The Phoenix Suns’ fast start was too much for the Dallas Mavericks to overcome in the Suns’ 120-111 win. It was a game of extended runs; the Suns led by as many as 31, 61-30, but the Mavericks showed competitive fire and spirit and still made it a game in the fourth quarter. Dillon Brooks led the Suns in scoring with 23 points; he scored 15 in the first quarter. It was a night where everyone on the Suns impacted winning in different ways.
Seven different Suns players scored in double figures. Oso
Ighodaro continues to improve on a game-by-game basis and finished his night with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Jalen Green scored 12 points and pushed the Suns ahead early in the first quarter. Ryan Dunn had his best night in months; he scored 12 points and knocked in two of his three 3-point shots. Booker finished with 19 points, O’Neale finished with 12 points, and Williams finished with 13 points and eight rebounds.
It was a quiet 5-point night for Collin Gillespie; instead of scoring, he did everything else. He had nine rebounds, eight assists, and made crucial winning plays. He did all the little things the Suns needed at the end of the game when the Mavericks were making their run.
After a Brooks missed pull-up jumper with 3:50 to play and the Suns up nine points, it looked like the Mavericks would have the opportunity to continue their run. The ball bounced directly into a crowd of three Mavericks players, and Gillespie was the only Sun amongst the three. But Gillespie stripped the rebound away, and it bounced off a Dallas player’s leg, and the Suns retained possession. The Suns scored on the next play as Brooks kept his head down and drove to the rim to put the Suns up 11 and force a Mavericks timeout.
The other winning play from Gillespie occurred with under a minute, with the Suns up 120-111. Booker airballed a three-pointer, Williams saved it in, and Gillespie sprinted and dived for the loose ball. Jordan Ott immediately called a timeout, and the Suns sealed the game because of Gillespie’s hustle.
On a night when Dallas got to the free-throw line 44 times, and the Suns got there just nine times, the Suns made just enough threes and got just enough rebounds to overcome a historical free throw desparity and win.
For Dallas, Cooper Flagg scored 27, and Naji Marshall scored 31 on a ridiculous 12-of-17 night from the field in the losing effort.
Game Flow
First Half
The Suns jumped the Mavericks early with a quick 9-to-1 run. Mark Williams had an open dunk followed up by an early Devin Booker three. But the story of the first quarter was Dillon Brooks, who scored 15 points on 7-for-9 shooting from the field. When Brooks has it going like that, offense is pretty simple: get him the ball and get out of the way. He has been a midrange killer this season, and his intensity to start the game was too much for a Mavericks team that had lost seven straight games coming into Mortgage Matchup Center. Jalen Green also played well in the first quarter; he scored 9 points and had an assist, and it all was in the flow of the Suns’ offense. The Suns finished the quarter up 36-16 after a dominant first quarter.
The second quarter was more of the same for the Suns. The bench unit took complete control of the game for the first six minutes of the quarter with its effort and movement. The lead ballooned up to 31 at 61-30, led by Oso Ighodaro. Ighodaro has gone from a fringe rotation player coming into this season to one of the most important players on this roster. He continues to grow within Jordan Ott’s system every game. The Suns’ newcomer, Amir Coffey, got some run in the second quarter and contributed positively; he scored 5 points and had an assist. points, the Suns had the rare opportunity to take full control of the game to close the half, but the Mavericks duo of Naji Marshall and Cooper Flagg engineered an 18-3 run to get Dallas back to a 14-point deficit before a Royce O’Neale corner pocket 3-point shot gave the Suns a little momentum going into halftime ahead 65-48.
Second Half
The Suns kept the status quo in the third quarter as Booker got more involved, scoring 10 points. Williams made his presence felt by finishing off dump-off passes and post-ups. The Mavericks hung around with Flagg getting to the free throw line and Marshall attacking the basket. The Mavericks’ recent deadline acquisition, Khris Middleton, got in on the action as well, hitting multiple midrange pull-ups to round out the Mavericks scoring. It was a back and forth quarter that the Suns led 96-75 after three quarters of play.
Unlike the second quarter, the Suns’ bench struggled in the fourth quarter. The Mavericks got every whistle in the fourth quarter, and Flagg and Marshall continued to score. They were attacking the rim relentlessly, and even Mark Williams’ long arms could not stop the dynamic duo that Flagg and Marshall were this evening. The Suns also were slipping on their fundamentals as well, giving up multiple second-chance baskets to Marvin Bagley III, causing Ott to call multiple timeouts to stop the bleeding.
With a 115-109 lead, the Suns were in control, but it was uncomfortable watching another lead slip away. In this game, the Suns got the ball to their two best players, Booker and Brooks, and let them close it out. The Suns spread the floor and let Booker hunt for mismatches on back-to-back possessions. The first possession, a patented midrange pullup going to his right around the elbow, and on the next possession, he drew a foul on Middleton to get to the free-throw line. Refusing to let Booker beat them again, Dallas threw traps at Booker, but he found the right outlets, and the ball swung to Brooks, who made the biggest shot of the night to give the Suns a commanding 120-111 lead.
Up Next
Quick turnaround for the Phoenix Suns, who welcome the Shai Gilgeous-Alexander-less Oklahoma City Thunder into the Mortgage Matchup Center Wednesday at 7 pm Arizona time, the last game before the All-Star break.
