Different Animal: Despite Doncic's 45 Points, Mavs Outclassed By Suns in Game 1 Loss

Despite a big scoring night from Luka Doncic, the Dallas Mavericks were no match for the high-powered Phoenix Suns in Game 1.

If there were any doubts about how much better the Phoenix Suns are as a playoff opponent compared to the Utah Jazz – and there shouldn't have been – those doubts were squashed in Game 1 of the Dallas Mavericks' second-round series at Footprint Center.

Simply put, this is a different animal the Mavs are dealing with now.

Despite a big scoring night from Luka Doncic, who finished the night with 45 points, the Mavs were outclassed by the high-powered Suns in route to a 121-114 loss. Doncic also added 12 rebounds, eight assists and one block in while shooting 15-30 from the field, 4-11 from 3-point range and 11-14 from the free-throw line.

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Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Although the Mavs made a late push by out-scoring the Suns 35-25 in the fourth quarter, it was too little, too late. The final score wasn't a true indicator of how badly Dallas got beat before Phoenix took their foot off the gas a little bit while having a 21-point lead in the final frame.

Overall, the Mavs shot 47.1 percent from the field and 41 percent from deep, but they shot just 72 percent (18-25) from the free-throw line. In a game decided by seven points, that hurts for Dallas, especially when considering that Phoenix nailed all 18 of their free throws.

All other Suns starters scored in double digits on the night, and Cam Johnson scored 17 points off the bench on an efficient 6-10 from the field and 3-6 from deep.

Maxi Kleber, Dorian Finney-Smith and Jalen Brunson were the only other Mavericks to join Doncic in double figures, scoring 19, 15 and 13 points, respectively. Josh Green, who only recorded two rebounds and nothing else in 10 minutes of action, ended up being a team-high +11 in the box score plus-minus.

After nearly averaging 28 points per game in the Mavs' first-round series vs. the Jazz, Brunson came down to earth a little bit against the stellar length of the Suns, shooting just 6-16 from the field. At times, it felt like Brunson was playing against last year's Los Angeles Clippers team all over again.

Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Christian Petersen/Getty Images

The suns were led by DeAndre Ayton, who scored 25 points on 12-20 shooting to go with eight rebounds. Devin Booker, who was no longer on a minutes restriction from his hamstring injury in the first round, was the Suns' second-leading scorer with 23 points. Booker also grabbed nine rebounds and dished out eight assists.

The good news for the Mavs is that they won't have much time to think about their Game 1 loss, as Game 2 in Phoenix is on Wednesday night. The bad news is that the Suns present the Mavs with questions that might not be able to be answered with strategic adjustments alone. The overall talent disparity in this series looked overwhelming in the opener.