Fall to 2-6 at home
DALLAS- The Dallas Mavericks hosted the Phoenix Suns Monday, looking to put an end to their five-game losing streak. The Mavericks’ last win came on Friday, Jan. 22 against the San Antonio Spurs where they won by a final score of 122-117.
Dallas shooting guard Josh Richardson got things started, getting the Mavericks on the board first by knocking down a jumper. Forward Maxi Kleber followed up with a dunk on the following possession to give Dallas a quick 4-0 lead. Mavericks guard Tim Hardaway Jr. gave
Mavericks guard Tim Hardaway Jr. gave Dallas a 18-15 lead when he knocked down a 3-pointer with 3:06 left in the opening frame. The two teams traded baskets for the rest of the quarter and entered the second quarter with the score tied at 22-22.
Dallas was able to turn things up a notch offensively in the second quarter, having their highest scoring frame of the night, posting 31 points in the quarter. A pair of Luka Doncic free throws with 1:27 remaining in the half gave the Mavericks a 48-47 lead.
Kristaps Porzingis drained a 3-pointer on the next possession, thanks to an assist from Josh Richardson with 1:04 to play in the second quarter. After getting a pair of stops, Doncic hit a jump shot with 2.6 seconds left, giving Dallas a 53-47 lead at the half.
The Mavericks opened the second half with a lot of momentum, continuing to add to their lead in the early parts of the third quarter. With 4:48 left in the frame, point guard Jalen Brunson made a shot to give the Mavericks their first double-digit lead of the game, making the score 77-66. Phoenix ended the frame on a strong run and was able to cut the Dallas lead to 82-77 entering the fourth quarter.
The fourth quarter was a back-andforth affair in which neither team was able to gain much of an advantage on the other. With 54.7 seconds left in the game, Richardson made a pair of free throws to give Dallas a 108-106 lead.
With just 14.2 seconds left, Suns star Chris Paul missed a wide open layup, but the Suns were able to get the rebound and call a timeout to set up one final play. Out of the timeout, Suns superstar Devin Booker knocked down a 3-pointer with just 1.5 seconds left, leading Phoenix to a 109-108 win. Doncic once again was the leader for
Doncic once again was the leader for the Mavericks, finishing with a team-high 25 points, making 10 of his 11 free throw attempts. Doncic also had eight assists and five rebounds.
Just behind him was Richardson who had a strong 24-point performance. Prozingis wasn’t far behind, tallying 19 points and 10 rebounds in the one-point loss. Hardaway Jr. had a notable 18-point game as well, shooting 6-12 from the field.
The loss is the sixth consecutive for the Mavericks and drops their record to 8-13 on the season. They will hope to put an end to that streak Wednesday as they travel to Atlanta to take on the 10-10 Hawks. That game is set to begin at 6:30 p.m.