Historic season on the line with Game 7
This is why Monty Williams just shakes his head when he hears the regular season doesn’t matter.
The Phoenix Suns earned the No. 1 overall seed and homecourt advantage throughout the postseason by finishing those 82 games with the NBA’s best record at 64-18.
So they’re not playing Sunday’s decisive Game 7 on the road in a hostile environment.
The Suns will be at home before an expected sellout crowd of 17,071 at Footprint Center ready to give them tons of energy as they look to finally dispose of Dallas in this Western Conference semifinals series.
“You work your tails off all year long to have homecourt,” Williams said. “And it will pay off in this situation.”
Here’s a look back at the defending Western Conference champions through Thursday’s Game 6, and ahead to Game 7 against the fourth-seeded Mavericks as the winner will face third-seeded Golden State in the Western Conference finals with Game 1 of that best-of-7 set for Wednesday.
Pulse reader: Excitement, concerned and prepared
Devin Booker has never played in a Game 7.
So he’s hyped about having this opportunity to compete in one, as he grew up watching Game 7s. Heat-Spurs is the first that comes to mind for Booker. Miami won in its second of back-to-back NBA championships.
Then there’s Deandre Ayton, who called Thursday’s Game 6 loss "terrible" and "unacceptable" as the Suns committed 22 turnovers that led to 29 Dallas points.
Ayton has never played in a Game 7, either, and didn't sound too happy about having to do so despite saying the Suns have to "embrace" the situation.
However, the Suns have Chris Paul and Jae Crowder, who have played in a combined nine Game 7s. Paul has been in seven, Crowder two.
Plus, the Suns got two days in between Game 6 and Game 7 after playing every other day through the first six games to figure out the following: Turnovers. Major problem in the losses. Keeping the Mavericks out of the paint and from hitting 3s.
Getting Ayton more involved offensively, especially when Dallas goes small.
State of series
Conference semifinals: Tied 3-3.
Game 1 – Suns 121, Mavs 114: Ayton scored a teamhigh 25 points as Phoenix withstood Luka Doncic’s 45point eruption to take 1-0 lead.
Game 2 – Suns 129, Mavs 109: Paul scored 14 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter while Booker hit three straight 3s in the fourth in scoring 30 to mark an 11th straight Phoenix win over Dallas.
Game 3 – Mavs 103, Suns 94: Phoenix shot under 50% for the first time in this season’s playoffs as Paul (7) and Booker (5) combined for 12 of the team’s 17 turnovers that led to 22 Dallas points.
Game 4 – Mavs 111, Suns 101: The Suns committed 17 turnovers again that led to 23 Dallas points while Paul fouled out in 23 minutes. Dorian Finney-Smith knocked down a playoff career-high eight 3s.
Game 5 – Suns 110, Mavs 80: Phoenix outscored Dallas, 33-14, in the third quarter and forced 18 turnovers that led to 24 points for the game in blasting the Mavs by 30.
Game 6 – Mavs 113, Suns 86: Dallas scored 29 points off 22 Phoenix turnovers as Booker (8) and Paul (5) tallied 13. Doncic posted 33 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists to just one turnover and four steals.
Plus/minus
Top plus total: Bismack Biyombo (Plus-26). The veteran big gave the Suns a huge jolt in Game 5 that led to a plus-20. He had seven points, six rebounds and even ended the game with an exchange with Marquese Chriss that continued in the tunnel.
A former Suns player, Chriss went chased Biyombo in the hallway, but security prevented punches from being thrown.
Worst minus total: Cameron Payne (Minus-17). Payne’s subpar play on both ends led to Williams playing Landry Shamet instead of him in the first quarter. With the Suns losing Game 6 playing Shamet and Biyombo, will Williams go back to JaVale McGee and Payne, two rotation players all season, in Game 7?
‘Terrible. Unacceptable.”
Ayton after Game 6 the Suns lost by 27 with a chance to close out the Mavericks and advance to the conference finals.
The Suns big scored a team-high 21 points on 10-of-16 shooting, grabbed 11 boards, but the Mavs shot 16-of-30 from 3, limited the Suns to 39.7% shooting and only turned ball over seven times with Phoenix scoring just six points off them.
Prediction: Suns win Game 7
The previous prediction was Suns in 6, but Dallas made sure that didn’t happen.
The series has been a wild one in so many ways. Chris Paul’s mother and wife were harassed in the fourth quarter of Game 4 in Dallas that led to two fans being banned from American Airlines Center until 2023.
The Biyombo-Chriss exchange as the NBA hasn’t announced a fine or suspension from that.
Got Booker laying on the floor and saying “the Luka special” in mocking Doncic during Game 5.
Then after that game, Doncic was captured on video saying, “everybody acts tough when they up” in talking about the Suns and didn’t back off his comments going into Game 6.
“When you're up, everybody is trying to talk,” Doncic said. “A lot of guys who played there the last time, the last couple of minutes, after every shot, they looked at our bench. It was funny.”
On the court, turnovers have clearly been a difference maker in the series, but here’s the deal.
Can Dallas bring the magic it has displayed at home to a Game 7 on the road?
If the Mavericks do, this is going to be an instant classic.
All the pressure is on Phoenix, though.
The Suns had the historic season and have been on a mission to return to the finals and finish what they started after building a 2-0 series lead over Milwaukee only to lose four straight games to the eventual NBA champion Bucks.
Everything they’ve done in eight months could come crumbling down in 48 minutes.
That can’t happen, right?