Dallas Mavericks @ Phoenix Suns
Friday, December 27, 2024 at 9:00 PM ET
Footprint Center, Phoenix, AZ | Game ID: 22400425
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
PHX 25 14 25 25 89DAL 28 27 17 26 98
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Kyrie Irving scores 20, Mavs win first game after Doncic's injury by beating the Suns 98-89
PHOENIX -- — Kyrie Irving scored 20 points, Daniel Gafford added 16 and the Dallas Mavericks won their first game since star Luka Doncic was injured, beating the Phoenix Suns 98-89 on Friday night.
Kevin Durant scored 35 points for the Suns, who have lost four of their past five games.
Doncic is expected to miss about a month with a calf injury suffered in the team’s Christmas Day loss to Minnesota. The Mavs were left further short-handed on Friday in the third quarter after forwards Naji Marshall and P.J. Washington — along with Phoenix's Jusuf Nurkic — were ejected after a brief fight .
The Mavs persevered anyway thanks to a balanced effort on both ends of the floor. Dallas never trailed and led by as many as 18. Spencer Dinwiddie and Maxi Kleber each scored 15 points and Klay Thompson added 11.
Dallas took a 55-39 lead by halftime, led by Irving's 15 points. The Suns shot just 33.3% over the first two quarters.
Takeaways Mavericks: It was a gritty win for the Mavs, who controlled the game from the outset despite playing without Doncic. Irving made just 6 of 21 shots overall, but 5 of 10 from behind the arc.
Suns: Two days after a galvanizing win on Christmas Day over the Nuggets, the Suns went right back to mediocrity. Part of the problem is the absence of injured All-Star Devin Booker , but as the Mavericks showed on Friday, teams can still have a level of success without one of their stars.
Key moment The Suns briefly cut the Mavs advantage to 81-75 midway through the fourth, but Dallas' Quentin Grimes responded with a tough 3-pointer to push the lead back to nine.
Key stat The Suns have a 7-14 record since starting the season at 8-1.
Up next Mavericks at Trail Blazers on Saturday; Suns at Warriors on Saturday.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
DALDG D. Gafford
DP D. Powell
JH J. Hardy
KI K. Irving
KT K. Thompson
MK M. Kleber
NM N. Marshall
OP O. Prosper
PW P. Washington
QG Q. Grimes
SD S. Dinwiddie
PHXBB B. Beal
DL D. Lee
JN J. Nurkić
JO J. Okogie
KD K. Durant
MM M. Morris
MP M. Plumlee
NU Nurkic
OI O. Ighodaro
RD R. Dunn
RO R. O'Neale
TJ T. Jones
DAL/PHX 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
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