Mavs-Suns Rivalry Reaches New Heights: 'Bad Blood Still There'

As tensions rose on Sunday, Luka Doncic and the Mavericks failed to assert their hold over Devin Booker and the Suns as having the upper hand in the NBA's best rivalry.

There's nothing the NBA, their tv partners, and their fans love more than a new, brewing rivalry in the league. The league seems to surely have that in the Dallas Mavericks and the Phoenix Suns. 

Following Sunday's playoff-like atmosphere in the Suns' 130-126 victory over the Mavs, tempers flared in the final seconds as Luka Doncic and Devin Booker came nose-to-nose before being separated. 

Now, could they have been talking trash? Absolutely. But, could they also have been sharing their favorite Brussels sprout recipes? It's plausible, right? Doncic and Booker were close enough to smell each other's breath in order to get a good idea of what those recipes have in them if that was the case.

Luka Doncic and Devin Booker going at it 👀pic.twitter.com/v0UKUZSHwg

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) March 5, 2023

In all seriousness, though, add on last season's matchup in the Western Conference Semifinals, as well as the addition of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving to the mix, and you have yourself arguably the best rivalry in the NBA today. 

"I love it and I love being a part of it. There’s bad blood still there," Tim Hardaway Jr. said of the rivalry. "Everyone saw that the last couple seconds of the game. I hope they’re ready for many more to come."

New to this particular rivalry and being in past rivalries of his own, Irving knows that 'emotions rise' when two hated teams step on the floor together.

"You see it from afar. It’s definitely different obviously being out here," Irving said of the rivalry. "The level of play rises. Emotions rise. I think we see everyone display that on their facial expressions or communicating with the refs, going back-and-forth." 

Added Doncic: "I love it. It’s competitive. I think today was a great game to watch and they have an amazing team."

For Doncic and Booker, they played off their scuffle as just two competitors wanting to win, but that's never the full story, and you can never expect the two of them to spill the details on that, or as Booker said, "I'm not here to tattletale."

But at the end of the day, the Mavs came up short on Sunday, and at least for Irving, he knows all the antics and trash talk mean nothing if you lose the game.

"At the end of the day, no one is really going to fight out there. I think everyone wants to prove how tough they are on the court. As soon as they step off, everyone is all huggy and brotherhood," Irving said. "It’s a great rivalry to be a part of, but the big picture is to win the game and we failed at that today. We got to get back to the drawing board."

The Mavericks hope to get back to the drawing board with a win on Tuesday against the Utah Jazz, which will conclude their six-game homestand.

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