Suns Down Mavericks, 114-102, Despite Phoenix Back-to-Back

The Mavericks didn't lead after a single quarter of the loss on the road in Arizona.

Oct 26, 2024; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd with guard Luka Doncic (77) against the Phoenix Suns in the first half at Footprint Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Just two days removed from waxing the San Antonio Spurs in Dallas to open the season, the Mavericks fell on the road, 114-102, to a Phoenix Suns team that was playing its second game in as many days. Not only that, but the Suns were coming off of a loss against an LA Lakers team on Friday night in a game where they held an 18-point lead, yet could not hold on. Despite the emotional loss, they rallied pregame to come into the matchup and defeat the Mavericks on Saturday night in a game that was never really in question for the Suns.

Last season, Phoenix had the worst fourth-quarter point differential, posting an atrocious -198 in this category in 2023-24, something they aim to turn around this year. They got off to a good start doing so tonight – though Dallas made it somewhat interesting during stretches in the final period, it was not enough to overcome the 11-point lead that the Suns built over the first three quarters. Phoenix ended up winning the final quarter as well, outscoring the Mavs 23-22 to sweep all four periods.

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The energy and effort for Dallas wasn't quite there, as Phoenix out-rebounded them 46-45. Though it was a slim margin in Phoenix's favor, the paint seemed to be an area pregame where the Mavs had a distinct advantage with Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford, two strengths of the team inside. The performance felt more like Dallas was on their second night of a back-to-back as opposed to the opposite. They were sluggish on the offensive end, shooting below 40% from the field on the night and hitting just 31.7% of their three-point attempts.

These misses weren't all for a lack of good looks, either – the Mavericks ran plenty of good sets, but they simply could not convert on their attempts. They connected on just 13 of 41 shots from beyond the arc, as compared to Phoenix, who hit a more respectable 35.9%. It just wasn't Dallas' night in multiple facets of the game, as they came out low energy. They were also not sharp on the defensive end, sending the Suns to the line 37 times on the night compared to their 18 attempts from the stripe.

The foul disparity can be chalked up to a lack of aggressive offense in regards to driving the ball for Dallas, as well as less enthusiastic defense where players were forced to foul due to being out of position. This doesn't work against teams like the Suns and star Kevin Durant, who will pick apart lackluster defenses as he did tonight.

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While the team didn't have a great outing in the double-digit loss, star guard Luka Doncic did perform well, scoring 40 points and recording 10 rebounds on 12-of-25 from the field. He also added four assists. Kyrie Irving had an inefficient 22 points on 22 shots, struggling to convert in the second half especially, though he did add three steals to his total stat line, which is an encouraging sign. Klay Thompson had 19 points on 5-of-12 from three.

For the Suns, the aforementioned Kevin Durant scored 31 points on 10-for-21 and snagged nine boards. He also eclipsed 29,000 career points, yet another milestone in a career full of milestones for the former University of Texas star. The surprise performer of the night for Phoenix, however, was center Jusuf Nurkic, who scored 18 points on an efficient 7-for-12 on field goals, and grabbed 14 rebounds.

While these kind of nights are going to happen in the NBA, it doesn't help that it was against a team that actually had an excuse to be lower-intensity like the Suns did after losing the previous night. Dallas should have come out more motivated, which is something that will surely be drilled in before the Mavericks' next game, against the Jazz on Monday, October 28.

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