Mavericks 98-89 Suns (December 27, 2024) Game Recap

PHOENIX — — Kyrie Irving scored 20 points, Daniel Gafford added 16 and the Dallas Mavericks won their first game since star Luka Doncic was injured, beating the Phoenix Suns 98-89 on Friday night.

Kevin Durant scored 35 points for the Suns, who have lost four of their last five games.

Doncic is expected to miss about a month with a calf injury suffered in the team’s Christmas Day loss to Minnesota. The Mavs were left further short-handed Friday in the third quarter after forwards Naji Marshall and PJ Washington — along with Phoenix’s Jusuf Nurkic — was thrown out after a short fight.

The Mavs still held on thanks to a balanced effort on both ends of the floor. Dallas never trailed and led by as many as 18. Spencer Dinwiddie and Maxi Kleber each scored 15 points and Klay Thompson added 11.

Dallas led 55-39 at halftime, led by Irving’s 15 points. The Suns shot just 33.3% over the first two quarters.

Takeaways

Mavericks: It was a rough win for the Mavs, who controlled the game from the start despite playing without Doncic. Irving made just 6 of 21 shots overall, but 5 of 10 from behind.

Suns: Two days after a galvanizing Christmas Day win over the Nuggets, the Suns went right back to mediocrity. Part of the problem is the absence of injured All-Star Devin Booker, but as the Mavericks showed Friday, teams can still have some level of success without one of their stars.

Key moment

The Suns briefly cut the Mavs’ advantage to 81-75 midway through the fourth, but Dallas’ Quentin Grimes answered with a tough 3-pointer to push the lead back to nine.

Key state

The Suns have a 7-14 record since starting the season 8-1.

Next

Mavericks at Trail Blazers on Saturday; Suns at Warriors Saturday.

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AP NBA: