NBA Playoffs: Phoenix Suns and Miami Heat secure 2-0 lead

Phoenix Suns and Miami Heat are up 2-0 in their best-of-seven playoff series after victory over the Dallas Mavericks and Philadelphia 76ers, respectively.

Suns defeated the Mavericks 129-109 in the Western Conference, with Chris Paul scoring 28 points.

“We simply carried out our duties. At home, we won two games,” Paul stated.

In the Eastern Conference, Heat took advantage of being at home by defeating the 76ers 119-103.

Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler each scored 22 points for the hosts, while Tyrese Maxey led Philadelphia with 34 points.

76ers are hoping Joel Embiid will return for the first of their two home games on Friday, but coach Doc Rivers admitted: “He has a lot of stages to complete. He hasn’t cleared any of them yet, I believe. So we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.”

Mavericks outscored the Suns 32-26 in the second quarter to grab a 60-58 lead, with Luka Doncic leading the way with 35 points. The Mavericks will host the next two games in the series.

Paul, on the other hand, scored 14 of his points in the fourth quarter as his team triumphed 40-26.

“All we had to do was be a little more forceful,” Paul explained.

“We started turning it over in the second quarter. They got it up and running. We just wanted to stay the course while the shooters made their shots.”