Suns 114-113 Mavericks (November 8, 2024) Game Recap

DALLAS – Jusuf Nurkic hit the second of two free throws with 0.8 seconds left after being fouled on an offensive rebound, giving the Phoenix Suns a 114-113 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night.

Kevin Durant scored 26 points and Nurkic added 15 points and 10 rebounds, helping the Suns improve to 8-1 for the first time since 2009-10. Two of the wins came against defending Western Conference champion Dallas.

Nurkic gave the Suns the lead with 31 seconds left with a dunk after a putback from Durant. Daniel Gafford even got Dallas to 113 with an alley-oop dunk from Luka Doncic, who had 30 points, seven assists and seven rebounds.

Royce O’Neale missed a runner in the lane in the final seconds, but Nurkic grabbed the rebound and was tackled by several Dallas defenders on a missed shot as the buzzer sounded. Gafford fouled out on the play.

Doncic missed a desperate 3-pointer at the buzzer.

O’Neale scored 18 points for Phoenix and Devin Booker had 13 points and 12 assists.

Kyrie Irving scored 29 points and Naji Marshall had 18 for Dallas.

Takeaways

Suns: O’Neale provided a big boost as a substitute as the Phoenix reserves outscored the Dallas bench 28-9 after leading 23-9 in the first meeting.

Mavericks: Gafford’s foul trouble came when his frontcourt partner Dereck Lively II was sidelined with a sprained shoulder. Dwight Powell had to play a season-best 25 minutes and committed five fouls.

Key moment

Nurkic’s game-winning rebound came after O’Neale’s only missed shot, which was 7 of 8.

Key statistics

Phoenix didn’t have much of an advantage in offensive rebounds at 11-8, but six of them came in the fourth quarter. Nurkic had all three goals in the fourth round.

Next

The Suns play at home against Sacramento on Sunday. The Mavericks play in Denver on Sunday night.

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AP NBA: