Suns: Five Stats That Tell the Story in Game 6 Loss vs. Mavericks

The Suns will look back on these numbers in hopes of improving their chances of winning Game 7.

One more chance. 

The Phoenix Suns squandered the opportunity to put the Dallas Mavericks to rest for good in the NBA playoffs on Thursday night, looking all out of sorts in their 113-86 loss at the American Airlines Center. 

Suns center Deandre Ayton, Phoenix's best player on the night, 

“It felt like a regular season game with the amount of mistakes we had. The turnovers. Terrible, unacceptable. It’s that type of game where it was just unacceptable man. Them dudes, they wanted it more. I think after every loss we’ve had they’ve shown that they wanted it more. It just wasn’t a team that didn’t want it. And it showed, dramatically.”

From nearly start to finish, the Suns lacked focus and determination on both sides of the ball. 

The Mavericks did their part in ensuring the trend of each home team emerging victorious continued in this series. Now, with Game 7 on the horizon in Phoenix, the Suns will look to do the same one last time. 

With Friday and Saturday night off, the Suns have plenty of time to fix and correct their errors. 

That also gives us time to go back and find some notable numbers that stuck out in Phoenix's horrendous Game 6 loss. 

Notable Numbers From Mavericks-Suns Game 6

45.5- That was the percentage Dallas shot from three on Thursday, vastly improving on their 25% success rate from Game 5. The Suns, focusing on limiting the scoring abilities of Luka Doncic inside, have been slow to rotate to outside shooters when the Mavericks move the ball around. Phoenix has taken advantage of Dallas' shots not falling previously, yet they looked helpless when seemingly everything was going in. 

13- The duo of Chris Paul/Devin Booker provided a whopping 13 turnovers in Dallas, with Booker responsible for eight of them (his average during the season was 2.4). Was it pressure of the moment? At times it looked like Paul, who has struggled since Game 3, was simply trying to do too much with the ball. The blame can't all be pinned on the backcourt, however. 

17- The Suns got a mere 17 points from their bench against the Mavericks just one game after scoring, just half of their total of 38 from Game 5. Cam Johnson shot a cold 1-5 during his time on the court, with Landry Shamet going 1-6 as well. It's no secret the Suns (like every other team in the NBA) need contributions from their bench if bigger things are in the picture. 

29- Phoenix turned the ball over 22 times, with Dallas scoring a total of 29 points off those turnovers. The Mavericks are tough enough to contain without handing them extra chances, and with Dallas outscoring Phoenix 21-8 in fastbreak points, they surely made the Suns pay in transition as well. 

33- Mavericks guard Luka Doncic scored 33 points on Thursday, and overall tallied more points, rebounds, assists and steals (33-11-8-4) than Booker/Paul combined (32-10-7-3) in Game 6. The Suns have seen various tests and quizzes in their attempt to limit Doncic. The final exam comes Sunday.