Game ID: 22400095
Dallas Mavericks @ Phoenix Suns
Saturday, October 26, 2024 at 10:00 PM ET
Footprint Center, Phoenix, AZ
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
PHX 28 35 28 23 114DAL 26 29 25 22 102
DAL @ PHX ScoutingDAL @ PHX Scouting
Welcome to the scouting desk. The coffee is cold, the film is play-by-play, and somebody has to explain what happened.
Every game has a hinge — a stretch where it was decided, usually while everyone was watching something else. Start where the evidence lives: the Lineups' face-offs say which five actually won their minutes; the Possessions ledger says who ran ahead of the night's own pace; the Shot Chart says where the points really came from, which is rarely where the highlights were. When all three agree, that is the story. When they don't — that is why this desk has a chair.
PHX availability going into 10/23 · season opener
full strength
PHX availability going into 10/25 · 1 day's rest
full strength
PHX availability going into 10/26 · back-to-backOUT Bol missed 2 since 10/23, out tonight
PHX availability going into 10/28 · 1 day's restOUT Allen missed 2 since 10/25, returns tonight: 12 min (51% of 24)
OUT Bol missed 3 since 10/23, out tonight
NEW Jones 27 to 33 min over the last 3
PHX availability going into 10/31 · 2 days' restOUT Bol missed 4 since 10/23, out tonight
BACK Allen back 10/28 after 2, 12 min since (51% of 24)
NEW Jones 27 to 32 min over the last 4
PHX availability going into 11/02 · 1 day's restOUT Gillespie missed 2 since 10/28, out tonight
OUT Bol missed 5 since 10/23, out tonight
BACK Allen back 10/28 after 2, 16 min since (65% of 24)
NEW Jones 27 to 32 min over the last 5
PHX availability going into 11/04 · 1 day's restOUT Gillespie missed 3 since 10/28, out tonight
OUT Bol missed 6 since 10/23, out tonight
BACK Allen back 10/28 after 2, 17 min since (69% of 24)
DAL availability going into 10/24 · season opener
full strength
DAL availability going into 10/26 · 1 day's rest
full strength
DAL availability going into 10/28 · 1 day's rest
full strength
DAL availability going into 10/29 · back-to-back
full strength
DAL availability going into 10/31 · 1 day's restOUT Kleber missed 2 since 10/28, out tonight
DAL availability going into 11/03 · 2 days' restOUT Kleber missed 3 since 10/28, out tonight
OUT Edwards missed 2 since 10/29, out tonight
OUT Williams missed 2 since 10/29, returns tonight: 6 min (39% of 15)
OUT Prosper missed 2 since 10/29, returns tonight: 6 min (54% of 11)
10/23 @ LAC 116-113 — PHX notes
PHX won 116-113 in 1 overtime. PHX shot 49% (38 of 78) to LAC's 46%, 15 of 38 from three. Durant led with 25 (8 of 17, 2 of 5 from three, 7 of 9 at the line); Beal added 24, Booker 15. The hinge was Q2, 24-17: a lead of 1 became 8. O'Neale was the night's best plus/minus at +14.
10/25 @ LAL 116-123 — PHX notes
PHX lost 116-123. PHX shot 51% (42 of 82) to LAL's 53%, 17 of 37 from three, and got to the line 17 times to LAL's 39. Durant led with 30 (11 of 17, 2 of 3 from three, 6 of 7 at the line); Booker added 23, Beal 15. Q1 was theirs, 38-23, but the other 3 periods went 100-78 against them. They led by as many as 22. Nurkić's -19 in 18 minutes was the worst on the floor.
10/26 vs DAL 114-102 — PHX notes
PHX won 114-102. PHX shot 45% (36 of 80) to DAL's 40%, 14 of 39 from three, and went to the line 37 times to DAL's 18 — 28 points from the stripe to their 15. Durant led with 31 (10 of 21, 4 of 8 from three, 7 of 9 at the line); Booker added 21, Nurkić 18. The hinge was Q2, 35-29: a lead of 2 became 8, and the lead reached 15. O'Neale was the night's best plus/minus at +18.
11/02 vs POR — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Phoenix comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 116 a night and allowing 112, shooting 48 percent and 40 from three, 27 free throws a game; Durant at 27 and Booker at 26 a game. That is 3 straight wins. It has lost the glass by 4 a night. One day's rest. Portland comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 109 a night and allowing 112, shooting 44 percent and 37 from three, 25 free throws a game; Simons at 19 and Grant at 19 a game. Without Sharpe (6 straight), Thybulle (6 straight), Williams III (6 straight). Second night of a back-to-back.
So: Phoenix wins, and the game turns on the glass, where Portland has been plus-2 a night and Phoenix minus-4. Call it Phoenix 117, Portland 109.
