The Mavs went into Game 4 looking to build off of their success in Game 3 of the series. Despite a strong defensive outing in Game 3, the national media would rather point to an uncharacteristic Suns performance. Dallas knew they had to protect their home court, because you can’t head back to Phoenix down 3-1.
There were a few key reasons that the Mavs were able to pull off yet another victory, one of which being a spectacular day shooting the ball from deep. The Mavericks shot 45.5% from 3pt range, with 8 of those 20 Maverick three pointers dropping out of the hands of Dorian Finney-Smith.
It also goes without saying, but Phoenix getting into foul trouble early went in Dallas’ favor. For the first time in Chris Paul’s career, he went into the locker room at half time with 4 fouls. It was a bit surprising to see Coach Monty Williams send CP3 back int he game with 1:30 left in the half and 3 fouls, but hey he wanted to cut that double digit lead down before half. Paul picked up his 4th foul with about 1.5 seconds left in the half and would eventually foul out in the 4th.
The Mavericks were cooking in the first half particularly, putting up 68 points. It’s the third quarter that seems to give this team troubles, as the Suns went on a 7-0 run with Dallas’ first bucket coming 3 minutes into the half. The Mavericks have to start putting the pedal to the metal in the third quarter as they look to steal a game in Phoenix.
It is now a best of three series and the Mavs have to go on the road and get a win. A lot of people already counted Dallas out, but the series is just now getting started. It’s going to take the same elite defensive efforts and quality shot attempts to beat this Suns team.
