The no.1 seed Phoenix Suns beat the Dallas Mavericks 121-114 on Monday night. Phoenix winning in wire-to-wire fashion with Dallas rarely getting close outside of late rally to finish the game. 

DeAndre Ayton put in another strong display scoring 25 points and claiming 8 rebounds. The 23-year-old taking full advantage of the Mavericks lack of size inside, making 12 of his 20 shots. 

The Suns held the best record in the NBA during the regular season and looked every bit the part against the Mavericks, opening the game with a 22-7 run and they didn’t look back. The team shooting over 50% from the field for the sixth straight game. 

Luka Doncic did his best to keep the Mavericks in touch, as he finished with 45 points, 12 rebounds and 8 assists. The former Rookie of the Year notching his sixth 40-point playoff game before turning 24, a league record. 

This wasn’t enough for Dallas however, as they never even had a shot to tie the game. Phoenix dominated the boards, 51-36, while they provided 27 assists as a team and went 18/18 at the free throw line. Taking full advantage of every opportunity the visitors gave up.

The Suns led by as many as 21 points during the game, but Dallas may have shown Phoenix what they should expect for the rest of the series in the fourth quarter. The Mavs outscoring their opponents 35-25, closing the gap to as few as five points. 

Devin Booker dropped 23/9/8 on what was a poor shooting night for him, while Cam Johnson added 17 points off the bench. Maxi Kleber led the way for Dallas after Luka with 19 points, 5/8 from three. 

Game 2 takes place on Wednesday @ 3am (GMT +1), Dallas will be looking for a more balanced team performance in order to steal a game on the road. 

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