The Dallas Mavericks took Phoenix’s best punch in the first two games of the Western Conference Semifinals, falling in a 2-0 hole. But in a pivotal Game 3 at American Airlines Center, the Mavs were resilient and played great defense to secure a huge win.

Following a 20-point loss in Game 2, Coach Jason Kidd made sure his team was ready to defend home court. The Mavs defensive intensity flustered Phoenix, which caused them to turn the ball over, Dallas fed off the energy their fans provided to secure the 103-94 win and bring the series to 2-1.

Offensively the Mavs were able to incorporate more ball movement. Superstar Luka Doncic got his teammates involved and was an assist short of a triple double. He ended the night with a full stat line: 26 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists. Jalen Brunson led Dallas in scoring with 28 points, while Reggie Bullock and Dorian Finney-Smith played exceptional defense to go along with timely threes. Bullock ended the night with 15 points and DFS scored 14 points.

“It was a great team win,” Coach Kidd said. “Everybody joined the party. They helped out, on both ends. And then Luka was great defensively. He participated. It puts us in a great position when that happens. We were active. Our hands were active. We got deflections that led to steals. We came out aggressive…we played 48 minutes tonight. It’s a great win.”

While Coach Kidd’s defensive scheme for the game played out as planned, the Suns came out scorching early. Phoenix had it going from beyond the arc as Devin Booker used a screen to knock down a three. Dallas answered with a three from Bullock on the following possession, but Booker added another trey and moments later Crowder hit a triple to give the Suns an early 9-3 edge.

Despite Phoenix’s early surge, the Mavs stayed poised and began attacking on the offensive end, led by Brunson. First, he finished a layup. Moments later, he answered a Deandre Ayton basket with a pullup jumper and late he capped off his mini run by converting a three-point play. Brunson’s aggression gave him 10 points in the first and positioned the Mavs to close out the quarter on a 23-9 run to put them up 29-20 entering the second.

Each team struggled to find their rhythm offensively in the second. The Mavs stayed the course and put their energy into stopping Chris Paul. CP3 committed two early turnovers and seconds later Spencer Dinwiddie got the scoring going with a driving layup. After a JaVale McGee bucket, Dinwiddie caused another Paul turnover by stealing a pass and finishing a layup. The active hands put Dallas up double digits.

The Mavs had full control of the momentum with seven minutes left before halftime. Phoenix tried to cut their deficit, but Dallas kept answering to keep their lead. After a Finney-Smith three Dallas grew their lead to 14, 48-34. With under three minutes to play the Suns turned up their urgency and began to knock down open looks, their 10-3 run to close the second cut Dallas lead to seven, 51-44 at halftime.

Out of the break the Mavs executed their offense efficiently and grew their lead back to double digits. After a Mikal Bridges jumper, Dallas moved the ball to tally assists on their three next baskets. The Suns had no response after the quick eight points and at the nine minute mark the lead had reached 16 points.

The stingy defense of the Mavs kept the Suns from getting their offense going. Dallas held the Suns to 8-of-18 shooting in the third and forced six more turnovers in the period. On the other end, Brunson continued to be aggressive and attacked the basket. He added another 10 points and had the Mavericks staked to a 15-point edge entering the final frame.

With victory within reach the Mavs continued to apply pressure on both ends of the floor. However, when Doncic picked up his fifth foul with still eight minutes remaining in the game, forcing Kidd to remove him from the game, things got interesting.

Dallas left the door slightly ajar and the Suns saw an opening and went for it. They quickly went on a 11-5 run to pull within 11, but couldn’t get much closer thanks to the solid play on both ends from Bullock. First he swung a pass to Brunson for a quick two. But Phoenix answered with a quick five points to close the gap to eight. With momentum swinging in the balance, Doncic, back in the game despite foul trouble, gathered a loose ball and located a wide open Bullock in the corner. His third three-pointer of the quarter gave him 15 points in total and was the dagger the Mavs needed to seal the 103-94 the victory.

Coach Kidd was proud of the way Dallas responded with composure in the face of adversity. Their active hands on the defensive end forced 17 turnovers, including seven from future Hall-of-Famer Chris Paul. Bullock and Finney-Smith each had three steals to go along with four three-pointers.

Along with his timely and efficient shooting, Bullock took on the task of guarding Phoenix’s best and after the game got some plaudits from Coach Kidd as he discussed Bullock’s impact and how his effort on the defensive end was critical in their victory.

“Reggie’s done this for us all season,” Coach Kidd said. “He’s always been asked to guard one of the two best players on the floor, he never complains. He gives everything, he is exhausted at the end of the night and then we asked him also to throw in some threes, so he’s played his role. He’s been in character in this series for us and again he was big for us with active hands.”

The win was Dallas’ first beyond the first round of the playoffs in 11 years, and snapped an 11-game losing streak to Phoenix, two things worth celebrating for the Mavericks. But with a quick turnaround on the agenda for Game 4 on Sunday, Coach Kidd is already ready to turn his attention forward and put the Game 3 win in the rear view mirror.

“I think we didn’t know we lost 11 straight, I think we’re more upset about the fine that we got from the league cheering,” Coach Kidd said. “When you look at what we did tonight it’s just one game. We played hard for 48 minutes and now we got to validate that on Sunday.”

The Mavericks hope to tie up the series on Sunday in Dallas for Game 4. Tip-off from American Airlines Center is set for 2:30 p.m. CT.