Chris Paul takes over fourth, Suns pull away from Mavericks to take 2-0 series lead

How bad did things get for the Mavericks in the second half Wednesday night? Luka Doncic wore down and had as many turnovers (4) as he did buckets. Chris Paul dominated the fourth, scoring 14 of his 28 points on the night, and Phoenix shot 70.7% as a team for the half. Turns out, the Suns shot the ball well all game.

Suns' true shooting percentage tonight — 76% — is the highest ever for a team in a playoff game outside the bubble.

— Dan Feldman (@DanFeldmanNBA) May 5, 2022

The Suns scored 71 points in the second half and pulled away from the Mavericks to win Game 2 comfortably, 129-109. The Suns have a commanding 2-0 series lead, with the series shifting to Dallas on Friday night.

Doncic remains the hub of everything Dallas does on offense — he had 35 points on 13-of-22 shooting, plus seven assists — so Phoenix decided to target him, dragging him into pick-and-rolls in nearly every half-court set. Doncic is a solid defender (mostly because he’s 6’8″), but having to expend that much energy on both ends wore him down. By the end, Chris Paul was driving past him, and on offense he was turning the ball over more.

Jalen Brunson again struggled for the Mavericks, scoring just 9 points on 3-of-12 shooting. Reggie Bullock was the second-best player on Dallas, and he finished with 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting.

Phoenix got 30 points on 15 shots out of Devin Booker, and Jae Crowder finished with 15.