Phoenix and Miami find themselves in big-time fights now, after both took 2-0 leads in their respective conference semifinal series and then went 0-2 on the road. Game 5s await on Tuesday night -- Dallas visits Phoenix, Philadelphia visits Miami -- with the winners set to be one victory away from the NBA's Final Four.
This is the fourth NBA playoff series for Dallas' Luka Doncic and all have been tied 2-2 going into Game 5. The Suns are trying to avoid what would be their first three-game losing streak of the season.
3-POINTERS WILL BE KEY FOR THE MAVS
The best-of-seven series are down to best-of-threes, with a pair of No. 4 seeds bringing tons of momentum into Tuesday's matchups that will be played on the home courts of West No. 1 seed Phoenix and East No. 1 seed Miami.
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"Now we have to figure out how to win one on the road," Dallas coach Jason Kidd said. "But again, we're playing the best team in the NBA right now in the Suns. We know this is a tough challenge, but we've just got to go out and execute and hopefully put ourselves in a position to win on the road."
Dallas' 3-point shooting will be key. The Mavs were 20 for 44 in Game 4 (Mavs not named Doncic were 19 for 34).
Two numbers that jumped off the stat sheet Sunday were Dallas' 60-27 edge in 3-point shooting and 23-9 advantage in points off turnovers. Even Phoenix isn't good enough to overcome two disparities like that.
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THE PRESSURE IS ON CHRIS PAUL
Phoenix's Chris Paul had two rough games in Dallas, averaging 8.5 points, 5.5 assists and five fouls per game in Phoenix's two losses in Dallas
Paul fouled out of Game 4 for the first time this season and had more fouls than points in that game. His day got worse amid allegations that members of his family were harassed by fans at the game.
The incident with his family -- a video surfaced of Paul yelling "I'll see you later!" at a young fan, though it was not clear what transpired beforehand -- left the Mavericks calling whatever happened unacceptable.
But Paul's on-court struggles happened before whatever off-court incident occurred.
"There's nothing regular about Chris," Kidd said. "He's one of the best players of all time. He'll have his team ready to go for Game 5."
