Mavs Win Opener
PHOENIX — It’s only one game, but Dirk Nowitzki already likes what he sees of the new-look Dallas Mavericks.
The revamped Phoenix Suns, meanwhile, are definitely still a work in progress.
Nowitzki was one of eight Mavericks in double figures with 11 points and had nine of them in the first three minutes of the third quarter when Dallas broke open the game and hammered the Suns 111-95 in the season opener for both teams Wednesday.
The game was tied at 41 with four minutes left in the first half before the Mavericks outscored the Suns 41-11 over the next 11 minutes to turn the game into a rout. Guard Raymond Felton led Dallas with 18 points but he had plenty of help from Nowitzki and an array of others.
“We expected them to come out in the third quarter and really pick up the pressure and come after us, but we played it smart,” Nowitzki said. “We had two ball handlers out there (Felton and Deron Williams) that could get to the rack, we had some shooting going and that was fun. Our defense was rotating for each other and we got some rebounds and it was fun out there.”
Not much is expected of the 37-year-old Nowitzki and the Mavericks in the rugged Western Conference. But playing without the injured Chandler Parsons and JaVale McGee, they hit 10 of 21 3-pointers, committed only eight turnovers and dished out 24 assists.
“It’s early, but flying under the radar sometimes
isn’t bad,” Nowitzki said. “One website picked us to finish last in the West, so that should be motivation for us. … We’re getting healthier and healthier. We are close to getting Parsons back and we’ll see what McGee can give us. I think we’re a veteran team, a smart team. We have some shot makers and we’re a better shooting team than I can remember in the past.
Guard Brandon Knight had 15 points and reserves Jon Leuer and Devin Booker had 14 each for the Suns, who shot 39 percent from the field and missed 18 of 24 3-pointers, including 13 of their first 16 in the first half. Suns coach Jeff Hornacek said before the game he expects his team, with seven new players, to shoot better and play better defense. Neither happened Wednesday.
“We try to tell the guys ‘Hey just keep hanging in there, the shots will go down.’ Well, they never did,” Hornacek said. “Then the Mavericks started making them and Dirk came out in the second half and it looked easy.
“You’ve got to flush it down the toilet. We’re chalking the early part of the game up to nerves, being jacked up for the first game. It seemed like everyone’s shot was long. So you chalk it up as a bad game and by everybody and you bounce back (Friday against the Portland Trailblazers) and play again.”
Center Tyson Chandler, who had three points and six rebounds in his Phoenix debut against his former Dallas teammates, was disappointed in several aspects of his team’s game.
“Everyone top to bottom can take a piece of this loss,” Chandler said. “We can’t allow our offense to dictate our defense. If we have to win a game 89-80, some nights it will be like that. Some nights you aren’t going to make shots. When you are making shots you have to make efforts in other areas.”
The Suns used its only rally of the second half, a 12-2 run, to pull within 14 at 92-78 on a jumper by guard Eric Bledsoe with just over eight minutes left. But the Mavericks answered with seven straight points in less than a minute, with Felton’s 3-pointer restoring the Dallas lead to 21 at 99-78 with 6:54 left.
“We had eight guys in double figures, which I believe is going to be one of our calling cards,” Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. “We’ve got to have great balance. The big key to the game was keeping turnovers down. We were in attack mode all night and never let up and that’s how we’re going to have to play.”
Williams, who overcame a scare and returned after suffering a left knee injury in the third quarter, had eight first-quarter points and the Mavericks led by as many as five in the first quarter, despite missing 17 of 26 shots from the field. Knight led the Suns with eight points and set up Leuer for a 15-foot jumper at the buzzer to pull the Suns within 24-22.
Phoenix missed 13 of 16 3-pointers in the first half and seven straight during the middle of the second quarter, but still managed to tie the game at 40 when guard Archie Goodwin followed two free throws with a 3-pointer with 4:04 left. But the Mavericks ended the half on a 14-4 run, including five of forward Charlie Villanueva’s 10 points in the quarter. Two free throws by guard Devin Harris with 40 seconds left gave Dallas its biggest lead and a 54-45 advantage at the half.
The Suns never got closer than that the rest of the way.
