Mavericks defeat Suns in Wild Defensive Contest, 98-89

The Dallas Mavericks played the first night of a road game against the Phoenix Suns on Friday evening, without Luka Doncic and Dereck Lively II. They were looking to bounce back from their loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Christmas Day, while the Suns won their Christmas game against the Denver Nuggets.

Without two starters, Dallas started Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson, PJ Washington, Naji Marshall and Daniel Gafford, while Phoenix started Tyus Jones, Bradley Beal, Ryan Dunn, Kevin Durant and Jusuf Nurkic. Devin Booker and Grayson Allen did not play for the Suns on Friday night.

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It was a hot start for the Mavericks as they held an 11-2 lead behind two three-pointers from Kyrie Irving, who has to carry the load offensively most nights. After a basket by Kevin Durant, Daniel Gafford grabbed an offensive rebound and fired it in the corner to Irving, who hit his third triple of the opening period to take a 14-4 lead just over three minutes into the game. That forced Mike Budenholzer to take a timeout.

Phoenix came out of that timeout on a quick 8-0 run, fueled by five points from Bradley Beal and killed by whoever but Kyrie Irving, who hit a contested three-pointer from the corner over Ryan Dunn. After trading a few baskets, the Mavericks again led by as many as eight with some help from Spencer Dinwiddie off the bench and took a 28-25 lead into the second quarter.

Dallas held the Suns scoreless in the opening minutes of the second quarter, allowing them an 11-point lead. After that, the Phoenix offense woke up, but they were able to cut the lead to seven before Dallas stretched it back to double digits, taking advantage of a technical free throw from Irving to cap it all off and then a three-pointer from Quentin Grimes in the Corner equalized 13.

Keeping Phoenix in the game was their ability to score second-chance points. They entered the game as one of the worst in the NBA at scoring second-chance points, but the Suns had 10 in the first half, nearly matching their season average for a game. That wouldn’t be enough overall, as the Mavericks still held a 55-39 lead at halftime, held the Suns to just 14 points in the second quarter and got some help from a Klay Thompson rebound that blasted Kevin Durant.

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It was an ugly start for Phoenix in the second half, including a trip by Kevin Durant to the free throw line where he went 0/2. That’s when things got hairy. Jusuf Nurkic picked up his second offensive foul of the half with a great hit on Daniel Gafford off the post. Naji Marshall took offense and confronted Nurkic with a jab to the chest. Nurkic responded by hitting Marshall in the face with his whole hand, and Marshall punched Nurkic and punched him. This led to the ejection of both players as well as PJ Washington, who knocked Nurkic over after the slap.

This strangely gave the Suns a bit of momentum as they cut their lead to ten midway through the quarter. The Mavs also had to do without two of their three best defenders in Kevin Durant. Dallas finally regained control when Irving broke a long scoring drought with a corner kick in the third period in transition, increasing the lead to 18. But Phoenix cut that in half over the next few minutes, cutting Dallas’ lead to 72-64 early in the fourth quarter.

Klay Thompson started the fourth quarter with two hard-hit shots, helping to extend the lead back to 11. But the Suns stayed within striking distance, even if it was difficult to get offense, especially in the zone. Royce O’Neale hit a three-pointer to cut the lead to six with about 6:30 left, and Quentin Grimes responded with a big three-pointer.

Then we got a few seconds of a masterful performance from Maxi Kleber in what was by far his best game of the season. He hit a runner as the shot clock expired and then jumped a passing lane to steal on the next possession, leading to two free throws for the German. That put Dallas up 15 points with about four minutes left. A minute later, the lead shrank to ten after a three-pointer from O’Neale.

Phoenix cut the lead to just eight in the final minutes, but the Mavericks won 98-89 and were 20-11 on the season.

Kyrie Irving started the game strong but finished with 20 points on 6/21. He also had five turnovers, which is very unlike him. Daniel Gafford was second on the Mavs with 16 points, followed by Spencer Dinwiddie (15), Maxi Kleber (13) and Klay Thompson (11).

Kevin Durant was the explosive force for the Suns, finishing the game with 35 points, he just didn’t get any help. Royce O’Neale was their second-leading scorer with 14 points, while Bradley Beal only had 11 points on 5/18 shooting.

Dallas’ defense was incredible in this game as they contained a Suns team that normally scores 113-89 points per game and shoots just 38.6% from the floor. Even without PJ Washington and Naji Marshall in the second half, they did a great job of shrinking the field and making things difficult inside.

The Mavericks play the Trail Blazers on Saturday night in Portland.

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