DALLAS — The Phoenix Suns took care of much-needed business in Sunday’s 125-116 win over the short-handed Dallas Mavericks before a sellout crowd of 20,013 at American Airlines Center.
The Suns (30-34) are now one and a half games behind the Mavs (32-33) for the 10th seed and final play-in slot in the Western Conference.
Devin Booker led six Suns in double figures with 24 points. Kevin Durant scored 21 and Bradley Beal went for 19. Naji Marshall paced the Mavs with a career-high 34 points.
The Suns churned out a season-high 68 points in the paint Sunday, surpassing the 60 they scored in a 125-121 win on January 18 at Detroit.
The Mavs were down Kyrie Irving, who is out with a season-ending knee injury and injured big men Anthony Davis (left adductor strain), Daniel Gafford (right knee sprain) and Derek Lively II (right ankle stress fracture).
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Dallas has lost five in a row and seven of its last eight.
The Suns broke the game open in the fourth on an 8-0 run to take a 118-102 lead with 4:36 left to play.
Here are takeaways from Sunday’s win as the Suns continue their four-game road trip Monday at Memphis (39-24) in the second of a back-to-back.
Get to the rim
Nick Richards putting Naji Marshall on a poster and Grayson Allen driving hard to the basket and drawing a foul in the first half was a clear-cut indicator of Phoenix’s gameplan Sunday.
Invade the paint.
The Suns came into the contest next to last in the NBA in points in the paint at 42 per game. They had 34 at the half against the Mavericks, who were 25th in points allowed in the paint at 50.8.
No shot blocker. No problem for Booker and Durant to get to the rim. They both got close and personal with the rim for dunks.
Booker opened the second half with three buckets inside 15 feet with the final one leading to a 3-point play and giving Phoenix a 67-54 lead with 10:36 left in the third quarter.
Then Richards finished over the top again with an authoritative flush.
Late in the third, Allen got a Mavs defender off his feet on a pump fake in the corner and took a sidestep into open space. He usually follows that up with a 3-point attempt.
Not this time. Allen drove and scored to give Phoenix a 13-point lead with 2:16 left in the third.
Could the Suns mix this type of approach to go along with their 3-point initiative of generating 40-plus attempts from deep a game?
Phoenix scored 56 points in the paint Friday at Denver, which like Dallas allows 50.8 points in the paint. The key is staying committed to the idea — even if the opponent is knocking down 3s on the other end.
That’s why getting stops is important. That allows a team to play within a flow and get the best shot.
Final one in Memphis
The Suns blew a four-point lead with 16.1 seconds left in regulation of an overtime loss on February 25 at Memphis to fall to 0-3 against the Grizzlies.
They have one more against them on Monday in the second of a back-to-back.
The Suns have lost three games to the Grizzlies by a total of 10 points. They have a tough time containing Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Desmond Bane, but present Memphis matchup problems as well with Booker, Durant and Beal.
The Suns haven’t won two games in a row since late January during a three-game winning streak with victories over Brooklyn, Washington and the Los Angeles Clippers.
This would be an ideal time to get two in a row, especially when facing the NBA’s toughest remaining schedule.
Will Cody Martin play this season?
The Suns dealt Jusuf Nurkic and a 2026 first-round pick to Charlotte for Cody Martin, Vasa Micic and a 2026 second-round pick in a last-minute move before the 2025 trade deadline.
Moving Nurkic was the biggest part of the deal as time had run out on their relationship. The Suns had already traded for Nick Richards and moved him into the starting lineup.
Draft picks are always a hot-button topic for the Suns since they don’t have control over them, but Martin has a skill set the Suns could use.
He defends, is highly competitive and can knock down 3s. However, he hasn’t played one game for the Suns this season due to a sports hernia. Will he eventually see action for the Suns this season?
“Just getting him healthy, I think, is realistic and then figuring out how he fits in the rotation and all that is to be determined,” Suns coach Mike Budenholzer said before Sunday’s game.
“But I think there is still pretty significant time, 25% of the season, probably a good four to six weeks. So I think we’re hopeful we can get him healthy. Then it becomes how and where and when does he fit into rotation.”
The Suns assigned Martin to their G League team, Valley Suns, to get some practice time and rehab.
Phoenix last practiced Thursday at home before heading to Denver and won’t practice while on the four-game trip. The Suns will be off Tuesday after a back-to-back and end the trip Wednesday at Houston.
Say Martin returns with 10 games remaining. Would it be wise for the Suns to put a guy who hasn’t played since January 24 in must-win situations with a new team?
Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at [email protected] or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.
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