Game 7: Mavericks appeared to be on ‘vengeance tour’

More than two hours before Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals, injured Dallas Mavericks winger DeMarcus Cousins announced his retirement.

On the court, Tim Hardaway Jr. detected some dampness. He took a break from his rehabilitation activities to fetch a towel and wipe it up.

This isn’t just any towel. ‘The Valley’ is emblazoned on one side of a white towel.

“This is the perfect towel for this,” Hardaway exclaimed as he wiped the place dry with his foot.

Hardaway didn’t play a minute on Sunday, but his positive demeanor was contagious among his healthy Dallas teammates as they swept the Phoenix Suns in a 123-90 victory at Footprint Center.

The Mavericks won the series after coming back from a 2-0 deficit. They will meet the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Finals.

The Suns are packing up their 64 victories, which is a franchise record.

The picture of an incredulous Devin Booker witnessing the Bucks’ celebration and just muttering, “Damn,” will be remembered from the Suns’ NBA Finals Game 6 loss to Milwaukee.

NBA is yelling “damn” with a different tone in response to the Suns’ performance in Game 7 versus Dallas.

Mavericks appeared to be on a “revenge tour” after their appearance in the NBA Finals.

They appeared like a team made up of close friends who just love to play ball, with every member of their bench standing and involved in supporting their five colleagues on the court throughout the series.

Mavericks leaned heavily on Luka Doncic throughout the series, and the fourth-year Slovenian sensation delivered every time.

Doncic scored 27 points in the first half, matching the Suns’ pathetic total. The Mavericks rained threes on the Suns in Games 1 through 6, many of them open opportunities.

In Game 7, Doncic and an incapacitated Spencer Dinwiddie combined to pour down a heavy downpour three points at a time.

Dallas hit 19 home runs in this series, the seventh time they’ve hit more than 15 in a game.

Their defense made the Suns appear as if they had never played together before.

In Game 7, the Mavericks saw blood in the water and laid out a strategy for executing the age-old sports cliché of “putting your foot on their throat and not letting up.”

Dallas started the fourth quarter by hitting 13 of their first 14 shots, putting the game out of reach.

Dallas’ end-of-the-bench reserves all got involved, hitting shot after shot.

It’s almost as though the Mavericks felt mistreated and wanted to punish those who were responsible for it.

Throughout the season, the Suns took pride in responding to perceived disrespect.

However, Booker’s Game 5 “Luka Special” comment, which went viral, was part of the gasoline that the Mavs utilized to completely humiliate the Suns in the series’ final two games.

Dallas did indeed outscore Phoenix by 60 points in those games. During that time, Doncic outscored Booker 68-30.

It’s never a smart idea to poke the bear. More than other teams, the Suns should be aware of this.

Then there’s the matter of Chris Paul. If there was a Playoff MVP award for the first eight games of the series, Paul would have been the winner.

He then unexpectedly transformed into a new player, prone to turnovers, afraid to shoot, and unable to reach his “happy place” at the right elbow.

Soon after the series ended, Andscape’s Marc J. Spears claimed that Paul limped out of the arena, complaining of a quad injury. That’s the closest thing to an explanation for his precipitous decline.

For months, Suns appeared to be on a “revenge tour” and that it was championship or bust.

If the team fails to make the conference finals, the season is a flop, but failing to show up for the final two games will be intriguing.

However, it’s possible that Sunday’s outcome hastened the inevitable. For a long time, the Suns haven’t looked like their dominant regular-season selves.