The Dallas Mavericks ended their five-game home stretch against the red-hot 7-1 Phoenix Suns. Against Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal, who left two key defensemen behind, the Mavericks had a tough test ahead of them.
With PJ Washington out for the second straight game, the Mavs started Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson, Naji Marshall and Daniel Gafford. Phoenix started Tyus Jones, Booker, Beal, Durant and Jusuf Nurkic.
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Daniel Gafford started the scoring with a post hook before Jusuf Nurkic responded with two threes in the first three minutes. In the first six minutes of this match there were three draws and five lead changes, with many shots being made.
After Phoenix went up by 4, Dallas responded with a made corner three from Spencer Dinwiddie and Klay Thompson’s first made basket to take a one-point lead. After a few more traded buckets, an 8-0 run capped by a Royce O’Neale three gave the Suns a nine-point lead with just over a minute and a half left in the quarter. The run wouldn’t stop there after a Dallas timeout, as the Suns would push the lead to 11 on their next possession, and it would be a 36-26 lead for Phoenix heading into the second quarter.
Josh Okogie opened the second quarter with a thunderous slam for Phoenix, another easy bucket at the rim, as the Mavs missed Dereck Lively II for the third straight game. That opened the lead to 14 for the Suns. Daniel Gafford quickly scored five points to push the lead to single digits, but Phoenix quickly pushed the lead back to twelve.
The Suns would have a 10 to 12 point lead the rest of the half, even after Doncic checked back in. It was a bad mix of not being able to make enough stops and playing poorly on offense. Tyus Jones had a big impact as a scorer and passer, drawing extra attention to him and opening things up for everyone else. Phoenix was able to take a 63-50 lead at halftime thanks to his and Royce O’Neale’s strong production up to that point.
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Dallas started the second half on a 10-2 run to cut the lead to five after a three that bounced in through Luka Doncic for his fourth, who made it three of the game. Some free throws from Dwight Powell cut the lead to three, then Doncic hit a three to tie the score at 65, making it a 15-2 run from the half for the Mavs.
Kevin Durant ended the run with an easy pull-up, and then the game was back to business as usual. Dallas would eventually take a 73-71 lead after a mid-range step back from Doncic, their first lead since the first quarter.
Phoenix responded with an 8-0 run on two made threes to lead by six. The lead would remain between four and six for the remainder of the quarter as they would take an 87-83 lead into the fourth.
Gafford started the fourth quarter by cleaning up a Doncic miss to make it a two-point game, but he picked up his fifth foul trying to block Mason Plumlee’s shot, setting up more Dwight Powell minutes with Washington and Lively out. Doncic connected on a shot to tie the score at 87, then Quentin Grimes’ shot was scored on the next possession to take the lead.
A bit of magic from Kyrie Irving extended Dallas’ lead to four after a ridiculous pass through traffic to Powell in transition. That lead would be extended to six after a wild scramble for the ball ended up in the hands of Naji Marshall, and he put his head down to get to the basket, forcing a Suns timeout.
Phoenix came out of the timeout with a three from Bradley Beal; then a Tyus Jones floater cut the lead to one. Beal then beat Gafford off the dribble and took the lead. Klay Thompson responded to that 7-0 run with his first made three of the night, putting Dallas ahead again.
Kyrie Irving had three straight baskets, capped off with a three in transition, to extend the lead to four, but his former teammate Kevin Durant responded with a transition three of his own to cut the lead to one. The back and forth between Irving and Durant had been fun to watch all game, but in the final five minutes of the game it was on another level.
With three minutes left, Gafford hit two free throws to give Dallas a three-point lead, but Royce O’Neale tied the game with an open three after an offensive rebound. The traded baskets between the teams tied it again with 58 seconds left.
The Suns had gone 6-0 this season and this was another opportunity for them. Kyrie Irving turned it around with about 45 seconds left when Klay Thompson fouled Devin Booker after throwing a fouled pass with 36 seconds left. Jusuf Nurkic cleaned up an offensive rebound and knocked it in, giving the Suns the lead with 31.4 seconds left.
Luka Doncic fed Daniel Gafford a lob that he knocked home to tie the game with 23.5 seconds left, and the Suns would go to Kevin Durant, who dished it to Royce O’Neale on the double team. He set up a floater that went off the rim, and a scramble for the loose ball ended up in the hands of Jusuf Nurkic, who was fouled as Gafford attempted a shot with 0.8 seconds left.
Jusuf Nurkic was awarded free throws on this latest Suns-Mavs play.
Phoenix survives and improves to 8-1 pic.twitter.com/Nwp4qcKwje
— ESPN (@espn) November 9, 2024
Nurkic missed the first and then made the second, giving the Suns a 114-113 lead.
With 0.8 seconds left, Jason Kidd made a play for a Luka Doncic prayer at the buzzer, but it fell short. Suns would win 114-113 and the Mavs fall to 5-4.
Offensive rebounds in big moments killed the Mavs again in this game, as the Suns pulled down 11 offensive boards. The absence of Dereck Lively or PJ Washington were big losses for the team.
Luka Doncic led the Mavs with 30 points, seven assists and seven rebounds, and Kyrie Irving stepped up with 29 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Naji Marshall made a solid contribution with 18 points and five rebounds, Klay Thompson had 12 points and Daniel Gafford had 15 points, but his six fouls limited his playing time to 23 minutes in a game where they really needed him to play well.
Phoenix was led by Kevin Durant’s 26 points, but it was a good performance for their main cast: Royce O’Neale had 18 points, Tyus Jones had 17, Bradley Beal had 15, Jusuf Nurkic had 15 points and 10 rebounds. and Devin Booker had 13 points and 12 assists.
Dallas heads on the road to play the Denver Nuggets on Sunday night.
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