PHOENIX — The Dallas Mavericks played two games in Phoenix in a three-day span. And unfortunately for the team from North Texas, they both took on similar characteristics and neither one of them ended very well for the Mavs.
In Wednesday’s seven-point loss to the Phoenix Suns, a, the Mavs led by five points after the third quarter, but got outscored by 12 points in the fourth quarter. On Friday, the Mavs led Phoenix again by five points after the third quarter, but got outscored by 13 points in the fourth quarter en route to losing to the Suns, 112-104, at Footprint Center.
It was the third loss in the last five games for the Mavs, who are 9-6 and will play the Clippers in Los Angeles on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. CT. For the Suns, it was their 11 consecutive victory as they padded their worksheet to 12-3.
In the fourth quarter, the Suns were 13-of-20 from the field and 5-of-7 from beyond the three-point arc. By contrast, the Mavs were just 6-of-21 from the floor and 3-of-9 from downtown while suffering another meltdown with the game on the line.
“That’s on me,” point guard Jalen Brunson said. “Plain and simple. You guys saw it. That’s on me.
“I just didn’t do a good enough job of putting myself and my teammates in position to be successful, so that’s the real story.”
From forward Kristaps Porzingis’ perspective, the “real story” is that the Mavs were likely looking at a better outcome if they had the services of point guard Luka Doncic. However, Doncic missed his second straight game with a sprain in his left knee and a sprain in his left ankle.
“They’re a good team,” said Porzingis, who had 23 points and 12 rebounds. “They were in the (NBA) Finals last year, so that says a lot, and I feel like we’re not too far off.
“If we had Luka, it would also possibly be a different look. I think without Luka we have to get better at late-game execution.”
The Mavs toted an 84-79 lead into the fourth quarter. But the bottom fell out thereafter – again – in the final period as the Suns opened the last quarter on a 24-6 run that shell-shocked the Mavs and put them squarely behind the eight ball, 103-90, with 4:12 remaining.
Kidd noted there was nothing significantly wrong with the defense.
“You’re never going to shut anybody out in this league,” Kidd said. “It’s just a matter of runs and minimizing runs.
“We went small to try and get with them, and they went on a run when we went small. So that’s just something that we’ve got to look at – going with that small group.”
Kidd did admit, however, that the Mavs didn’t do a good enough job on the defensive end of the floor. Especially since the Suns shot 51.8 percent from the field and a healthy 48.3 percent from three-point territory (14-of-29).
“We gave up a lot of easy baskets tonight,” Kidd said. “We’ll watch the film and get better and get ready for the Clippers on Sunday.”
The Mavs couldn’t even rely on their trusted friend – the three-point shot – to bail them out. On Wednesday, the Mavs were 16-of-32 from three-point range for 50 percent, and on Friday they were only 12-of-40 from downtown for a mere 30 percent.
“We had some great looks, and if we’re going to rely on shooting the three we’ve got to make them,” Kidd said. “We had a lot of open looks that didn’t go down, so we’ve got to get better at that.
“For them, they had a lot of open looks that went down, and you can’t beat the good teams when you play like that.”
On Wednesday, Chris Paul distributed seven of his game-high 14 assists in the fourth quarter for the Suns. On Friday, he contributed eight of his 18 points and six assists of his 14 assists in the fourth quarter.
“That’s what he does,” Kidd said. “Chris was good again in the fourth.
“He gets everybody into position, and they’re one of the best executing teams down the stretch and they did it again tonight.”
Phoenix led 27-24 after the first quarter and 55-51 at intermission. But the Mavs, who also got 18 points from Tim Hardaway Jr. and 12 from Dorian Finney-Smith, went on a 14-4 run and assumed a 73-68 lead with 4:26 to go in the third quarter.
But when buckets needed to be made, the Suns stymied the Mavs on defense in the late stages of the game.
“They’re a top five defensive team,” said Brunson, who finished with 18 points and 10 assists. “They have depth, they have a Hall of Famer, they have All-Stars, they have it all.
“So, you’ve got to give them credit.”
Devin Booker and Mikal Bridges led the Suns with 19 points apiece, while reserve players JaVale McGee (14 points, six boards), Cameron Johnson (23 points) and Cameron Payne (10 points) were thorns in the Mavs’ side.
Porzingis acknowledged that Friday’s game took on similar characteristics to Wednesday’s game. But he wasn’t thinking of that analogy as the game was being played.
“While you’re playing, you try to be in the moment and go possession by possession,” Porzingis said. “It just happened similarly again, and they were better down the stretch.
“They were better than us down the stretch more. More poise. They got better looks.”
So how are the Mavs going to reverse their fortunes going into Sunday’s game against the Clippers?
“I think just play our basketball,” Porzingis said. “We can all play better.
“If we just go out there and play free and we have a good balance of getting good shots on offense and then getting back on defense and locking in on the defensive end, I think the results will come.”
Twitter: @DwainPrice
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