Suns use big 3rd quarter run to fuel 30-point victory over Mavericks, 1 win shy of closing series

Devin Booker scored 28 points, Deandre Ayton added 20 and the Phoenix Suns beat the Dallas Mavericks 110-80 on Tuesday night to take a 3-2 lead in the Western Conference semifinals in Phoenix.

The Suns used a huge third quarter to turn a tight game into a comfortable win. Phoenix opened up the second half on an 11-4 run, highlighted by Booker's two three-pointers, for a 61-50 lead.

Mavs coach Jason Kidd called for a timeout, but it did little to stop the onslaught. The Suns led 82-60 going into the fourth with Booker pouring in 12 points during the third.

The Mavs had 12 turnovers during the third quarter.

The top-seeded Suns bounced back after dropping the previous two games and can win the series in Game 6 on Thursday in Dallas.

Doncic finished with 28 points and 11 rebounds. Jalen Brunson added 21 points. The Mavs shot just 38 per cent from the field.

The Suns took a hard-fought 49-46 lead into halftime. Booker scored 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field. Doncic countered with 18 points, though it was a little less efficient after making 7-of-16 shots.

The Mavericks led for a majority of the first half before Booker's baseline jam tied it at 40-all with 3:47 before halftime. Mikal Bridges had a nifty steal and then scored on a fast-break layup for a 44-42 lead.

Butler, Heat dominate 76ers to take series

Jimmy Butler scored 23 points, Max Strus added 19 points and 10 rebounds, and the Miami Heat moved one win away from a trip to the Eastern Conference finals by topping the Philadelphia 76ers 120-85 on Tuesday night in Miami.

Joel Embiid scored 17 points for fourth-seeded Philadelphia, which got 14 from James Harden and 12 from Tobias Harris. The 76ers were down by 15 going into the fourth, then gave up 12 consecutive points to open the final quarter.

Game 6 is in Philadelphia on Thursday.

It was a tough night all the way around for the Sixers, especially for Embiid — their best player, already wearing a mask to protect a facial fracture and dealing with a significant thumb injury.

Embiid got shaken up in the first quarter when he tried to dive into some baseline seats while attempting to save a loose ball. He doubled over shortly afterward, grabbing at his back.

He remained in the game after that scare.

It came midway through the second quarter, when Miami's Dewayne Dedmon missed a shot and Embiid grabbed the rebound. Dedmon, flailing for the ball, made contact with it — and wound up pushing it back into Embiid's mask-covered face.

Embiid lost the ball and went down in pain, covering his face with both hands. Oladipo picked up the ball and scored to make it 42-31, but Embiid writhing was of much greater importance to the 76ers than giving up two points. Embiid remained down for several moments, before making his way back to the Philadelphia bench and getting tended to by doctors.

Odds shift in favour of Heat

And now Philadelphia must beat the Heat in Games 6 and 7, with almost all the odds pointing to how difficult that task will be.

All-time in best-of-seven series, entering this round, teams that won Game 1 of a matchup ultimately prevail 75.6 per cent of the time. Game 1 winners at home, 85 per cent of the time. Teams that start a series with a 2-0 lead, 92.4 per cent of the time. And teams that win Game 5 for a 3-2 series lead wind up advancing 82.2 per cent of the time.

All those stats favour Miami, obviously.

Tyrese Maxey made a deep three-pointer with 1.5 seconds left in the third to pull Philadelphia within 81-66. Whatever hope remained for the 76ers in that moment was short-lived.

A jumper from Herro and then five straight points from Strus were the start of Miami's game-sealing flurry that opened the fourth. A three-point play from Adebayo pushed the lead to 25, at which point Embiid checked out with the outcome clearly no longer in question.