The Phoenix Suns lost their season opener against the Dallas Mavericks 111-95.
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“It was a tremendous team effort”, Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said.
The Suns won their first two season openers under coach Jeff Hornacek, who can be the only Suns coach other than John MacLeod to do so in his first three years with a win tonight.
Things only got worse from there as Dallas ripped off a 29-9 spurt and Phoenix’s defense allowed Dirk Nowitzki to stroke it like it was 2007.
The lesson in 2015 was the same lesson offered in 2012 when Cuban famously swung and missed on Dwight Howard and Deron Williams: Marquee free agents want a chance at a title.
Rookie Devin Booker scored 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting for the Suns, all in the second half.
Chandler is one of the best pick-and-roll finishers in the league, and his ability to draw defensive attention when he rolls to the rim in Phoenix should make life easier for Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight in the two-man game, and it should create more open shots on the perimeter for guys like Markieff Morris and P.J. Tucker.
Nowitzki started slowly, scoring just two points in the first half, but he got into a rhythm after the break, going 4-for-6 from the field to end with 11 points.
Under Butcher, the Angels had nine different starting pitchers who were named AL All-Stars and the team’s starters led the AL with 590 victories.
Phoenix managed a run late.
Welcome back to another season of “Four in the Morning”, our overnight feature that spotlights four crucial kernels of information from the previous evening’s game.
“We stayed in attack mode all night and never let up”, Carlisle said, “and that is how we are going to have to play”. The Suns’ Archie Goodwin made a 3-pointer to tie it 41-41 4:04 before the break.
James Harden led Houston with 22 points, but made just 6 of 21 shots and was 2 of 12 from 3-point range. “He wanted to prove to people he could get back and start the season”.
“I think everybody from top to bottom can take a piece of this loss”, said the Suns’ Tyson Chandler, who has twice left Dallas in free agency over the past four years.
However, Williams, Matthews and Chandler Parsons may not be in uniform in tonight’s game because of injuries.
– After taking a 54-45 lead into halftime, the Mavericks blew the doors off in the third quarter.
Deron Williams injured his knee but might be able to play Friday. Only seven times all last season did they have fewer than eight giveaways. Three years ago, the Mavericks were expected to be first-round fodder for San Antonio, and they ended up pushing the Spurs to seven games. In fact, all 13 active Suns players entered the game before the second quarter was halfway over because of the number of whistles blown against them.
Granted, a single win doesn’t a playoff team make, but there’s no mistaking the veteran presence of the Mavericks who managed to turn the ball over just eight times, or once per double-digit scorer.
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The Mavs will have a chance to give Carlisle his 340th win Thursday night against the Los Angeles Clippers in what should be a highly anticipated one considering what occurred with the Mavericks and DeAndre Jordan this past summer.
