The Dallas Mavericks beat the Phoenix Suns 111-101 on Sunday night to even the Western Conference semi-finals series between the two teams. The Mavs had a balanced contribution from their entire rotation and benefited from foul trouble the Suns’ star guard Chris Paul got into early in the game.
Paul picked up two fouls in the first quarter before getting called for two more before the end of the first half. His fourth foul came with one second remaining in the second period after bumping Mavs’ star Luka Doncic while trying to pick up his own miss.
Just over two minutes in the second half, Paul got his fifth foul and swiftly exited the game. He didn’t return until early in the final period but didn’t stick around for too long. The 37-year-old player made a loose ball foul with 8:58 left on the clock and had to head to the locker room.
The Suns struggled with scoring efficiency and defensive stops without Paul on the floor. Devin Booker had 35 points, but only three other Phoenix players managed to double digits and no one else had more than 15.
Dallas didn’t rely solely on Doncic, who had 26 points with seven rebounds and 11 assists, like in some previous games. Instead, five more players stepped up to score 10 or more points, including Dorian Finney-Smith, who had 24 points and eight boards.
The Mavs vs. the Suns series continues on Tuesday with Game 5 in Phoenix.
