Booker, Suns take 3-2 series lead
Big third quarter puts Game 5 away
PHOENIX — Devin Booker scored 28 points, Deandre Ayton added 20 and the Phoenix Suns beat the Dallas Mavericks 110-80 on Tuesday night to take a 3-2 lead in the Western Conference semifinals.
The Suns used a huge third quarter to turn a tight game into a comfortable win. Phoenix opened up the second half on an 11-4 run, highlighted by Booker’s two 3-pointers, for a 61-50 lead.
Mavs coach Jason Kidd called for a timeout, but it did little to stop the onslaught. The Suns led 82-60 going into the fourth with Booker pouring in 12 points during the third.
While the Suns were finally finding some offensive continuity, the Mavs completely lost theirs, scoring just four points in the first six minutes of the third. At times, the Dallas offense regressed to mostly watching Luka Doncic try to work magic, but he couldn’t do it all by himself.
The Mavs had 12 turnovers during the third quarter.
The top-seeded Suns bounced back after dropping the previous two games and can close out the series in Game 6 Thursday in Dallas.
Doncic finished with 28 points and 11 rebounds. Jalen Brunson added 21 points. The Mavs shot just 38 percent from the field.
The Suns had taken a hardfought 49-46 lead into halftime. Booker scored 16 points on 7-of11 shooting from the field. Doncic countered with 18 points, though it was a little less efficient after making 7 of 16 shots.
■ Heat 120, 76ers 85: At Miami, Jimmy Butler scored 23 points, Max Strus added 19 points and 10 rebounds, and the Miami Heat moved one win away from a trip to the Eastern Conference finals by topping Philadelphia.
Victor Oladipo added 13 for Miami, which got 12 from Bam Adebayo and 10 apiece from Tyler Herro and P.J. Tucker. The top-seeded Heat now lead the East semifinal series 3-2, and improved to an Nba-best 6-0 at home in these playoffs.
Joel Embiid scored 17 points for the 76ers, who got 14 from James Harden and 12 from Tobias Harris.