Durant scores 31 as Suns roll by foul-plagued Mavs, 114-102

PHOENIX – Too many fouls by the Dallas Mavericks and too many free throws by Phoenix led to the Suns upending the Mavs, 114-102, before a Saturday night sellout crowd of 17,071 at the Footprint Center.

In the Suns’ home opener, Kevin Durant scored 31 points and Devin Booker added 21 points as the Suns improved to 2-1 after losing on the road to the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday. Meanwhile, the Mavs are 1-1 and will host the Utah Jazz on Monday at American Airlines Center.

The Mavs never got a firm grip on this game as they looked out of sync too often and committed 28 fouls as the Suns converted 28-of-37 free throws.

“I thought Phoenix, they played well tonight,” coach Jason Kidd said. “We were low energy for whatever reason tonight, but we’ll address that when we move forward. It’s a marathon, not a sprint right now.”

Luka Dončić  (40 points, 10 rebounds), Kyrie Irving (22 points, five assists, three steals) and Klay Thompson (19 points, 5-of-12 three-pointers) paced the Mavs. But no other Mavs scored more than seven points (Daniel Gafford).

“We’ll look at the tape and see how we can get some other guys involved,” Kidd said. “But those three kept us in the game, and Luka kept us in the game early. We cut it to six twice. We just couldn’t get over the hump.”

The Mavs had a chance to cut the deficit to 108-102 when Naji Marshall was fouled by Jusuf Nurkic with 2:29 remaining. But Suns coach Mike Budenholzer challenged the call, and subsequently won the challenge after an official’s review.

Durant then buried a pair of free throws, and Booker added three more from the charity stripe to bump the Phoenix lead to 113-100 with 1:39 left.

“The flow of the game — we fouled too much,” Kidd said. “They shot (37) free throws, so when you’re taking the ball at the free throw line and pausing or sitting there waiting for free throws, we just couldn’t get into rhythm.

“Give them credit. They were attacking and got to the free throw line.”

The Mavs were down, 63-55, at intermission, but kept scratching and clawing until they got within 68-67 of the Suns less than three minutes into the second half following a three-pointer from Dončić and a nifty dunk by Gafford. On the latter play, Gafford passed the ball to Irving, who got it back to Gafford, who slammed it home.

Thompson had a message for his teammates after the loss. And it was: “To talk to each other more, especially on the defensive end. That was really it. Limit our fouls. Thirty-seven fouls — not good.”

Nurkic torched the Mavs with seven baskets in 12 attempts, and a lot of physical play inside the paint.

“He was just being way more physical than what we were,” Gafford said. “Just pretty much getting in his spot and was going to work, honestly.”

It was up to Dončić to keep the Mavericks afloat for much of the game, which he did admirably.

“He does everything that he’s supposed to do when he comes out there on the floor,” Gafford said. “(We’ve) got to be able to give him an extra push when it comes to the defensive side, because we have to be there for him at the end of the day.

“He’s giving us so much, so we have to be able to do the same thing for him. Get stops down the floor, because the offense is going to come for us. We just have to build our wall for the defensive end.”

On his behalf, Dončić knows the Mavs had some decent looks at the basket that simply did not materialize.

“I think we had a couple great shots, feeling like a lot of short shots,” he said. “I think we had some great looks that we would probably knock down some other time.

“They were physical with us, they played great defense, and they only allowed about 100 points. So, I think they were aggressive, and then (did) some great things on defense.”

The Mavs were not at their best in the first half when they committed 15 fouls and shot just 42.2 percent from the field (19-of-45). Indeed, it was a parade to the free throw line for the Suns, who were 12-of-17 from the charity stripe in the opening half.

“Yeah, I thought the shot quality was high,” Kidd said. “I thought we missed a lot of wide-open threes. It happens sometimes in this league when you get wide open looks — they don’t go down. But I thought again, Kai had great looks, Luka had great looks, and Klay had a lot of them go in and out.

“But I thought the guys, again, fought to the end, and we just couldn’t get over the hump. So, give Phoenix credit.”

Seemingly, almost every time the Mavs would get something going, the whistle would blow and impeded their progress. The Suns led by as much as 13 points – 48-35 – midway through the second quarter on the strength of some shot-making from Durant and some power play on the inside from Nurkic, who finished with 18 points and 14 rebounds.

“He was aggressive,” Kidd said of Nurkic. “We talked about it. We had to box him out. He got some offensive rebounds, and then in the post, he made some layups and he gave them a spark. He was good for them tonight.”

Three-pointers from P. J. Washington, Irving and Thompson sliced the Mavs’ deficit to 58-52 with 2:12 left in the first half.  But the Suns just wouldn’t be denied on a night they played without guard Bradley Beal (right elbow soreness).

Also, the Mavs couldn’t get their famed lob game going in any shape or fashion.

“Different teams are going to give us (the lob) and they’re going to try to take away the lob,” Dončić said. “Like today, just 10 more layups for me.

“So, it just depends on what the defense gives us, and it’s only been two games.”

Suns coach Mike Budenholzer noted that the addition of Thompson in the Mavs’ lineup – alongside Dončić and Irving – makes Dallas a formidable opponent and put extraordinary pressure on his defense.

“Obviously, a ton of respect for Klay and his ability to shoot and get hot and make shots quickly with no dribble,” Budenholzer said. “I think your awareness of where he is while still knowing that Dončić and Irving are going to have the ball a ton, I’m sure that’s their formula.

“With Thompson, while they have two great players that attract defenses, you kind of have to be able to do everything against them.”

Thompson was 7-of-16 from the field and had a few of shots go halfway in the basket and rim out. It was that kind of night for the Mavs, who shot 39.8 percent from the field and missed 28 of their 41 three-point attempts.

“It’s really good, with so much room for improvement,” Thompson said, referencing the chemistry between him and Dončić. “Game two of 82 and I’m very encouraged with our trust in each other and what our potential can be. But tonight was a great learning experience for us, and we’ll be better.”

X: @DwainPrice