Mavericks vs Suns Final Score: Dallas stuns Phoenix, 98-89

The Dallas Mavericks maintained their stranglehold on the fourth seed in the Western Conference by defeating Phoenix Suns on the road Friday night, 98-89. Kyrie Irving led a balanced scoring effort for Dallas, scoring 20. Kevin Durant had 35 in the loss to the Suns.

With Dallas missing not only Luka Doncic, but Dereck Lively, one might have expected a weak start from the Mavericks. Instead, threes ruled early, led by three straight from Kyrie Irving, to give Dallas an early 14-4 advantage. After a Suns timeout, the Mavericks lost focus and allowed Phoenix to get back into the game. It remained a back-and-forth affair the rest of the quarter, with Kevin Durant sinking tough shots and Dallas finding ways to score. After one quarter, Dallas led 28-25.

The bench unit from Dallas managed to defend well and hit shots in the second quarter and slowly grew the lead back to double digits. Elite role player production from Maxi Kleber (who dunked!), Naji Marshall and even some work from Dwight Powell kept the pressure on Phoenix. Irving picked up his third foul on a kickoff, but head coach Jason Kidd elected to keep him in the contest. Dallas played lockdown defense in the frame and went into halftime with a 55-39 lead.

Dallas kept the pressure on in the third and held the lead by double digits. The intense defense got under the skin of Jusif Nurkic, who committed an offensive foul that angered Naji Marshall. The ensuing kerfuffle escalated to the point where Nurkic, Marshall and PJ Washington were ejected. The Mavericks struggled offensively in the quarter, making just four field goals. The Suns weren’t much better, and Dallas held onto the big lead until the final minutes, when Durant free throws brought the lead back to single digits. Dallas took a 72-64 lead into the final frame.

Klay Thompson got the party started for Dallas in the fourth when he hit a pair of long shots (one was later ruled a two-pointer) that pulled momentum back for the Mavericks. The teams traded baskets only for the Mavericks to hit more threes than twos and inch back to a 15-point lead. The Suns weren’t going to go quietly, cutting the lead back to eight only for a Daniel Gafford dunk via Maxi Kleber to give Dallas enough of a cushion to ride out the game. Dallas took one in Phoenix, 98-89.

Now some thoughts.

Welcome back, Maxi Kleber

Look guys, Maxi scored 33 points this season prior to his 15 point outburst against the Suns. And with Luka and Lively out and Marshall and Washington ejected, Kleber remembered that he is, in fact, a professional basketball player capable of doing more than any help defense, and that really helped the Mavericks in this game.

Do we expect this kind of play out of Maxi again? He had five double-digit scoring last season in 43 games, and this was his first since May, so I think it’s possible he’ll help out more down the stretch for the Mavericks. What we should really hope for is that Kleber looks confident and plays like it. He has been bald at times for the past two years and his body has some strange injuries. But he’s still a useful player! Here’s hoping it continues.

Find a way to get Kyrie a little more rest, please

Kyrie started an incredible 4-of-4 from three. He went on to shoot 2 for his next 17, including a ridiculous 1-of-11 from two-point range. The man just couldn’t buy a basket. Of course, it’s fair to believe that Irving was tired. He logged 37 minutes against the Wolves in a loss just two days ago, then Kidd played him for most of the second half (Irving finished with 40 minutes tonight) in large part because he didn’t have anyone left.

But if Dallas is to survive (and maybe thrive?) without Doncic for the next few games, however, it’s important that the other Dallas starter doesn’t burn out.

Thoughts of a fight

Just kidding, I’m not that stupid. Well, maybe I am. It was gratifying to see Marshall stick up for Gafford. Marshall beating Nurkic’s clown face was even more enjoyable. It was great that PJ Washington gave Nurk a shot that ended the game and could have saved us from actual shenanigans. Love watching players compete and that things can spill out sometimes.