Devin Booker had 26 points, Jordan Goodwin went over his season high in the first half and the Phoenix Suns rolled to their fourth straight victory, 123-114 over the host Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday.
Klay Thompson led the Mavs with a season-high 19 points and made six threes off the bench. Cooper Flagg, after a season high 26 points Monday, had 16 points and appeared to tweak his left shoulder in the first quarter.
P.J. Washington left midway through the first quarter and did not return with a shoulder strain for Dallas, which has lost six of its last seven.
The Mavs were already without Anthony Davis, who missed his seventh straight game with a calf injury. Per an ESPN report on Wednesday, Mavericks governor Patrick Dumont was going to review medical data to ensure Davis was not at risk of reinjuring his calf before returning to action.
After trailing by double digits for much of the second half, the Mavs went on an 11-3 run in the final five minutes to pull to 115-112, but Phoenix had the final thrust. The Suns’ Grayson Allen got a crucial basket on a goaltending call on Daniel Gafford with 1:25 left. Allen then made two free throws with 24.3 seconds left. He finished with 23 points for the Suns, who improved to 2-4 on the road.
The game’s tone turned late in the first quarter. Dallas had built a 28-18 lead on the strength of a corner three by Naji Marshall and another three by Thompson, when Phoenix closed the quarter on a 12-0 run, highlighted by seven points by Goodwin, to take a 30-28 lead. Goodwin finished with 13 points.
After D’Angelo Russell’s layup put Dallas ahead 32-30, the Suns went on a 9-0 run, getting two more threes from Goodwin and a three by Allen to take a 39-32 lead.
Phoenix’s lead in the first half would crest at 59-47 when Dillon Brooks converted on a three-point play. Phoenix took a 63-53 lead into halftime.
There was a scary moment for Dallas in the first quarter when Flagg grabbed at his left shoulder after absorbing contact on a drive down the lane. Flagg briefly checked out of the game, but returned after missing three minutes of action.
While Flagg was in the locker room, Washington collided with Suns forward Dillon Brooks on a drive in the lane and started favoring his left shoulder. Washington went into the locker room while Flagg was coming out, but Washington did not return.
Wednesday was the Mavs’ first game since the firing of embattled general manager Nico Harrison on Tuesday morning.
