The Phoenix Suns were shocked, stunned, and silenced in their 123-90 Game 7 loss to the Dallas Mavericks. And yet somehow, the final deficit of 33 points is misleading in illustrating how far apart these two teams were.
A Game 7 loss at home is brutal and heartbreaking, but not nearly as rare as you would think. In the 110 previous Games 7s before Sunday, the home team had lost 31 times (excluding the 2020 NBA Bubble Playoffs), giving the road team a not-too-shabby winning percentage of .282%.
But only twice before has a team lost by 30+ points: the 1970 Phoenix Suns who lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Division semifinals, 129-97; and the St.