Mavericks beat Suns in Mexico City
Deron Williams scored 23 points and Harrison Barnes had 22 as the Dallas Mavericks used an 18-4 run to start the third quarter to pull away for a 113-108 win over the Phoenix Suns in Mexico City on Thursday.
Dirk Nowitzki and Wes Matthews added 18 points each for the Mavericks (12-27), who avenged a loss to the Suns seven days ago in Dallas. On Thursday, the Mavericks won in front of a large and appreciative crowd at the Arena Ciudad de Mexico.
Devin Booker tied a career high with 39 points on 14-for-20 shooting and scored the final 21 points of the game for the Suns (12-27), with two free throws getting Phoenix to within 105-99 with 2:10 left. He was the only Suns player to score in the final seven minutes of play.
Nowitzki nailed his third 3-pointer of the game with 1:55 left and Seth Curry put the game away with a 3-pointer to beat the shot clock to give Dallas a 111-101 lead.
Tyson Chandler had 14 points and 19 rebounds for the Suns and Marquese Chriss had 13 points, all in the first half. Eric Bledsoe had 11 points but took only four shots and was hampered by foul trouble.
The first half featured 11 ties, 15 lead chances and hot-shooting first quarters by both teams.
Dallas hit nine of their first 10 shots from the field, and nine straight points from Curry, including back-to-back 3-pointers, helped the Mavericks to a 24-17 lead.
But the Suns hit five of eight 3-pointers in the quarter, including three by Chriss, who had 11 of his points in the quarter. Nowitzki's first basket of the game gave Dallas a 32-29 lead after one.
Bledsoe scored seven of his 11 second-quarter points from the free- throw line, but the Suns couldn't open a lead bigger than four points. Williams and Barnes combined for 28 points but Phoenix led 59-57 at the half.
The Mavericks opened the third quarter with eight straight points and took their biggest lead at 76-63 when Matthews capped the run with a 3-pointer to make is 76-63 with 7:24 left. The Suns were unable to cut into the lead until Booker made his one-man run at the end.
NOTES: Dallas C Andrew Bogut missed the game with a strained right hamstring suffered in the 101-92 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday. ... The Suns were revved up by the electric atmosphere surrounding their two games in Mexico City. "We haven't played a game yet and the excitement level is pretty high," G Brandon Knight told Suns.com as fans were pressed up against the glass to watch their shootaround. F Alan Williams was a popular guy among his teammates this week, since he is the only player who speaks Spanish. ... G Eric Bledsoe is coming off a 31-point game against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday. It was his sixth 30-point game this season. He had never had more than three in any previous year. He had 26 in a 102-95 win over Dallas on Dec. 5. ... The Mavericks swept three games from the Suns last year and had won four straight before falling in Dallas.