The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

The Phoenix Suns have an opportunity to clinch a second consecutive berth to the Western Conference Finals but Deandre Ayton said he expects tonight’s game six matchup to be one of the toughest in the series.

“We just got to go in level headed, we can’t walk in thinking we won the game already,” he said. “Those dudes are going to be desperate. The crowd is going to be in it and we are going to have to play together the way we did in game five [when we go to] Dallas.”

Ayton finished with 20 points (9-13 field goals) and nine rebounds as the Suns took a 3-2 series lead with a dominant 110-80 win Tuesday night at Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona.

Game six is set for tonight at 9:30pm local time at American Airlines Arena in Dallas, Texas.

The home team has won the first five games.

A Phoenix win will mark the first time the Suns have advanced to back-to-back Western Conference finals since the 2004-2006 seasons.

In the round one matchup against the New Orleans Pelicans, Ayton averaged 20.5 points and 9.8 rebounds per game on 70 percent shooting from the field, with 10 blocked shots and 19 assists.

His numbers are down across the board in the conference semifinals against the Mavericks thus far, averaging 16.8 points and 8.4 rebounds per game on 57 percent shooting from the field with just three blocked shots and four assists.

He opened the series with 25 points and eight rebounds in a 121-114 Phoenix win, but struggled in foul trouble in another Phoenix win in game two with a playoff low nine points and three rebounds in just 18 minutes.

He had back-to-back doubles for the first time this playoffs, both wins for the Mavericks. In game three he posted 16 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks, followed by 14 points and 11 rebounds in game four. The Suns’ offence made a concentrated effort to get Ayton involved early.

“Guys were looking for me down there,” he said. “Even when I had minor little tweaks around the rim they kept telling me - ‘Yo DA, that’s what we want, keep putting pressure on these boys’ - It felt good and it made me want to play a lot more defence on the other end.”

The Suns led just 49-47 at the half but opened the third on an 11-4 run. They forced 12 Pelicans turnovers in the period to pull away for good. “Defence, that’s what got us going,” Ayton said. “We were running, got stops, closed out possessions and this game I felt that we were on the offensive boards a lot. Our guards were getting a lot of tap outs and all that stuff just generates so much energy and momentum plays. One possession we had three opportunities, but we were so happy with the second effort and the crowd got into it.”

The series has not been short on its share of theatrics. Both Luka Doncic and Chris Paul have had run-ins with fans of the opposing team. Tuesday night concluded with the Mavericks’ Marquese Chriss and the Suns’ Bismack Biyombo both ejected after a late game altercation.

“It’s intense, a lot of barking out there. It comes with the game. Guys going at each other, it’s the highest level,” Ayton said. “We know the type of defeat we had in Dallas [in game four] and we weren’t happy. It wasn’t a fun plane ride, practice was intense, coaches got on us a little bit and this was our response.”

In addition to winning the turnover battle, Phoenix limited Dallas to just 25 percent from three-point range (8-32), after a blistering 45 percent (20-44) in game four.

The Mavericks lead all postseason teams in three-point attempts, makes, and are shooting 37 percent overall from long range.

“They will live and die by the three. They have great shooters over there, you just have to have a certain sense of urgency closing out to them because they can put the ball on the floor as well and have you in a blender closing out being late on passes,” he said. “So I think the communication was there [in game five]. At the end of the day we accepted the challenge man, the one-on-one guarding, staying in front of the ball.”