7 for the Suns, who won an NBA-best 64 games. That
output also set a franchise record.
Booker missed his first nine field-goal attempts before sinking
a jumper with five minutes left in the third quarter.
Starting anchors Booker, Chris Paul (10 points, 4-of-8 shooting)
and Deandre Ayton (five points, 2-for-5) totaled 26 points on
combined 9-of-27 shooting. Overall, Phoenix shot 37.9 percent
from the field, including 12 of 34 from behind the arc.
"They did a good job of getting the ball out of my hand and
trapping," Booker said. "I've always said I'm not the person who
is going to try to shoot over eight people, I'm going to try to
make the right play. I missed shots early and missed the open
ones I got."
The Mavericks were the first road team to win in the seven-game
series. Dallas lost its first three visits to Phoenix by an
average of 19 points, including a dismal 110-80 setback in Game
5.
After falling behind 2-0 and 3-2 in the series, Dallas won the
final two games by an average of 30 points.
Dallas coach Jason Kidd didn't care whether the winning margin
was 33 or one.
"We're not looking at the blowout. We just came in and executed
our game plan," Kidd said. "I think they came out and played it
as just another game and played it as a high level. Offensively
and defensively, we were active."
The Mavericks shot 56.8 percent from the field and made 19 of 39
from 3-point range in the wire-to-wire victory. Doncic was 6 of
11 from behind the arc and Dinwiddie made 5 of 7.
Cameron Johnson scored a team-high 12 for Phoenix, which
sustained a painful loss after reaching last season's NBA Finals
before falling to the Milwaukee Bucks.
"We basically played the worst game of the season tonight," Suns
coach Monty Williams said. "That group has a lot of character
and integrity. I know how bad they wanted it. We just could not
execute, could not make a shot early, and that messed with us a
little bit and Dallas played their tails off from start to
finish.
"From my standpoint, I did not have us ready to play in a Game
7."
The home fans booed the Suns off the court at halftime when the
score was 57-27. Phoenix's halftime total matched the output of
Doncic, who was 9 of 12, including 4 of 7 from 3-point range.
Dinwiddie added 21 in the half on 7-of-10 shooting and 4 of 5
from behind the arc.
Meanwhile, the Suns' trio of Booker (0 of 7), Ayton (1 of 4) and
Paul (0 of 4) were 1 of 15 for six points in the half.
Doncic scored 12 points in the first quarter as the Mavericks
built a 27-17 lead.
Doncic (15) and Dinwiddie (13) combined for 28 points in the
second quarter as Dallas outscored Phoenix 30-10.
After halftime, Dallas scored 15 of the first 20 points to
stretch the lead to 40 at 72-32 with 7:44 left in the third
quarter.
Dinwiddie's final 3-pointer, coming with 48.3 seconds left in
the stanza, gave the Mavericks a 92-50 lead and they remained
well ahead in the fourth quarter while finishing the startling
wipeout win.
The Mavericks also halted a seven-game losing streak in Phoenix
dating back to a victory early in the 2019-20 season.
--Field Level Media
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