DALLAS — Devin Booker and Chris Paul arrived for Game 6 in American Airlines Center dressed in nearly all black, other than Paul’s red sneakers and Booker’s silver necklace.
Appropriate attire, Phoenix’s All-Star backcourt evidently figured, for the Mavericks’ 2021-22 season burial. Oops.
It’s hyperbole to suggest that the Reggie Bullock-led Mavericks defense sent the Suns home mourning the thought of a Sunday Game 7 they probably hadn’t fathomed a week ago when leading 2-0, but perhaps Dallas’ 27-point win cast a different kind of pall.
Doubt.
It’s worrisome enough that Paul has been limited to 37 points and 25 assists in the last four games combined, but now the Mavericks might have cracked the code for slowing Suns scoring leader Booker.
It might be the edge Dallas needs to win in Footprint Center for the first time since Nov. 29, 2019. And to overcome the 76.8% history (109-33) of home teams winning NBA playoff Game 7s.
“We’ve got some dogs over here,” Bullock said. “This team, we’ve been grinding-out all season. I’m pretty sure nobody’s got us winning Game 7, but we keep our head down and keep working and we believe in our abilities that we put in on both ends of the floor.
“And we believe in our coaching staff.”
Coach Jason Kidd said the Mavericks staff decided to have Bullock guard Booker to start Game 6 “to see what would happen.”
Here’s what happened: Booker scored 19 points, committed a career-high-tying eight turnovers and went 6-of-19 shooting. He entered Game 6 averaging 26.8 points on 47% shooting for the series and had scored 35 points in Game 4 and 28 in Game 5.
The Mavericks would have been grateful had that been 31-year-old Bullock’s only contribution, but he also poured in a career playoff-high 19 points and shot 5 of 11 from 3-point range.
“He’s a sniper, man, 5 for 11?” Mavericks guard Jalen Brunson said. “The way he plays on both sides of the ball is great and something we expect.”
A review of Game 6 video and deeper dive into NBA.com player tracking statistics shows that while Bullock largely was responsible for Booker’s difficulties, Game 6 truly was a defensive coaching masterclass and team effort on Dallas’ part.
Entering this series, Phoenix had only been held below 100 points seven times in 88 regular-season and playoff games, with a low of 95.
The Suns, though, scored 94 points in the Game 3 loss to Dallas, and Thursday’s 86-point output included a season-high 22 turnovers, 16 of which were Mavericks steals.
In basketball it’s often said that defense travels, helping road teams to win in hostile environments. That hasn’t been the case in this series, with Phoenix scoring 121, 129 and 110 points in its three home victories, but perhaps the Mavericks have found hope for Game 7.
Moving Bullock from primarily guarding Paul to Booker might be as much a case of Dallas realizing that other Mavericks can guard the struggling 37-year-old Paul, who is on the cusp of for the fifth time in his career losing a series after his team was up 2-0.
Per NBA.com tracking, Paul was guarded 41.1% of the time in Game 6 by Frank Ntilikina, 31.4% of the time by Dorian Finney-Smith and 19.9% by Bullock.
The coaching staff’s decision to give Josh Green’s minutes to Ntilikina’s starting in Game 3 has paid dividends in other ways, as evidenced by Ntilikina’s four-steal performance in Game 6.
Per NBA.com, on the 29 possessions in which Ntilikina has guarded Booker in this series, Booker has shot 1 for 6.
On the first possession of Game 6, the Mavericks blitzed Booker, a tactic they sporadically threw at him throughout the game.
In Game 6 Booker was guarded 50.4% of the time by Bullock, 29.9% by Finney-Smith and 19.6% by Ntilikina. Booker shot 2 for 9 against Bullock, 1 for 2 against Ntilikina and 0-for-1.
Credit, too, the ability of Mavericks big men Dwight Powell and Maxi Kleber for their ability to switch on screens and occasionally double-team on the perimeter: Of Booker’s eight turnovers, four occurred with Kleber guarding him and two came during the scant 3% of the time Powell covered him.
“In a desperate situation, they came right out of the gate with force and grit and sped us up,” Suns coach Monty Williams said. “And we were about as unorganized on offense as we have ever been.”
Contributing to Booker’s struggles seemed especially gratifying to Bullock. Not because Bullock was coming off a scoreless Game 5, but because of verbal jabs that Booker and other Suns have taken at Mavericks star Luka Doncic, on and off the court.
Booker in Game 5 briefly faked injury and laid on the court after getting fouled in Game 5. Before rising, he smiled and called it the “Luka Special,” clearly mocking Doncic.
“I laugh at it when they try to guard him,” Bullock said. “I mean, they’re going to try to do the same thing to him, bring him up in every pick and roll, but when we get the switch we know it’s a bucket every time.
“And I don’t know about the switches with (Suns stars), to get a bucket every time. I just know we’re going to try to back him up. That’s our teammate. He’s going to hold us down on the offensive end and give his best on the defensive end.
“It’s about our team being able to take his back and not let nobody talk junk to our superstar.”
Bullock and the Mavericks in the process postponed the Game 6 funeral until Sunday, when one team’s postseason demise will happen, regardless.
Will it be the 64-win, reigning Western Conference champions, who have everything to lose? Or the 52-win underdog that now has new life?
