DEANDRE Ayton scored a team-high 25 points, and the Phoenix Suns dominated the visiting Dallas Mavericks on the boards en route to a 121-114 victory in Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal series Monday night (Tuesday in Manila).
Devin Booker contributed 23 points to a balanced attack, with nine rebounds and eight assists. Chris Paul had 19 points, Cam Johnson 17, Mikal Bridges 13, and Jae Crowder 11 as the top-seeded Suns held serve in a best-of-seven that continues Wednesday (Thursday in Manila) in Phoenix.
Luka Doncic finished with 45 points — one shy of his postseason career-high — for the Mavericks, who were outrebounded 51-36 and lost despite outscoring the host 48-33 on 3-pointers.
Coming off a hard-fought win over the New Orleans Pelicans in six games, the Suns wasted no time gaining the upper hand on the fourth-seeded Mavericks, scoring the game’s first nine points. Crowder contributed a 3-pointer to cap the run.
Phoenix went on to lead by as many as 15 later in the first quarter, 18 in the third period and 106-85 on a dunk by JaVale McGee with 8:48 remaining before coasting home.
With Ayton hitting 12 of his 20 shots, the Suns outshot the Mavericks 50.5 percent to 47.1 percent. Phoenix led the NBA with a 52.3 percent shooting percentage in the first round, while Dallas allowed just 44.3 percent shooting, third best in the league, in its opening-round win over the Utah Jazz.
In the other game, Tyler Herro scored 25 points, Bam Adebayo added 24 points and 12 rebounds, and the host Miami Heat defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 106-92 in Game 1 of an Eastern Conference semifinal series. — Field Level Media
