Mavs Continue to Stay Hot, Outduel the Suns
In the first night of NBA action post-All-Star break, the Dallas Mavericks hosted the Phoenix Suns on national television and came out victorious with a ten-point lead to extend their league-leading win streak to seven games. The game was a seesaw for most of the first half, as the Suns went into halftime with a three-point lead. The Mavs guard tandem of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving played up to their billing as a duo in this one, combining for 70 points, 14 assists, and 14 rebounds. They each had moments of taking over in the second half to help the Mavs take the lead and then proceed to extend it in the fourth quarter.
The Suns were without starting guard Bradley Beal due to a hamstring injury, but Devin Booker picked up where he left off before the break and led the team with 35 points on an efficient 13/21 from the floor. Kevin Durant finished with a mere 23 points on 22 shot attempts and was consistently frustrated by the constant swarms of Mavs defenders on him. For the Mavs, trade-deadline additions P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford continue to make their impact known on both ends of the floor. Washington has provided another scoring threat and versatile defender, while Gafford has provided them with shot-blocking and a boost in offensive rebounding.
The Mavs improve to 33-23 and move up to sixth place in the Western Conference standings. They now hold the tiebreaker in winning the season series over the Suns, who are also now 33-23 but dropped down to the seventh seed for the time being. Luka and the gang will have a few additional days of rest incoming, as they don’t play again until Sunday in Indiana against Tyrese Haliburton and the Pacers. The Suns are en route to Houston to play the Rockets tomorrow night on a back-to-back; it’ll be interesting to see if Durant suits up after playing 40 minutes in tonight’s game.
