By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The Dallas Mavericks averted a 1-3 series hole against the Phoenix Suns and earned a huge Game 4 win, 111-101, to level their Western Conference semifinals series while the Philadelphia 76ers banked on the clutch-shooting of James Harden and tied their Eastern Conference semifinals duel against the Miami Heat after a hard-earned Game 4 win, 116-108.
Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks just handed the Phoenix Suns two-straight losses in the NBA playoffs, a rare sight for the no. 1 seed Suns since losing to the Milwaukee Bucks during their last NBA finals matchup.
Dallas relied on their waxing-hot shooting against the Suns as trigger-ready Davis Bertans sparked the Dallas bench and drilled four-straight three-pointers that established their double-digit lead in the second quarter.
Bertans provided the offensive lift that the Mavericks needed whenever Doncic sits on the bench and finished with an impressive 12-point outing.
Dallas saw their lead climb up to 17, 46-29, with nine minutes left in the second quarter but Devin Booker went off offensively and helped the Suns trim the deficit to eight.
However, Chris Paul’s foul trouble halted Phoenix’s hopes of a comeback and was already on the bench with nine minutes left in the final canto.
Paul’s absence was badly missed by Phoenix who became the ultimate closer since dispatching the New Orleans Pelicans in the first round.
The duo of Doncic and Jalen Brunson then iced the game for Dallas and combined for 44 points, 26 and 18 points, respectively.
Meanwhile, the Philadelphia 76ers witnessed a James Harden vintage performance who drilled the clutch three-pointer plays to help them fend off the Miami Heat.
With Jimmy Butler torching them in the final canto and Bam Adebayo doing a decent defensive job against Joel Embiid, Harden carried the load offensively and took over in the last five minutes of the ball game.
Harden sank two clutch isolation three-pointers that answered the Miami run mounted by Adebayo and Butler that extended the Philadelphia cushion to 11 points, 114-103, with a minute left in the game.
It was a balanced attack for the 76ers as Tobias Harris, Danny Green, Tyrese Maxey, and Georges Niang also scored in double-digit aside from Harden and Embiid.
Miami already lost two games in a row despite Butler’s 40-point piece in Game 4 and will look to go back to the drawing board for Game 5 on their home floor.
