Mavs vs. Suns Preview: Can Doncic Avenge Dallas' Season-Opening Meltdown?
After falling into a brief funk, the Dallas Mavericks appear to have recaptured their mojo after a 121-100 win over Jalen Brunson's New York Knicks on Saturday afternoon. The Mavs were all smiles after a stellar performance on both ends of the court, and we'll see if those positive vibes can carry over into the Mavs' Monday night matchup with the Phoenix Suns at American Airlines Center.
Dallas appeared to be putting together a remake of its Game 7 annihilation of Phoenix in the season opener, as it built a lead as large as 22 points in the third quarter. However, the Suns made a big comeback by out-scoring the Mavs 62-43 in the second half. Phoenix ultimately won the game, 107-105, on a Damion Lee mid-range shot in the final seconds. Luka Doncic had a chance to win the game at the buzzer, but his 34-foot 3-point heave hit off the iron.
Since then, the Mavs have been inconsistent, as they're 11-11 with a handful of bad losses against undermanned teams. They currently sit in the 10th slot in the Western Conference standings despite having the fourth-best point differential in the West. Dallas is 9-3 at AAC, but its only 2-8 on the road after Saturday's win at Madison Square Garden.
The Suns, on the other hand, have been the most consistent team in the West since opening night. They're 15-7, which is good for the top spot in the conference, and star guard Devin Booker is having a career-best season with averages of 29.5 points, 5.2 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game while flirting with 50/40/90 shooting efficiency. In a win over the Chicago Bulls last week, Booker scored 51 points on 20-25 shooting through just three quarters.
Everyone knows what Luka Doncic is capable of doing against the Suns. He averaged 32.6 points, 9.9 rebounds, 7.0 assists and 2.1 steals while shooting 47.6 percent overall in the Dallas' seven-game series win over Phoenix in the second round of the playoffs last season. Doncic kept those big numbers up in the season-opening loss by putting up 35 points, nine rebounds and six assists.
The biggest question, though, is who will join the party and help Doncic out on Monday night? Christian Wood provided the biggest help for Doncic in that season opener, as he finished with 25 points off the bench in just 24 minutes of action. There was a lot of discussion over whether or not the Mavs would've held on to win that first game against Phoenix had coach Jason Kidd opted to leave Wood in the lineup down the stretch of the fourth quarter.
Wood is listed as questionable to play in Monday's game due to a non-COVID illness that kept him out of Saturday's game against the Knicks. The Mavs were able to ease by New York without Wood thanks to 24 makes from deep – the third-most in MSG history – but it's unrealistic to expect Dallas to repeat that kind of success on 3s two games in a row. We'll see if Wood is able to shake it off.
Here's everything else you need to know about tonight's game:
FUN FACT: Although most of the attention will be on the basketball action being played at AAC on Monday, the Dallas Cowboys will get some attention as well, as they're meeting with free-agent wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. before he makes his signing decision.
Part of the Cowboys pitch? A date with Beckham at the Mavs-Suns game. Let's see if Doncic takes things up a notch for the potential new Cowboy.
INJURY REPORT (DALLAS): Christian Wood (non-Covid illness) is Questionable.
RECORDS: Dallas Mavericks (11-11), Phoenix Suns (16-7)
WHEN: Monday, December 5, 2022 – 7:30 p.m. CT
WHERE: American Airlines Center (Dallas, TX)
TV: Bally Sports Southwest, NBA TV
RADIO: 97.1 The Freak, 99.1 FM Zona MX (Spanish)
ODDS: The Mavs are currently 3.5-point underdogs vs. the Suns.
NEXT UP: The Mavs have a matchup with the Denver Nuggets at AAC on Tuesday night. Dallas and Denver have split the season series so far, 1-1.
FINAL WORD: "[Luka] is of one-of-one. He has a lot — like in the sense of LeBron," said Kidd of Doncic. "Just his IQ, he competes, he wants to win. ... You can look at LeBron, you can look at Kobe. You can look at the greats that wills their team to win."
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