Kyrie Irving made five 3-pointers and scored 20 points as the Dallas Mavericks defeated the Phoenix Suns 98-89 on Friday, despite playing without Luka Doncic, who is sidelined with a calf injury.
Daniel Gafford scored 16 points, Maxi Kleber contributed 15 points and seven rebounds, and Spencer Dinwiddie also added 15 points to help the Mavericks win their 15th game in 19 tries. Klay Thompson had 11 points, six rebounds, and five assists as Dallas began a four-game road trip with a win.
Doncic is expected to miss at least a month after injuring his left calf during a Christmas Day game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Mavericks are 7-2 without him this season.
Kevin Durant scored 35 points for the Suns, who have lost four of their last five games. Royce O’Neale added 14 points off the bench, and Bradley Beal scored 11 points on 5-of-18 shooting.
Phoenix star Devin Booker (left groin strain) missed his fourth straight game, and Grayson Allen (concussion) missed his third consecutive contest.
The Suns shot 38.6 percent from the field, including 13 of 35 from 3-point range. Dallas shot 43.8 percent and was 12-of-34 from behind the arc. Irving finished 6-of-21 from the field after making his first four shots.
Dallas also played without Dereck Lively II (left hip).
Early in the third quarter, there was a brief altercation involving Naji Marshall and P.J. Washington of the Mavericks and Jusuf Nurkic of the Suns, which led to their ejections.
Nurkic and Marshall exchanged punches, and Washington shoved Nurkic to the floor with 9:02 left in the period.
Irving later scored five points during an 8-0 run, helping Dallas take a 70-52 lead with 3:45 left in the third. Phoenix responded with a 12-2 run, trimming the deficit to 72-64 entering the final quarter.
O’Neale’s three-pointer brought the Suns within 81-75 with 6:32 to play, but Dallas answered with nine straight points to push their lead to 15.
Phoenix made a late push, closing the gap to eight, but Gafford dunked twice in eight seconds to seal the win, putting the Mavericks up 96-84 with 1:11 remaining.
Irving scored 12 points on four 3-pointers in the first quarter as Dallas led 28-25. The Mavericks finished the half on a 7-0 run, including a basket by Marshall with 5.1 seconds left, to lead 55-39 at halftime.
Irving had 15 points at the break for Dallas, while Durant had 13 for Phoenix.
