Suns’ offense falters in Game 6, get crushed by Mavs

DALLAS (3TV/CBS 5) — The Phoenix Suns picked Thursday night to have their worst playoff performance of the year. After a solid first quarter, the Suns fell apart and couldn’t get anything on offense going, falling to the Dallas Mavericks in Game 6, 113-86. The series is now tied 3-3 with Game 7 on Sunday in Phoenix.

Luka Doncic, who had 33 points on 11-26 shooting, 11 rebounds and eight assists, made a driving layup with 8:51 left in the third quarter to increase the Mavs’ lead to 20, with a score of 68-48. Deandre Ayton, the only bright spot offensively for the Suns, had a monster dunk with 4:01 left in the quarter but was called for a technical foul for taunting for staring down a Mavs player. Doncic missed the free throw. The Suns never got much closer after that. Frustration showed in the fourth quarter as the turnovers continued for the Suns. The game was over. Ayton finished with 21 points to lead the Suns on 10-16 and had 11 rebounds.

Devin Booker and Chris Paul didn’t look like themselves and had a combined 13 turnovers to only seven assists. Booker had 19 points on 6-17 shooting while Pual had 12 points on 4-7 shooting. The Mavs’ Reggie Bullock had a career playoff-high 19 points.

Both teams came out focused and with energy in the first quarter, with neither team seeing a lead larger than five points. Doncic started 1-5 but then shot 3-6 and finished the quarter with 11 points. Booker had eight points while Paul had zero in the quarter

In the second quarter, teams were trading buckets early on. An Ayton lay-up with 6:27 left cut the Mavs’ lead to 41-39. But then Dallas went on a 19-6 run to close out the quarter. Dallas ended the half with a 60-45 lead. Doncic had seven points in the quarter while Booker missed his four shots in the quarter and was held scoreless.