PHOENIX (AP) – After a brief hiatus, the Phoenix Suns that bulldozed through the regular-season schedule made an appearance on Monday night.
Deandre Ayton scored 25 points, Devin Booker added 23 and the top-seeded Suns rolled to a 121-114 win over the Dallas Mavericks in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals.
The Suns never trailed, jumping to a 9-0 lead in the opening minutes and staying on the gas until the final minutes. They shot 50.5 per cent from the field, won the rebounding edge 51-36 and beat the Mavericks for the 10th straight time, counting regular season games.
Phoenix had a few hiccups late – making the final score a little closer than it should have been – but the Suns looked much more like the team that set a franchise record with 64 wins during the season.
“We’ll take the win,” Suns point guard Chris Paul said. “It’s not always going to be pretty. We played well most of the game. We’ll look at the film tomorrow and see what we need to do differently for Game 2.”
Luka Doncic led the Mavericks with 45 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists. It’s the first time Dallas has advanced to the postseason’s second round in Doncic’s four-year NBA career.
Doncic and Maxi Kleber looked ready for the challenge but the rest of the Mavs didn’t do much until it was too late. Kleber finished with 19 points.
“I thought Maxi and Luka in that first half kept us afloat,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said.
“We could have easily been down 39 at halftime but Maxi and LD were good. LD was good in the second half, too.
”We’ve just got to get someone to join the party.” Game 2 is today in Phoenix.
Booker missed three games during Phoenix’s tougher-than-expected first-round win over the New Orleans Pelicans because of a strained right hamstring.
He returned for the closeout Game 6 and scored 13 points, but looked a little more cautious than usual in his effort to stay healthy.
That hesitancy was gone in the first quarter on Monday: Booker scored 13 points on four of eight shooting and added six rebounds and four assists.
Ayton dominated in the paint and mid-range, hitting his usual array of turnaround jumpers, runners and dunks.
The six-foot-11 centre shot 12 of 20 from the field. Paul added 19 points and Cam Johnson had 17 off the bench.
