The new monsters on the block showed up at American Airlines Center on Sunday and when the dust settled, it was clear that the Phoenix Suns aren’t the only freshly minted and improved team in the Western Conference.
The Mavericks and Suns had a riveting renewal of their rivalry that eventually ended with Phoenix escaping with a 130-126 victory as Kevin Durant was the difference-maker in the final seconds.
But the Mavericks delivered a strong message, even if they didn’t deliver the victory.
When Luka Dončić saw his point-blank push-shot, which could have forced overtime, rim out of the basket, he was heartbroken.
When Phoenix’s Devin Booker had a few choice words to say, it was a bit more than Luka wanted to hear.
The two had a brief dust-up that included a lot of jawing and a little pushing and shoving. It was a sign that the Mavericks aren’t going to freely accept the notion that the Suns now are destined to win the Western Conference after their acquisition of Durant.
“There’s some bad blood still there,” said Tim Hardaway Jr., whose three-point shooting binge in the first half was a big reason the Mavericks had a legitimate shot at winning at crunch time. “I think everybody saw that the last couple seconds of the game. I hope they’re ready for many more to come.”
Hardaway, who was quick to say that neither Dončić nor any Mavericks were going to back down from anybody, said perhaps some emotional confrontations were bound to happen at some point. The Mavericks and Suns have a long history, but most recently in the playoffs last year when the Mavericks crushed the Suns in Game 7 of the second-round series.
Since then, there’s been an edge in every meeting.
On Sunday, it came down to Durant knocking down a 15-foot jumper with 11.7 seconds left to put the Suns up 128-126. The Mavericks had time and got a sensational look when Dončić wheeled into the paint and lifted a short push shot that he can make with his eyes closed. This time, though, it wouldn’t go down.
“Missed it,” Luka said. “I thought it was in. I just missed it. One of my friends texted me: I would have even made that.”
As for his incident with Booker, Dončić said: “I don’t think you can say that on camera. It’s just competitive.”
Booker said he was aiming his words at the referee, but Luka wasn’t buying it. Both received technical fouls with three seconds left before Durant’s free throws closed out the scoring.
“You guys (in the media) always say you don’t want everyone to be ‘friendly-friendly’ so there you go, you got some smoke,” Booker said of the confrontation. “It’s just two competitors going at it. Everybody speaks on how friendly the NBA is now and they don’t like that. I have no problem with Luka [Dončić] on or off the court, but when we’re competing, we’re competing.”
The Suns got out with the win and a 2-2 series push this season. The Mavericks fell to 2-3 on this season-long home stand that ends Tuesday against Utah and 33-32 overall. The Suns improved to 36-29.
The Mavericks got 34 points from Luka and 30 from Kyrie Irving. Hardaway had 21 off he bench.
But the Suns clearly are going to be a beast, as was evident with Durant getting 37 points and Booker 36. And Ish Wainright provided an unexpected spark when he came off the bench to pour in four three-pointers to burn the Mavericks’ defense as they tried to concentrate on Durant and Booker.
“That’s something you’re going to give up, especially with the talent they have with Book, CP (Chris Paul) and Durant out there,” Mavericks’ coach Jason Kidd said.
As Irving said: “We did our best to make sure the ball found the right people. But Book and KD kept attacking and kept them in the game.”
Dončić appeared to be favoring one of his legs and he said afterward that there was a reason. He said he’s been dealing with a thigh issue for “the last week.”
“Today was the worst,” he said. “I just tried to keep going. We don’t really know (how it happened).”
What is clear is that the Suns are going to be a formidable foe from here on and appear to be the favorites to win the Western Conference.
The Mavericks, who had beaten Eastern Conference powerhouse Philadelphia on Thursday, believe they are in the same ballpark as those teams.
“They’re incredible,” Dončić said. “Those two guys, they’re probably one of the best (duos) in the league, Book and KD. But I love it. It’s competitive. I think today was a great game to watch. And they have an amazing team.”
Indeed, with 12 ties and 13 lead changes – and neither team ever leading by more than nine points, this was as entertaining as any regular season game can get.
“The level of play rises, emotions rise and you see everybody display that on their facial expressions,” said Irving, trying to put the end of the game in perspective. “But nobody’s really going to fight out there. The big picture is to win the ballgame and we failed at that today.”
Before the game, Kidd had said that the Suns were a team that is “only going to get better.
They weren’t bad on Sunday.
Neither were the Mavericks.
And it wasn’t just their stars lighting it up. They got big help from Christian Wood early in the fourth quarter and Hardaway in the first half. Without them, the Mavericks might not have been in a position to have a chance for the win.
They had Hardaway to thank for that advantage. After starting for a long stretch before the All-Star break, he’s come off the bench in the five games afterward. And he’s been blazing from three-point range in those five games.
In the first half, he hit five of six three-pointers and had 18 points to lead the Mavericks. It was one of the rare games this season when Dončić did not lead the Mavericks in scoring by halftime.
Twitter: @ESefko
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