11/04 vs PHI — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Phoenix comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 113 a night and allowing 109, shooting 46 percent and 38 from three, 25 free throws a game; Booker at 29 and Durant at 26 a game. That is 4 straight wins. One day's rest. Philadelphia comes in 1-4 over its last five, scoring 107 a night and allowing 116, shooting 41 percent and 31 from three, 32 free throws a game; Maxey at 30 and Oubre Jr. at 18 a game. It has lost the glass by 7 a night. Without Edwards (5 straight). One day's rest.
So: Phoenix wins, and the game turns on the arc, Phoenix at 38 percent from three to Philadelphia's 31 and the glass, where Phoenix has been minus-1 a night and Philadelphia minus-7. Call it Phoenix 116, Philadelphia 107.
10/24 vs SAS 120-109 — DAL notes
DAL won 120-109. DAL shot 41% (42 of 102) to SAS's 45%, 19 of 44 from three. DAL turned it over 9 times to SAS's 19. Dončić led with 28 (9 of 25, 4 of 11 from three, 6 of 8 at the line); Thompson added 22, Lively II 15. The hinge was Q3, 40-31: DAL came in trailing by 2 and left it ahead by 7, and the lead reached 21. DAL trailed 47-49 at the half and won the second half 73-60. Kleber was the night's best plus/minus at +18.
10/26 @ PHX 102-114 — DAL notes
DAL lost 102-114. DAL took 13 more shots (93 to 80), fed by 12 offensive rebounds, but shot 40% to PHX's 45%, 13 of 41 from three, and got to the line 18 times to PHX's 37. Dončić led with 40 (12 of 25, 5 of 13 from three, 11 of 12 at the line); Irving added 22, Thompson 19. Q4 was theirs, 22-23, but the other 3 periods went 91-80 against them. Lively II's -16 in 21 minutes was the worst on the floor.
11/03 vs ORL — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Dallas comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 111 a night and allowing 109, shooting 44 percent and 36 from three, 19 free throws a game; Dončić at 27 and Irving at 25 a game. Without Kleber (3 straight), Edwards (2 straight). 2 days' rest. Orlando comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 111 a night and allowing 112, shooting 45 percent and 34 from three, 29 free throws a game; Banchero at 28 and Suggs at 20 a game. Without Bitadze (3 straight). One day's rest.
So: Dallas wins, and the game turns on the line, where Orlando takes 29 free throws a game to Dallas's 19 and the turnovers, Orlando giving it away 14 times a game to Dallas's 10. Call it Dallas 112, Orlando 109, Orlando keeping it close.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
PHXCG C. Gillespie
DB D. Booker
DL D. Lee
JN J. Nurkić
KD K. Durant
MM M. Morris
MP M. Plumlee
OI O. Ighodaro
RD R. Dunn
RO R. O'Neale
TJ T. Jones
DALDG D. Gafford
DL D. Lively II
JG J. Gortman
JH J. Hardy
KI K. Irving
KT K. Thompson
LD L. Dončić
MK M. Kleber
NM N. Marshall
PW P. Washington
QG Q. Grimes
PHX/DAL the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
END the clock ran out, ball in hand
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur
Kevin Durant scores 31, leading the Suns past the Mavericks 114-102
PHOENIX -- — Kevin Durant scored 31 points, Jusuf Nurkic added 18 points and 14 rebounds and the Phoenix Suns beat the Dallas Mavericks 114-102 on Saturday night.
The Suns never trailed after the first quarter, though the Mavericks kept the deficit in the single digits for much of the night. Luka Doncic scored 40 points and grabbed 10 rebounds while Kyrie Irving added 22 points.
The Suns led 91-80 heading into the fourth quarter and extended the lead to 105-90 six minutes later. Devin Booker added 21 points while rookie Ryan Dunn scored 13 in his first career start. Tyus Jones added seven assists.
The Suns led by as many as 13 in the first half but settled for a 63-55 lead at the break.
Takeaways Mavericks: Doncic started hot with 23 points in the first half but cooled off after halftime. He shot 12 of 25 from the field, including 5 of 13 from 3-point range. Klay Thompson had 19 points, making five 3-pointers.
Suns: Phoenix bounced back after blowing a 22-point lead against the Lakers on Friday night. Guards Bradley Beal (elbow) and Grayson Allen (personal) didn't play. Dunn played well in his first career start and looks like he could have been a steal with the No. 28 pick.
Key moment Dunn and Durant made back-to-back 3-pointers with about seven minutes left, extending the Suns' lead to 102-90. On the next possession, Durant made a layup while being fouled, converting the free throw to push the advantage to 105-90. The 9-0 run turned a tight game into a fairly comfortable win.
Key stat The Mavericks shot 39.8% from the field and the bench scored just nine points.
Up next The Suns play the Lakers for the second time in four days, hosting them on Monday night. The Mavs return home to host the Jazz on Monday night.