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Mavericks stun Suns with 33-point blowout, advance to conference finals

Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic made 12 of 19 shots for a game-high 35 points in a playoff win over the Phoenix Suns on Sunday in Phoenix. Photo by John G. Mabanglo/EPA-EFE
Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic made 12 of 19 shots for a game-high 35 points in a playoff win over the Phoenix Suns on Sunday in Phoenix. Photo by John G. Mabanglo/EPA-EFE

May 16 (UPI) -- All-NBA guard Luka Doncic scored a game-high 35 points and the Dallas Mavericks led by as many as 46 in a blowout of the Phoenix Suns in Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals.

Doncic scored 27 points in the first half of the 123-90 victory Sunday at Footprint Center. The Suns shot just 37.9% from the field. Suns stars Chris Paul and Devin Booker were held to a total of 21 points.

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"They were making tough shots, making 3-pointers and a little bit of everything," Paul told reporters. "We never made the game competitive."

The fourth-seeded Mavericks will face the No. 3 Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference finals. The winner of that best-of-seven game series will face the Miami Heat or Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals.

''You can't get this smile off my face,'' Doncic said. ''I'm just really happy. Honestly, I think we deserved this. We've been playing hard the whole series. ... We came here and made a statement in Game 7.

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"We believe and our locker room believes."

Doncic sank a fadeaway jump shot 26 seconds into the game to spark an 11-3 run and the Mavericks never lost that lead. The Mavericks led 27-17 through the first 12 minutes. They outscored the Suns by 20 points in the second quarter and led 57-27 at halftime.

The Mavericks started the third with another 8-0 run and took a 92-50 advantage into the fourth. The Suns outscored the Mavericks 40-31 over the final 12 minutes. The Mavericks held their largest lead midway though the final frame.

"We said crazier [things] have been done and we stuck with that mindset," Booker said. "We didn't have it coming out at halftime either. It was a good old fashioned [expletive] whooping from beginning to end."

Spencer Dinwiddie scored 30, with five 3-pointers, off the Mavericks bench in the victory. Mavericks guard Jalen Brunson chipped in 24 points. Doncic totaled 10 rebounds, four assists and made six 3-pointers.

Booker made just 3 of 14 shot attempts for 11 points. Paul made 4 of 8 attempts for 10 points. Cameron Johnson scored a team-high 12 points off the Suns bench.

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The Warriors host the Mavericks in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals at 9 p.m. EDT Wednesday at Chase Center in San Francisco.

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