Gameday: Mavericks Hope to Play Spoiler to Suns' Homestand Success

The Phoenix Suns are officially back on track and will look for their fifth win in a row tonight as they face off against the Dallas Mavericks at 8 PM MST.

After losing nine out of ten games, the Suns have come back to beat the Brooklyn Nets, Memphis Grizzlies, Indiana Pacers and Charlotte Hornets in consecutive outings. They look to end their five game homestand going undefeated.

How did the Suns go from virtually losing every game to suddenly getting hot?

A big part of that would have to be because of the return of Chris Paul and Cam Johnson. Paul made his return against the Grizzlies with a bang putting up an impressive 22 points, 11 assists and six rebounds followed up by another strong performance against the Hornets.

Johnson has played three games so far during this homestand but made his true mark against Charlotte when he dropped 24 points, 16 of them in the first quarter.

Mikal Bridges has been the Suns' consistent number one option without Devin Booker during this stretch putting up over 20 points in three out of these past four games. Booker is set to be reevaluated in one week.

On the Opposite side of the spectrum, the Mavericks have not been doing so hot. Despite Luka Doncic putting up a historic 33.8 points, 9.1 rebounds and 8.6 assists this season, the Mavericks only sit with a 25-24 record. They have now lost four out of their last five games even with jaw dropping performances from Doncic.

However, if last year’s Western Conference Semifinals taught us anything, the Suns should surely not underestimate the Mavericks. This game has major implications as the Suns and Mavericks are both currently tied in the standings and the winner will jump to the sixth seed in the Western Conference.

So far, the season series between Phoenix and Dallas is tied 1-1 with the first game coming on opening night where the Suns stormed back from a double digit lead to win 107-105. The second game on Dec 11. was all Mavericks as they went on to cruise to a 130-11 victory led by Doncic 35-point performance.

The big question is will Phoenix remain hot or will Dallas put a screeching halt to their four game winning streak?