Mavs Game Observations: Game 9 vs Suns

Frustrations boiling

Photo by Sam Hodde / Getty Images

Frustrating. That’s the one word to describe how the Mavericks lost their fourth game of the season, falling 114-113 to the Suns. Jusuf Nurkić grabbed an offensive rebound and was fouled with 0.8 seconds left, sinking a free throw to seal the win.

Frustrating is also the best word to summarize Jason Kidd's post-game rant—both in capturing his thoughts and the way he threw his team under the bus.

I won’t doubt Kidd; he’s proven too many times that he knows how to hold the locker room together and press the right buttons. Hopefully, this was the wake-up call the Mavericks needed.

The turnaround will need to come soon, as the ailing Mavericks have fallen to 5-4 and are heading into a tough stretch, where they’ll face three other Western contenders—Denver, Golden State, and OKC—all on the road over the next eight days.

---

Today’s notes:

1. Outrebounded at a critical moment—again

2. Suns' shooting and Mavs' lack of it lead to another bad start

3. The chess match against a roaming Durant continues

4. Luka stepping up to the challenge on defense (🎞️VIDEO)

5. No trust in bench

Bonus points: Naji Marshall keeps shining; plus Kyrie Irving, the master of efficiency

---

1- Outrebounded at a critical moment—again

There were other bad decisions made down the stretch, but in a game between two evenly matched teams, one thing stands out: the Mavericks’ ongoing inability to secure the rebound after getting a stop. Even more frustrating, as Kidd pointed out, is that many of these rebounds come at crucial times.

Last night, Nurkić grabbed two key rebounds over Daniel Gafford in the final minute, both leading to second-chance points. Kidd also mentioned a similar situation in the game against the Pacers, when Myles Turner secured a clutch rebound over Gafford, resulting in an open three for Tyrese Haliburton.

My observations about Gafford being one of the worst defensive rebounding centers in the NBA are well documented. I highlighted this issue when Dallas traded for him, and again over the summer, as the struggles continued in his first season in Dallas, in his 2024-25 Player Card. We’re seeing the same pattern this season, the pattern of teams allowing significantly more offensive rebounds when Gafford is on the floor—and it’s costing the Mavericks dearly. According to on/off stats from Cleaning the Glass, Gafford has ranked in the bottom 1st to 12th percentile among bigs in every one of his eight seasons.

2- Suns' shooting and Mavs' lack of it lead to another bad start

In my preview, I mentioned that the Suns are one of the best shooting teams in the NBA. In the first quarter, that was on full display, as the Suns punished the Mavericks’ “pack the paint” defensive strategy by moving the ball and hitting 8 of their first 13 shots. When Nurkić—whom Dallas dared to shoot—made his first two, it was clear the Mavs were in for a long night.

The Mavs' lack of urgency and sloppy rotations (another source of Kidd's post-game frustration) contributed to this early deficit, though the Suns' shooting cooled off after their hot start. However, by the end, it was the Suns' role players—Royce O'Neal, who went 4-for-4, and Tyus Jones, 3-for-5 from three—who hit more shots than their Mavericks counterparts.

Phoenix shot 39 percent from three, while Dallas managed just 33 percent. The Suns had a 12-point margin from beyond the arc in a game decided by just one point.

3- The chess match against a roaming Durant continues

In the scouting section of the preview, I highlighted coach Budenholzer's tactic of empowering Durant to roam off the Mavericks' least threatening shooter—be it P.J. Washington in previous game, or Naji Marshall, Olivier-Maxence Prosper, and Kessler Edwards in this one—to pack the paint. This strategy, combined with Nurkić's drop coverage, forced the Mavericks into plenty of dreaded mid-range shots.