Ayton, Booker lead top-seeded Suns past Mavericks 121-114

After a brief hiatus, the Phoenix Suns that bulldozed through the regular-season schedule made an appearance Monday night.

Deandre Ayton scored 25 points, Devin Booker added 23, and the top-seeded Suns rolled to a 121-114 win over the Dallas Mavericks in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals in Phoenix.

The Suns never trailed, jumping to a 9-0 lead in the opening minutes and staying on the gas until the final minutes. They shot 50.5% from the field, won the rebounding edge 51-36 and beat the Mavericks for the 10th straight time, counting regular-season games.

Phoenix had a few hiccups late — making the final score a little closer than it should have been — but the Suns looked much more like the team that set a franchise record with 64 wins during the season.

“We’ll take the win,” Suns point guard Chris Paul said. “We played well most of the game. We’ll look at the film tomorrow and see what we need to do differently for Game 2.”

Luka Doncic led the Mavericks with 45 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists. It’s the first time Dallas has advanced to the postseason’s second round in Doncic’s four-year NBA career.

Doncic and Maxi Kleber looked ready for the challenge but the rest of the Mavs didn’t do much until it was too late. Kleber finished with 19 points. “Maxi and Luka in that first half kept us afloat,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said. “We could have easily been down 39 at halftime but Maxi and LD were good. LD was good in the second half, too. We’ve just got to get someone to join the party.”

Game 2 is today in Phoenix. Booker missed three games of Phoenix’s first-round win over New Orleans because of a strained hamstring. He returned for the closeout Game 6 and scored 13 points, but looked a little more cautious than usual in his effort to stay healthy. That hesitancy was gone in the first quarter Monday: Booker had 13 points and added six rebounds and four assists.

Ayton dominated in the paint and mid-range, hitting his usual array of turnaround jumpers, runners and dunks. The 6-foot-11 center shot 12 of 20 from the field. Paul added 19 points and Cam Johnson had 17 off the bench. All five Suns starters scored in double figures.

Heat 106, 76ers 92: Tyler Herro scored 25 points, Bam Adebayo finished with 24 points, and 12 rebounds, and the Heat topped the shorthanded 76ers in the opener of their Eastern Conference semifinal series. Jimmy Butler added 15 points for the top-seeded Heat.

The 76ers were without Joel Embiid, the MVP finalist who isn’t even in Miami while recovering from an orbital fracture and concussion — injuries suffered in Philadelphia’s first-round-clinching win at Toronto. He’s not expected to play in Game 2. And as would be expected, he was missed. Tobias Harris scored 27 points for Philadelphia, which got 19 from Tyrese Maxey and 16 points, nine rebounds and five assists from James Harden.

Game 2 is today in Miami.

MATT YORK/AP Suns guard Devin Booker celebrates after scoring in a 121-114 win over the Mavericks during Game 1 of their Western Conference playoff series Monday. Booker scored 23 points in his second game back from injury. Luka Doncic led the Mavericks with 45 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists.