Author: Swift Wave Reporter

The Dallas Mavericks rained 20 three-pointers and again neutralized Phoenix point guard Chris Paul to beat the top-seeded Suns 111-101 on Sunday and knot their NBA playoff series at two games each. Star guard Luka Doncic scored 26 points and Dorian Finney-Smith added 24 for Dallas, who have won two games at home to level the best-of-seven Western Conference matchup after dropping the first two games in Phoenix. The Suns, who finished the regular season with the best record in the league, will try to regain the advantage when they host game five on Tuesday. It’s guaranteed to shift back to Dallas for game six on Thursday.

Overall, the Mavs were on fire from beyond the arc, their eight three-pointers in the first quarter helping them build a 37-25 lead.

Their 14 three-pointers in the first half tied a franchise playoff record for three-pointers in a half.

They led 68-56 at the break and even more ominously for Phoenix, veteran point guard Paul committed his fourth foul trying to make a tip-in with 1.1 seconds left before half-time.

Paul picked up his fifth foul early in the third quarter and headed to the bench. He returned with 10:28 left in the fourth and promptly fouled out thanks to a hand to the arm of Mavericks guard Jalen Brunson.

A dangerous team

Devin Booker led the Suns with 35 points. Jae Crowder added 15 and Deandre Ayton scored 14.

But the Mavericks bench out-scored the Phoenix reserves 36-26.

“This team was amazing,” said Doncic, who was outstanding but received little support in the Mavs’ two series-opening defeats. “Everybody that gets to the court leaves everything out there. If we play hard and we get stops, we’re a dangerous team.”

While Doncic struggled with his shots, he added 11 assists along with four rebounds. He also forced four steals as the Suns turned it over 17 times. While Phoenix managed to cut the deficit to four points with less than two minutes to play in the third quarter, the Mavericks repelled every …

There were 54 fouls called.

Eleven were offensive, with Phoenix picking up the first seven of them.

There were 30 3-pointers made. Dallas hit 17 of them.

Then there was Chris Paul.

With Deandre Ayton, Devin Booker and JaVale McGee all in foul trouble, the Suns turned to their floor general and once again, Paul delivered in the fourth quarter of Wednesday’s 129-109 win to take a 2-0 series lead in the conference semifinals.

“It impresses us every time you see it, but it doesn’t surprise us,” Booker said. “It’s just the will to win. If he sees a matchup he likes, you can hear their bench yelling, ‘Send him left.’ You can try whatever you want to do, but he has a rebuttal move for you at every turn. Not only can he score, he can make a play for somebody else if you leave your man.

Scoring 14 of his 28 points in the fourth, Paul, who turns 37 years old Thursday, had the sellout crowd of 17,071 rocking in the fourth to fuel Phoenix’s offensive eruption.

“It’s fun, I love it,” said Paul, who shot 6-of-7 from the field in the fourth.

The Suns outscored the Mavs 40-26 in the fourth as they led by as many as 26. This after finishing Game 1 poorly in winning by just seven after leading by 21.

“You have to not only be impressed, but proud of the way we continue to win games mentally,” Suns coach Monty Williams said.

The series now shifts to Dallas for Friday’s Game 3 and Sunday’s Game 4.

“You’ve got to accept the challenge,” Suns forward Jae Crowder said. “They have a lot of guys who put the ball in the basket and they try to get mismatches and stuff like that. Coming into this series, you have to accept the challenge of guarding these guys and making it as tough as possible.”

Booker finished with 30 points on Wednesday as he hit three 3s in the fourth, with his final one putting Phoenix …