Mavericks at Suns
THE STORY: The road hasn’t been kind to the defending champs. The Dallas Mavericks have lost four straight away from home and have just two wins in their last seven overall. Dallas has dominated the Phoenix Suns in recent meetings, winning eight in a row in the series. The Mavericks rolled over the Suns in their last encounter 122-98 on Jan. 30. Dallas would love to duplicate that in Phoenix on Thursday after being mired in a scoring slump, averaging 92.5 points in its last seven games.
TV: TNT, 10:30 p.m. ET
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (23-17): Dallas is dangerously small with starting center Brendan Haywood nursing a sprained ankle and backup Brandan Wright out with a concussion. The Mavericks have had to dig deep into the bench, leaning on 6-foot-11 Ian Mahinmi under the hoop. Mahinmi has answered the call, scoring nine points in the win over New York and netting 13 points in a loss to Oklahoma City. He’s added a total of 11 rebounds, three blocks and five steals in that two-game span.
ABOUT THE SUNS (17-21): Phoenix was rolling toward an upset Wednesday, ahead of Oklahoma City by 16 points – the largest deficit faced by the Thunder at Chesapeake Energy Arena this season. However, the Thunder went on a 33-9 run to win 115-104 and outscored the Suns 57-40 in the second half. In the five games before that, the Suns outscored opponents by an average of 53.2 to 42 in the final two quarters.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. Mavericks guard Jason Kidd was fined $25,000 for criticizing officials following a 95-91 loss to Oklahoma City.
2. Despite losing eight straight to Dallas, Phoenix still leads the all-time season series 81-71.
3. Phoenix had a three-game winning streak come to an end Wednesday, losing for just the second time in seven games.