'I Like Trash Talk': Luka Doncic Explains Mavs' Motivation Over Suns

"I like it,'' said Doncic, "when people trash-talk to me. It gets me going. It's fun."

DALLAS - There were slaps to the face and elbows to the jaw, arms waving and bodies flying. And there was Luka Doncic in the middle of it all, completely in control of the game - he scored 33 points as his Dallas Mavericks beat the Phoenix Suns 113-86 on Thursday night to force a Game 7 in these Western Conference semifinals - if not completely in control of his emotions.

And maybe he kind of likes it that way.

"I like it,'' said Doncic, "when people trash-talk to me. It gets me going. It's fun."

The big fun comes in the deciding game Sunday in Phoenix. But on the way there, three-time All-Star Doncic will continue to embrace being the target of the Suns' trash talk ...

And will also continue to be the perpetrator himself.

The Suns are seeking their second consecutive trip to the West finals, and as the best team in basketball, they are still favored to do so. But suddenly, Dallas seems to have unearthed solutions for stars Chris Paul and Devin Booker, neither of them a factor in this loss at the AAC.

Booker and Luka

Luka

Bullock and Booker

Booker totaled a meaningless 19 points as he started with eight points in the first quarter, was shut out in the second and was then shut out from 3-point range (0 of 4) for the entirety of the game while shooting 6 of 17.

Paul added 13 points, but most of his damage came when the game was already out of reach - unless one counts the damage he and his mates did in allowing themselves to be befuddled by the Dallas defense, which recorded an astounding 16 steals and a post-season-high of 21 fast-break points.

Reggie Bullock was a force on defense and scored 19 points. Jalen Brunson added 18 for Dallas. Spencer Dinwiddie scored a series-high 15, all of them coming on his 5-of-7 shooting from the arc.

"We got some dawgs over here,'' Bullock said of his locker room, adding that the Sunday strategy will be to "punch them in the mouth early.''

And for all his flash, Doncic, 23, is also a dawg - and not just because of all the barking he does at the other team (and at the refs). He does have a penchant for using profanity directly in the face of his foes; a favorite pet phrase seems to be, "You're a f------ p----.''

Additionally ... He played through a first-half left leg injury and used that leg to accelerate the Mavericks on a 19-5 run to close the first half giving Dallas a 60-45 halftime advantage.

He did a lot of everything, with his 11 rebounds and his eight assists and his constant eye-rolls and scoffing and head-bobbing and naughty words so often directed at nemesis Booker, who in Game 5 had over-acted while fouled and then labeled his effort "The Luka Special.''

As Doncic was walking to the locker room after that game, he muttered, "Everybody acts tough when they're up.''

Now nobody's up. The series is knotted at 3-3. Let the talk commence. One more time.