Dallas wasted a brilliant game from Luka Dončić in Phoenix.
Losing a game the way the Mavericks lost Game 2 of 82 Saturday at Phoenix’s Footprint Center is going to sting. Luka Dončić, Kyrie Irving and Klay Thompson checked their boxes, filled up the stat sheet and generally did enough to win a basketball game. So how did the Suns keep the Mavs at arm’s length all night and control the game down the stretch for a 114-102 win on the second night of a back-to-back?
They held everyone else wearing white in check.
Dončić led all scorers with 40 points on 12-of-25 shooting, pulled down 10 rebounds and dished four assists in the loss. Wasting that kind of night from Dončić should come with criminal penalties. Dončić scored 40 or more in 13 games last year, and the Mavericks went 11-2 in those games. Kevin Durant offset Dončić’s big night for the most part with 31 points and nine boards of his own, including 4-of-8 shooting on 3-point attempts.
Here are three stats that loomed large over the Mavericks’ first frustrating loss of 2024-25.
13: First-quarter points for Luka Dončić
Dončić saw his jumper fall early on Saturday night, unlike his cold start (1-for-5 shooting, 0-for-2 from 3-point range) in Dallas’ season-opening win over the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday. He missed his first step-back attempt but hit one the next time down the floor less than two minutes into the game.
But from there, Dončić lived at the free-throw line for the rest of the first. The Suns were content to leave rookie forward Ryan Dunn on the Mavs’ superstar, and he was rewarded with two quick fouls in the opening quarter. Dončić made 6-of-7 at the free throw line in the first quarter, including two of three on a bail-out foul with one tenth of a second left. Royce O’Neal tried to challenge Dončić on what would have been his fourth 3-point attempt, but glancing body contact on Dončić’s follow through and two made free throws later, and Dallas was down 22-20 after a disjointed first quarter.
Dončić would score 10 more in the second on his way to a game-high 40 points.
14: First-half points from Jusuf Nurkic
Jusuf Nurkic, of all people, was a big ole’ jagged thorn in the Mavs’ side, especially in the first half. Durant led Phoenix with 15 points at the break, but Nurkic was scoring at nearly the same clip. He drew two early fouls on Dereck Lively II in the first quarter before out-maneuvering Daniel Gafford to the tune of 12 points in the second quarter.
Nurkic took advantage of size mismatches against Dončić and Klay Thompson when smaller players switched onto him. His little turnaround hook was effective when it needed to be. He had 14 at the half and led the Suns with five rebounds.
Nurkic finished with 18 points and 14 boards in the win.
9: Mavericks’ bench points
Dallas got a paltry 21 points from Mavericks not named Dončić, Irving or Thompson and just nine points from its bench in the head-scratching loss at Phoenix. After an impressive 11 points off the bench in Thursday’s season-opening win over the Spurs, Jaden Hardy disappeared in Phoenix, going 0-of-4 from the field and leaving only the faintest statistical evidence that he played basketball at all. He registered one rebound and one foul in the first loss of the season. Like it or not, Mavs fans, we are now in the awkward position of having to more closely scrutinize Hardy’s minutes this year, knowing full well the mental whiplash such an exercise may cause. His minutes are no longer low-leverage minutes, and when he puts up a donut now, it actually has consequences.
Naji Marshall is still working his way into a new system with the Mavericks and followed up his 1-for-6 performance in the season opener with two points on just 1-of-5 shooting against the Suns. Quentin Grimes, after a strong preseason, played just six minutes in the loss at Phoenix and didn’t get a shot up.
The lack of offensive production wasn’t exclusive to the Mavs’ second unit, though. P.J. Washington struggled against the Suns as well, scoring just five points in the loss on 2-of-10 shooting from the field on Saturday. Washington is now 6-of-21 from the field (including 3-of-12 from 3-point range) to start the season.
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