'Just Not Enough': Luka-Less Mavs Fall Short in 105-98 Loss to Suns

It's the start of an odd "double-header'' of sorts, the Mavs loss in Phoenix without the MVP candidate Doncic.

Mercifully, the Dallas Mavericks' Wednesday night visit to the Valley of the Sun finally ended, despite a valiant effort on the road that not many people saw coming.

That's the relatively good news from the Phoenix Suns' 105-98 victory over Luka Doncic-less Dallas.

The inarguably bad news: After a really tough loss, the Mavs have to do it all over again on Friday... against these same Suns.

Another game at Phoenix in this odd "double-header'' of sorts. And perhaps another game without Doncic, the MVP candidate who in Wednesday's win over Denver sustained a sprained knee and ankle.

He will heal. But the Mavericks' now-institutionalized inability to beat the Suns isn't going anywhere. This is Consecutive Loss No. 7 for Dallas vs. Phoenix, a collection of struggles that - despite generally close games - figures to be haunting going forward for a Mavs team that fancies itself a contender ...

Which the Suns, lest we forget, actually are, having lost the NBA Finals last year to the Bucks. Here, with all Phoenix starters scoring in double-digits except for Chris Paul, surprisingly enough. And in the end, the Suns won their league-leading 10th in a row.

And Dallas, which came in having won five of six? There was certainly hope that ...

1) A surging Kristaps Porzingis could become the "Batman.''

And ...

2) Jalen Brunson could become the "Robin.''

KP and Brunson played well overall, as well as Tim Hardaway Jr. for that matter. But during Dallas' six-game jump in improvement, Doncic was averaging 26 points, nine rebounds and 8.8 assists, with Porzingis (his back no longer sore scoring 20 or more points in four of Dallas' last five contests) Brunson (for the most part a revelation as he's fit well into new coach Jason Kidd's system) as helpers.

Porzingis contributed 21 points, eight rebounds and a surprising seven assists. Not good enough, he said in self evaluation.

As well as the undermanned Mavs played, they sorely missed their ultimate closer in Doncic down the stretch. Hardaway Jr. led Dallas with 22 points, and helped the Mavs seesaw back-and-forth with the Suns in the fourth quarter. The Mavs actually held a 94-93 lead with 3:27 to go, but some bad turnovers and untimely missed layups (and lets be honest here, the Suns actually having their closers in Devin Booker and Paul) saw Phoenix go on a 12-4 run to end the game.

Said Kidd:“If Luka was in, we don’t know what position we would have been in. But the guys who played, they played their heart out. And we just came up short.”

They'll all be back at it on Friday, the same two casts of characters, with Luka (who is at least on the road trip) in street clothes. Fortunately, the Mavs don't have to plow through this gauntlet again until ...

Oh, wait. They have to do it again once this double-header is done. The Mavericks, who cannot yet plan on Luka being back, have another such test on Sunday and Tuesday in Los Angeles against the Clippers.

Dallas has now shown that it can put up a fight without Doncic. But until the Mavs' MVP candidate returns, moral victories might be the only victories this team will see for the time being.