Preview: Suns Host Mavericks in Home Opener

PHOENIX -- The Phoenix Suns (1-1) are officially debuting at home tonight against a familiar foe in the Dallas Mavericks (1-0) at Footprint Center.

This marks the first time that Devin Booker and Luka Doncic have faced off dating back to February - and since that time Dallas has reached an NBA Finals, brought hall-of-fame talent Klay Thompson into the fold, and kicked off the season with a resounding victory over the San Antonio Spurs.

A key storyline, key matchup, and game prediction to prepare for an early season heavyweight bout later today:

Thompson: Steal for Dallas?

Klay Thompson officially departed the franchise he had been with since being drafted by the Golden State Warriors in 2011 this off-season after signing a 3-year, $50 million dollar contract with Dallas in July.

This move came with much skepticism, as proponents of the move believed that the Doncic/Kyrie Irving duo could help rejuvenate a career that had recently stagnated, while detractors believed that the deal could be an overpay and Thompson would fail to be a clean fit in the Mavs' lineup.

WHAT A START to the @KlayThompson era in Dallas:

🔥 22 PTS on 7-13 FGM
🔥 7 REB, 3 STL

He sets a @dallasmavs record with 6 threes in his debut! pic.twitter.com/g3nQMBM9ty
— NBA (@NBA) October 25, 2024

Thompson has bucked the criticism - at least thus far - with a spirited 22-point showing in game one where he also displayed a defensive performance that was reminiscent of his prime days on the Warriors.

Thompson could very well be on his way to becoming a huge heist for Dallas - he undoubtedly has to be a focal point in coach Mike Budenholzer's game-planning tonight.

Matchup to Watch: Mavs vs Suns Bigs

This could be the factor that swings the contest in favor of Dallas.

The Mavs' three-headed monster in the frontcourt of Dereck Lively II, Daniel Gafford, and P.J. Washington combined for an eye-popping 10 offensive boards in the season opener - while one of the most glaring shortcomings for Phoenix thus far has been the tepid showings on the glass.

Jusuf Nurkic has experienced a very shaky start to the year so far - and that is putting it lightly. Mason Plumlee put forth a respectable performance against the Lakers last night, but he remains at an athletic disadvantage compared to any member of the Dallas front-court. Oso Ighodaro had an up-and-down 6 minutes of game action after a mightily encouraging league debut on Wednesday.

This matchup could heavily skew in favor of Dallas unless Nurkic can shoot the three-ball with efficiency and either Ighodaro or Plumlee can be an effective play finisher in the roll game.

Prediction: Mavs Win

This contest will continue the trend of tightly contested games for Phoenix - as both rosters stack up fairly evenly with each other, but Dallas will continue to have a slight advantage for the time being due to being more connected.

While the Mavericks have a small handful of new players to integrate, much of Phoenix's bench are new faces - and integrating Tyus Jones into the starting lineup hasn't been as seamless of a process as one would hope.

Jason Kidd knows his team better at this point - and Luka Doncic is capable of closing the deal at any given moment in a game.

Dallas wins in a close one in a precursor to the Suns having a chance to get revenge on the Lakers on Monday night.

Suns-Mavs is set to tip off shortly after 7 P.M. local time tonight. It will be broadcast on AZ Family and on the Suns Live app, along with League Pass for out of market fans.