Paul fouls out as Doncic, Mavs even series with Suns

DALLAS (AP) — Luka Doncic scored 26 points and the Dallas Mavericks took advantage of foul trouble for Chris Paul to beat the Phoenix Suns 111-101 on Sunday, evening the Western Conference semifinal series at 2-2.

Paul was out of Game 4 early in the fourth quarter, the period when he often dominated the Mavericks during an 11-game winning streak that ended with consecutive home victories for Dallas. Game 5 is Tuesday night in Phoenix.

Dorian Finney-Smith scored a playoff career-high 24 points on the most 3-pointers he's had, regular season or playoffs. He was 8 of 12 from deep, including consecutive 3s for a 14-point lead midway through the fourth.

Dallas matched its 20 3s (20 of 44) from a Mother's Day rout of the Los Angeles Lakers in 2011, a win that completed on a four-game sweep in the second round on the way to the championship. The Mavericks are playing beyond the first round for the first time since then.

Devin Booker scored 35 points for the Suns, who dropped two straight on road with a 2-0 lead just as they did in last year's NBA Finals. Milwaukee won the last four to take the title. Top-seeded Phoenix lost consecutive games for the first time in the playoffs.

Turnovers were the story with Paul in Dallas' Game 3 win, when the 37-year-old had the most in any half for his playoff career with seven before halftime.

This time it was fouls, and it started when coach Monty Williams put him back in the game with three in the final minute of the first half. Paul picked up his fourth just before the halftime buzzer when he tried to rebound his own miss and bumped Doncic.

Just 2 1/2 minutes into the second half, Williams had no choice but to use his challenge when Paul stopped and backed into Jalen Brunson as Paul