Suns at Mavericks
The Phoenix Suns have dropped 13 straight road games and are in danger of being swept on their current four-game excursion. The Suns will try to avoid another losing trip when they wrap things up by visiting the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday.
Phoenix lost to Philadelphia, Cleveland and the New York Knicks by a total of 50 points in the first three games of the road trip and posted its second-lowest point total of the month in a 102-84 setback to the Knicks on Friday. The Suns’ road slide began with a 104-94 loss at the Mavericks on Dec. 14, when Eric Bledsoe was still around and healthy enough to go for 23 points and seven assists in the losing effort. Dallas began a stretch of four of five at home by stifling the Brooklyn Nets in a 91-79 victory on Friday. The Mavericks were without Zaza Pachulia and Dirk Nowitzki in a 127-107 loss at Golden State on Wednesday but had their frontcourt intact against the Nets and held Brooklyn to 35.9 percent from the field.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN Arizona (Phoenix), FSN Southwest (Dallas)
ABOUT THE SUNS (14-34): Phoenix has been without point guard Brandon Knight due to a groin injury the last five games and does not expect him to return during the road trip, leaving Archie Goodwin to fill the hole left by Knight and Bledsoe. Goodwin, a 21-year-old Kentucky product, scored at least 20 points in his first three games with Knight out of the lineup but tailed off in the last two, totaling 18 points on 6-of-25 shooting. Rookie shooting guard Devin Booker was the only starter to score in double figures with 21 points against the Knicks on Friday.
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (27-22): Pachulia was a last-minute addition to the team over the summer after it missed out on DeAndre Jordan in free agency, but he has become a key member of the frontcourt. The veteran center put up 16 points and 12 rebounds on Friday after missing the previous three games with a leg injury and impresses his teammates with his all-around game. “He’s such a clever passer, screener and ball-mover,” Dallas coach Rick Carlisle told reporters of Pachulia. “He’s just very unique. He’s got the mentality of a perimeter player in many ways. And in many ways, he has the mentality of a point guard because he has the ability to see things as they develop and even before they develop at times.”
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Mavericks SG Wesley Matthews failed to score in double digits in any of the last three games and is 8-of-24 from the field in that span.
2. Phoenix SG Jordan McRae made his NBA debut on Friday and scored 12 points in 25 minutes off the bench.
3. Dallas has taken each of the last three meetings.