Trent Reinsmith
- Date & Location: Tuesday, May 10 at Footprint Center in Phoenix, AZ
- Time: 10:00 p.m. ET
- How to Watch: TNT
The Phoenix Suns finished the 2022 NBA season with the best record in the league. With that, the team landed the first seed in the NBA Western Conference Playoffs. The Suns defeated the New Orleans Pelicans in six games of their first-round series. Phoenix is now matched up against the Dallas Mavericks in the semifinal round of the 2022 NBA Playoffs. Dallas dispatched the Utah Jazz in six games to secure a spot in the second round of the postseason.
The series between the Suns and Mavericks opened with Phoenix beating Dallas 121-114. Phoenix then went up 2-0 with a 129-109 win in Game 2. With the series moving to Dallas for the third and fourth games, the Mavericks were able to take advantage of home court and evened the series with victories of 103-94 and 111-101. The series moves back to Phoenix for Game 5 on Tuesday night.
Before we look at Game 5 of the 2022 NBA Playoff Series between the Phoenix Suns and the Dallas Mavericks, check out the odds for the 2022 NBA Playoffs and our guide to betting on the NBA.
Mavericks vs. Suns Game 5 picks
| To Win 2022 NBA Western Conference Semifinals |  |  |  |
| Dallas Mavericks | +195 | +195 | +196 |
| Phoenix Suns | -225 | -225 | -227 |
Dallas Mavericks breakdown and analysis
Luka Doncic did not have a great game as far as shooting percentage is concerned in Game 4 of the Dallas Mavericks series against the Phoenix Suns, but he was still the team’s leading scorer in a winning effort on Sunday. Doncic, who was one assist away from a triple-double in Game 3, put up 26 points and added seven rebounds and 11 assists in Game 4. Doncic opened the series against Phoenix with games of 45 and 35 points, but the team lost both those outings. The Mavericks got good support from Jalen Brunson and Dorian Finney-Smith in Game 4. Brunson contributed 18 points and Finney-Smith had his best performance of the 2022 NBA playoffs with 24 points and 8 rebounds.
The Mavericks will have a lot of confidence as this series heads back to Phoenix for Game 5. The Suns had been on an 11-0 run against Dallas before dropping the two most recent games to them.
Phoenix Suns breakdown and analysis
With their loss on Sunday, the Phoenix Suns have dropped back-to-back playoff games for the first time in the 2022 NBA postseason. The bad thing for the Suns is that the team had the same thing happen to it during the 2021 NBA Finals where they lost four straight to the Milwaukee Bucks after opening that series with two wins at home. The Suns can’t let that fact creep into their heads heading back to Phoenix for Game 5.
One reason the Suns struggled in Game 4 was that Chris Paul got in foul trouble and that limited him to 23 minutes of play. In the previous games in the series, he played 29, 36 and 37 minutes. Paul’s scoring in the two recent losses was 12 points and five points.
Devin Booker rebounded from Game 3 where he only had 18 points by contributing 35 points for the Suns on 43 minutes of play. Sunday’s game was Booker’s best offensive performance of this year’s playoff. That’s a good sign for the club, but if the Suns are going to go deep in the playoffs this year, they are going to need Booker, Paul and Deandre Ayton firing on all cylinders. Ayton has yet to hit the 20-point mark in a game this series. He hit that number four times during the Pelicans series.
Our pick
The Phoenix Suns were a great home team during the 2022 NBA campaign. They went 32-9 at Footprint Center. The Dallas Mavericks were 23-18 on the road in 2022. With the Mavericks being average on the road and the Suns owning the Dallas club before their losses in Game 3 and Game 4, I think Phoenix will turn things around on their home court and get the win in Game 5.
Pick: Phoenix Suns to beat Dallas Mavericks.
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