Preview: Suns Face Mavericks in Marquee Christmas Matchup

The Phoenix Suns (14-14) are set to host the night cap game on Christmas Day against the Dallas Mavericks (17-12) at Footprint Center.

This matchup follows a day of robust matchups: Bucks at Knicks, Warriors at Nuggets, Celtics at Lakers, and 76ers at Heat.

The Suns and Mavericks have built quite the rivalry over the past few seasons, particularly the back-and-forth whippiness between Devin Booker and Luka Doncic.

Former teammates Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant being on these respective teams add another layer of intrigue to this newfound rivalry as well.

This will mark the third consecutive season both teams are featured on the most prominent day of the NBA regular season.

Three things to watch for in tonight's matchup:

Suns Offense Sputtering?

The Suns' defensive shortcomings have been well documented, but the offense going through a rough patch might be more concerning.

Simply put, Phoenix was never going to be a defensive juggernaut this season simply by taking a quick look at the roster construction.

The concern is the Suns' offense lacks consistency on a game-to-game basis.

The Suns don't take an especially high amount of three-pointers. They don't push the ball in transition often. There hasn't been a secondary playmaker to stand out for the team behind Booker.

All of these issues are being compounded by the struggles of the past 10 games.

The Suns are only averaging 111 points per game in the last 10 - well below league average. Suns role players have largely struggled in this stretch, save for Grayson Allen.

Eric Gordon's public comments about his role that likely have little bearing but have and will continue to cause much dialogue across the NBA community, too.

The Suns came into the season with two of the best scorers in the league and an ample supply of shooters at their dispense. The squad hasn't delivered on the hype of possibly having a historically great offense.

Suns Key To Victory: Slow Down Game

The Mavericks are third in the NBA in field goal attempts per game at over 91.

They are second in three-point attempts per game at over 42.

Dallas isn't overly efficient- but the sheer volume turns the team into an overall productive offense.

Phoenix will certainly have to weather the Luka Doncic storm - the phenom is averaging a near triple-double on fantastic efficiency in 2023-24. The main thing they must do is slow down Dallas' transition efforts, rebound the ball well, and take care of the ball to prevent easy Dallas points.

Player to Watch: Tim Hardaway Jr.

Hardaway Jr. has predicated much of his career around being an inefficient volume scorer off the bench - and this year is no different.

Hardaway's field goal percentage this season is lower than his career average and his three point percentage is essentially a career-average mark, albeit with higher volume.

The higher volume has paid off this season, as Hardaway Jr. is averaging the most points per game in his career since his 2018-19 campaign with the New York Knicks.

Hardaway has been a top-shelf sixth man of the year candidate and is third on Dallas in scoring.

The Suns will almost assuredly need to make him a focus in the game plan.

Phoenix and Dallas are set to tip off shortly after 8:30 PM Arizona time. The game will be broadcast exclusively on ESPN.