The Phoenix Suns came out on top in another close contest with a 114-113 victory over the Dallas Mavericks.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!This victory moved Phoenix’s win streak to seven games, and the Suns are now 8-1 on the season, while Dallas fell to 5-4. Phoenix is also now 2-0 against the Mavericks on the year.
Here are some initial takeaways from the victory:
– Jusuf Nurkić (15 points, 10 rebounds) won the game for Phoenix with two offensive rebounds in the final 35 seconds of the game. His first one led to an easy dunk with 31 seconds left to Phoenix ahead 113-111, and after a dunk by Gafford on the other end to tie the game, Royce O’Neale missed a runner and Nurkić snagged the rebound and was fouled going back up with 0.8 seconds. He missed the first free throw and made the second. Luka Doncic then missed a heave from the logo to give Phoenix the win.
– Phoenix moved to 7-0 in clutch games (game within five points in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter and overtime). No matter what the situation is, Phoenix somehow has won every single close game this season, which has been all but two games.
– The Suns were coasting in the first half and led 63-50 at halftime, but a 15-2 run by Dallas to start third quarter quickly tied the game. Phoenix then looked to gain some momentum going into the fourth, but a 10-2 run to open the fourth quarter squarely put the Mavericks in it the rest of the game.
– Tyus Jones had his best game of the year so far, finishing with a season-high 17 points to go along with five assists. His aggressiveness early in the game opened up a lot of opportunities for the Suns the rest of the night.
– Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving kept the Mavericks in the game throughout, but Doncic played so many minutes in the second half, he looked to be really tired by the time crunch time rolled around. Doncic had only four of his game-high 30 points (11-for-25 shooting) in the fourth quarter, also recording seven assists and seven rebounds. Irving finished with 29 points on 10-of-17 shooting, seven rebounds and six assists.
– Without Ryan Dunn due to injury and Grayson Allen going 0-for-4, Royce O’Neale was arguably the MVP for Phoenix tonight with 18 points on 7-of-8 shooting (4-for-4 from 3), five rebounds and was a team-high plus-14 in 29 minutes off the bench.
– Devin Booker, who was questionable going into the game with an illness, had only two points in the second half, but had his first double-double of the year with 13 points and 12 assists.
– Kevin Durant remained in his MVP form with a team-high 26 points on 8-of-14 shooting, five rebounds and four assists. Seventeen of Durant’s points came in the second half.
– The Suns protected the ball really well all night with a season-low nine turnovers after 16 last game.
How Suns continue to dominate Mavericks, extend winning streak to 7 straight games?
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Brendan Mau is a senior writer covering the Phoenix Suns and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @Brendan_Mau
