Fewer turnovers, Jusuf Nurkic shows up, KD hits 29K in Suns win

On By Littum

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The Phoenix Suns shared and protected the ball, Jusuf Nurkic emerged and rookie Ryan Dunn shined in his first career start.

Those performances were all part of the Suns’ 114-102 home opener over the Dallas Mavericks.

The night began with a moment of silence for “The Voice of the Suns” Al McCoy and continued with the Suns responding well to a meltdown loss Friday at the Los Angeles Lakers, blowing a 22-point lead.

Playing its third game in four days, Phoenix (2-1) led by as many as 15 points and withstood a 40-point outburst from Luka Doncic to take down the Mavs (1-1) in the second of a back-to-back.

The Suns had 26 assists and just 11 turnovers that led to just 11 Dallas points after being loose and careless with the ball in their first two games.

Kevin Durant reached 29,000 points and went for 31 along with nine rebounds. With 29,010 points, Durant is now the eighth player in NBA history to reach that milestone, joining LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Dirk Nowitzki and Wilt Chamberlain.

Devin Booker posted 21 points and went 11 of 12 from the line. Nurkic posted a double-double of 18 points and 14 boards after a terrible performance Friday against the Lakers, and Dunn added 13 points in his first career start in place of Bradley Beal.

Grayson Allen (personal reasons), Josh Okogie (right hamstring) and Beal (right elbow soreness) did not play Saturday. Dunn took on the challenge of guarding Doncic. He was thrown into the fire, cooked, but continued to compete and influence the victory.

Here are three takeaways from Saturday’s game as the Suns play their fourth game in six days on Monday against the Lakers.

Still sharing the ball, but fewer turnovers

The Suns committed 22 turnovers in their Wednesday opener, leading to 16 points to the Los Angeles Clippers, and 17 turnovers on Friday, which the Lakers turned into 26 points.

Coach Mike Budenholzer likes how his Suns try to share the ball, but he wanted better decision-making.

“Decision making,” Budenholzer said before Saturday’s game. “I think we just have to be smart. We probably have to be more conscious of just making good decisions, good reads. Maybe not trying to put it in little cracks. Sometimes just really unforced turnovers.”

The Suns made better decisions, shared the ball and didn’t give it away as often. Part of that was running their offense with pace, better screens and more accurate movement.

They played with more goals in that end. Second, Tyus Jones initiated the offense more by finishing with seven assists to zero turnovers in 31 minutes.

When Jones has the ball, the Suns actually run more designed plays instead of Durant or Booker starting the offense with a screen-and-roll. The other four guys tend to just watch rather than move.

Nurkic made Budenholzer look like a prophet

As for Nurkic, he had a terrible game in Friday’s 123-116 loss at the Lakers, getting just four points on 1-of-5 shooting, four turnovers and four fouls in just 18 minutes.

Anthony Davis gave Nurkic and the Suns the business with a dominant 35-point performance. The Suns closed the game to go small with Kevin Durant at the five – fully realizing that Davis has a size advantage.

After the game, Budenholzer not only defended Nurkic, but added, “He gets his nights.”

Nurkic had a much better one Saturday with a double-double, shooting 7-of-12 from the field in 30 minutes. He started slowly and still missed from 3 at 0-for-2 and the line at 4-of-8, but was more active, not nearly as reckless as he was against the Lakers.

The 7-footer finished a dive at the basket and used his size to score over the more athletic but thinner Dereck Lively II. He scored 12 straight points late in the second quarter on 5-of-5 shooting from the field, going 1-of-2 from the line to give Phoenix a 66-53 halftime lead.

In the second half, Nurkic came up with big defensive and offensive rebounds in the fourth and delivered a dribble handoff to rookie Ryan Dunn for a 3 that gave the Suns a 99-90 lead with 7:38 left.

He then had a big block on Naji Marshall, who was initially called for a foul, but Budenholzer challenged the call and won it, giving Phoenix possession, up 108-100 with 2:29 left in the game.

Nurkic has been playing with a splint on his hand after missing most of the preseason with a left middle finger injury. He still had five turnovers and he needs to be better. He was better in every other area on Saturday.

Beal is the starter, but Dunn earns minutes

Dunn playing well in place of Beal has some people on social media calling for the rookie to start.

It doesn’t happen.

Beal is the 13-year veteran who came to Phoenix via trade to be a major contributor to a championship contender. He had a great opener, scoring 24, and he got the start against the Lakers.

However, Dunn earned more minutes with Saturday’s performance.

He took shots with confidence, had a huge follow-up dunk, and his challenge on Daniel Gafford’s dunk attempt showed that he will challenge anyone, whether they are much bigger.

He’s still a rookie though, and it showed when he committed five errors.

Granted, Doncic makes life miserable for anyone who tries to stop him. Lots of lessons learned, but just think of it this way: Those five fouls — four of which come while guarding Doncic — could have gone to Booker or Durant or someone else.

Budenholzer started Dunn in part because Royce O’Neale gives the second unit some stability and toughness.

O’Neale’s hard driving layup at one end, followed by a block at the other on Jaden Hardy as time expired in the third quarter, gave Phoenix a 91-80 lead and momentum to power through the fourth quarter on a back-to-back .

O’Neale could easily have started, but Dunn was the right choice on Saturday night. At 6-8, Dunn gives the Suns more size and relieves Booker and Durant from having to guard Doncic.

Beal will start when he returns, but the Suns are fully aware of the difference Dunn can make and how much they need him to grow and improve to help them now and down the road.

(This story was updated to add new information.)

Do you have opinions about the current state of the sun? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at [email protected] or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.

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