nine losses in a row. That is the “curse” that the Mavericks of Luka Doncic with the phoenix suns, a heavy slab that those from Dallas, despite arriving this time launched, could not lift this Thursday when they fell once again against the team Devin Booker and Chris Paul. Since November 29, 2019, the Mavericks don’t know what it’s like to beat the Suns. This Thursday they were close to changing their luck as they controlled the scoreboard for most of the game, but a devastating 19-35 run in the last quarter (6-22 in the last seven minutes) sank them again against their “black beast “.
Luka Doncic had 28 points (9 of 23 shooting, 2 of 9 triples), 8 rebounds and 8 assists, but lost 8 balls and also played the last set with neck pain. Kristaps Porzingis (18 points and 11 rebounds) and Jalen Brunson (19 points and 5 rebounds) also stood out in a Mavericks (26-20) who saw their streak of four straight wins interrupted (8-2 in their last ten games).
For the Suns, who are leaders in the West with the best record in the league (32-9) and who have won their last five games, Devin Booker (28 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists) and Chris Paul (20 points, 5 rebounds and 11 assists without a turnover) led the comeback. In a duel of reduced success from the triple (29.7% for the Mavericks and 22.2% for the Suns), the Dallas team bled to death with 19 turnovers (7 of the Phoenix team).
alternative times
The Mavericks entered the game with their sights off (1 of 6 in triples for Maxi Kleber) but Kristaps Porzingis was in charge of adjusting it soon with 6 points (13-11 with 6.14 left). Devin Booker came from endorsing 48 points to the San Antonio Spurs and it didn’t take him long to show that he is in a state of grace. The guard had 12 points in the first quarter and gave the feeling that everything exciting that happened in the Suns passed through his hands. More balanced on both sides of the court, the Mavericks benefited from a Luka Doncic who soon began to get his famous smile and who with 11 points put his team ahead (26-22). Neither team had shone from the outside (3 of 11 on 3-pointers for the Mavericks and 1 of 11 for the Suns).
In that moment of general error, Chris Paul, always the smartest in the class, took the match home without batting an eyelid (28-32 with 8.28 for the break after a 2-10 start). The Dallas team needed more spice on offense and Porzingis came with a great ‘alley-oop’ and a triple to return the partial on the fast track (36-32 with 6.53 to go). The game was going through times of alternatives for both sides and at that moment it was the turn of the Suns with Devin Booker as captain and Cameron Payne as an ally (42-40 with 3.08 to play). But Doncic got fed up with so much back and forth. The Slovenian exploited his physical superiority over Cameron Johnson in the zone for an easy layup with 2.6 seconds remaining and, right after, stole the ball on the Suns’ snap to cap off a fantastic sequence with a 3-pointer at the buzzer (53-45). Doncic arrived with 19 points at the break and Booker with 16, but the big difference in the first half was the accuracy from the triples with an improvable 7 of 20 for the Mavericks and a measly 2 of 19 for the Suns.
final sentence
The Mavericks came back from the locker room with a clear idea: balls to Doncic at the post for him to distribute or score on his own. The gamble paid off against a Suns defense with too many holes in the paint, but two 3-pointers by Jae Crowder revived the Phoenix attack. Without losing their nerve and as if they were waiting for the ideal moment to take the bite, the Suns stole two balls in a row from Doncic, allowed themselves to be guided by Paul’s mastery, and with Booker and Crowder as executors they modeled a 2-12 run that restarted the game (68-69 with 4.53 to play). The visiting defense had managed to cloud a Doncic who was piling up turnovers, but the Mavericks found in the offensive rebound and the claw of Dwight Powell the route to reach the last quarter with a considerable advantage (82-74).
Jalen Brunson took center stage during the minutes on the bench for Doncic, who had neck pain and did not seem one hundred percent when he later returned to the court. However, the Suns were not going to make concessions and narrowed the score to the maximum with Paul, Crowder and Payne harassing the Mavericks (95-94 with 5:10 to go). The eyes were on Doncic and Booker, but it was Bismack Biyombo who surprisingly broke the door with 6 points in two minutes (99-104 with 1.49 left). With 48 seconds remaining, an impressive block from Booker on Dorian Finney-Smith and a lethal three-pointer from Paul doomed the Mavericks who only scored 6 points in the last seven minutes of the game.