Mavericks 109, Suns 99
PHOENIX -- Even without Dirk Nowitzki, the Dallas Mavericks continue to own the Phoenix Suns.
O.J. Mayo had 20 points, Darren Collison added 19 points and six assist and Vince Carter led a huge night for the Dallas bench with 17 as the Mavericks rallied from 10 points down in the third quarter and beat the Phoenix Suns for the second time in six days, 109-99, on Friday.
The Mavericks have won all three meetings against Phoenix this season -- two of them without Nowitzki, who sat out with an adductor strain -- have now beaten the Suns in 11 of the past 12 meetings.
Jae Crowder had 13 points and Brandan Wright also reached double figures with 11 as the Dallas bench poured in 52 points and took the game over early in the fourth quarter.
Besides Nowitzki, the Mavericks played without Chris Kaman (concussion) and the team arrived in Phoenix at 3 a.m. after losing to Golden State on Thursday in Oakland.
Shannon Brown had 20 points off the bench for Phoenix and Goran Dragic toyed with a second career triple-double before settling for 19 points, eight rebounds and nine assists. The Suns gave up seven offensive rebounds and 35 points in the fourth quarter alone, unable to get any stops down the stretch.
The Suns took their last lead of the game at 81-80 on a Luis Scola layup with 9:37 left, but Carter put Dallas ahead to stay with a 3-pointer and Dallas, who never led against the Warriors, took over down the stretch.
Phoenix led by as many as six in the first period behind the play of Dragic, who had 10 points and four assists. Mayo countered with nine of his 12 first-half points for the Mavericks.
Coming off a 27-point game against the Lakers Wednesday, Michael Beasley went back to his struggling ways in the first half -- missing 7 of 8 shots, committing two turnovers.
Brown had nine of his 11 first-half points in the second quarter when Phoenix led by as many as seven, but Dallas ended the half on an 11-6 run and tied the game at 54 on two Collison free throws with 8.1 seconds left.
The Suns opened the third quarter strong and took their biggest lead of the game at 71-61 on a Marcin Gortat layup with 4:45 left. The Mavericks closed the quarter on a 13-4 run and took a lead at 74-73 on a Wright basket with 52.2 seconds left.
NOTES -- Kaman missed his third consecutive game with a concussion. ... Nowitzki suffered the injury late on Tuesday in Portland, but was unable to get loose before Thursday's Golden State game and has missed 28 games this season. ... Beasley has averaged 18.2 points and 5.4 rebounds in the first five games since Lindsey Hunter replaced Alvin Gentry as Suns coach. ... Beasley has struggled much of the season, but his seven efforts of 20 points or more are only one behind team leaders Scola and Dragic. ... Hunter was looking to begin his coaching career with three straight home wins to join Jerry Colangelo (1970), John Wetzel (1987), Paul Westphal (1992) and Scott Skiles (1999) as Suns coaches who have managed that feat. ... Jermaine O'Neal missed his sixth straight game since being diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat.
