DALLAS — The Dallas Mavericks are headed to the second round of the Western Conference NBA Playoffs for the first time since 2011 after beating the Utah Jazz 98-96 in Game 6 to win that first-round series 4-2.
The No. 4 seed Mavs will now take on the No. 1 seed Phoenix Suns, who had the best record in the NBA during the regular season at 64-18. The first Dallas home game at the American Airlines Center will happen on Friday, May 6 with an 8:30 p.m. tip-off.
The schedule for this series will be as followed:
- Game 1: Monday, May 2 at 9 p.m. in Phoenix (TNT)
- Game 2: Wednesday, May 4 at 9 p.m. in Phoenix (ESPN)
- Game 3: Friday, May 6 at 8:30 p.m. in Dallas (TNT)
- Game 4: Sunday, May 8 at 2:30 p.m. in Dallas (ESPN)
- Game 5 (if necessary): Tuesday, May 10 (time TBD, TNT)
- Game 6 (if necessary): Thursday, May 12 (time TBD, ESPN)
- Game 7 (if necessary): Sunday, May 15 (time and TV channel TBD)
The Mavs announced that home tickets to Mavs-Suns games went on sale Friday at 10 a.m. As of Friday at noon, the cheapest tickets for Game 3 in Dallas were going for $176 in Section 315.
The Suns swept the regular-season series against the Mavs, 3-0. In fact, the Suns have currently won the last nine matchups against the Mavs. The last time Dallas beat Phoenix was on Nov. 29, 2019, when the Mavs won 120-113 in the Footprint Center.
This series will also feature two players taken at the top of the same draft class. In the 2018 NBA Draft, the Suns took Deandre Ayton with the No. 1 pick while the Mavs traded up to get Luka Doncic with the No. 3 pick.
These two franchises have played each other twice in the playoffs. In the 2005 playoffs, the Suns beat the Mavs in the Western Conference semifinals, 4-2. In 2006, they played each other again the next postseason in the conference finals, this time Dallas taking the series 4-2.
Including both the regular season and playoffs since the first time they played in 1980, the Mavs and Suns have played each other a total of 180 times, with Dallas winning 80 games and Phoenix winning 100 games.