Controversial Call Costs Mavericks Against Suns, Dallas Falls 114-113

The Mavs fell just short at home to the Phoenix Suns

Nov 8, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (77) reacts in front of Dallas Mavericks center Daniel Gafford (21) during the first quarter against the Phoenix Suns at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images / Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

The Dallas Mavericks ended their five-game home stand against the red-hot 7-1 Phoenix Suns. Going against Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal down two key defenders, the Mavericks had a tough test ahead of them.

With PJ Washington out for the second game in a row, 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 made threes in the first three minutes. The first six minutes of this game saw three ties and five lead changes, with shot-making abound.

After Phoenix went up by 4, Dallas responded with a made corner three by Spencer Dinwiddie and Klay Thompson's first made basket to take a one-point lead. After some more traded buckets, an 8-0 run capped off by a Royce O'Neale three gave the Suns a nine-point lead with just over a minute and a half remaining in the quarter. The run wouldn't stop there after a timeout by Dallas, as the Suns would push the lead to 11 on their next possession, and it would be a 36-26 Phoenix lead heading into the second quarter.

Josh Okogie opened the second quarter with a thunderous slam for Phoenix, yet another easy bucket at the rim, as the Mavs were missing Dereck Lively II for the third straight game. That opened the lead up to 14 for the Suns. Daniel Gafford scored a quick five points to get the lead to single-digits, but Phoenix quickly pushed it back up to 12.

The rest of the half would bounce between a 10 and 12-point lead for the Suns, even after Doncic checked back in. It was a bad mix of not being able to get enough stops and playing poorly on the offensive end. Tyus Jones had a big impact as a scorer and passer, forcing extra attention towards him and that opened things up for everyone else. Phoenix was able to take a 63-50 halftime lead because of his and Royce O'Neale's strong production to that point.

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Dallas started the second half with a 10-2 run to get the lead back down to five following a three that bounced up and in by Luka Doncic for his fourth made three of the game. Some Dwight Powell free throws to cut the lead to three, then Doncic hit a three to tie it at 65, making it a 15-2 run out of the half for the Mavs.

Kevin Durant ended the run with an easy pull-up, and the game was back to trading buckets after that. Dallas would eventually take a 73-71 lead following a Doncic step-back mid-range shot, their first lead since the first quarter.

Phoenix responded to that with an 8-0 run on two made threes to lead by six. The lead would stay between four and six for the Suns the rest of the quarter, as they'd take an 87-83 lead into the fourth.

Gafford started the fourth quarter cleaning up a miss from Doncic to make it a two-point game, but he picked up his fifth foul trying to block Mason Plumlee's shot, which forced more Dwight Powell minutes with Washington and Lively out. Doncic made a shot through contact to tie it at 87, then Quentin Grimes' shot was goaltended on the next possession to take the lead.

Some magic by Kyrie Irving extended Dallas' lead up to four following a ridiculous pass through traffic to Powell in transition. That lead would be extended to six after a wild fight for the ball ended up in Naji Marshall's hands, and he put his head down to get to the basket, forcing a timeout by the Suns.

Phoenix came out of the timeout with a made three by Bradley Beal; then a Tyus Jones floater cut the lead back down to one. Beal then beat Gafford off the dribble to take the lead. Klay Thompson responded to that 7-0 run with his first made three of the night to give Dallas the lead again.

Kyrie Irving had three straight baskets, capped off by 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 back down to one. The back-and-forth shot-making between Irving and Durant had been fun to watch all game, but it was in another level in the final five minutes of the game.

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 off an offensive rebound. Traded baskets between the teams again tied it with 58 seconds remaining.

The Suns had been 6-0 in the clutch this season, and this was another opportunity for them. Kyrie Irving turned it over with about 45 seconds left when Klay Thompson fouled Devin Booker on a pass with a foul to give and 36 seconds remaining. Jusuf Nurkic cleaned up an offensive rebound and slammed it home to give the Suns a lead with 31.4 seconds to go.

Luka Doncic gave Daniel Gafford a lob that he slammed home to tie the game with 23.5 seconds to go, and the Suns would go to Kevin Durant, who dished it to Royce O'Neale on the double team. He put up a floater that careened off the rim, and a fight for the loose ball ended up in the hands of Jusuf Nurkic, who was fouled by Gafford trying to put up a shot with 0.8 seconds remaining.

Jusuf Nurkic was awarded free throws on this final play of Suns-Mavs.

Phoenix survives and improves to 8-1 🔥 pic.twitter.com/Nwp4qcKwje

— ESPN (@espn) November 9, 2024

Nurkic missed the first, then made the second to give the Suns a 114-113 lead.

With 0.8 seconds to go, Jason Kidd drew up a play for a Luka Doncic prayer at the buzzer, which fell short. Suns would win 114-113 and the Mavs fall to 5-4.

Offensive rebounds in big moments killed the Mavs once again in this game, as the Suns brought down 11 offensive boards. Not having 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 was stride-for-stride with 29 points, seven rebounds, and six assists. Naji Marshall was a solid contributor 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 they really needed him to play well.

Phoenix was led by Kevin Durant's 26 points, but it was an all-around 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 will go on the road to play the Denver Nuggets on Sunday night.

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