Final Score: Dallas Mavericks 109, Phoenix Suns 99

It was a sleepy game between these two teams, neither coming out with a lot of grit or tight execution. They traded little runs of shot-making and longer runs of shot-missing.

Neither team was happy with a big lead, or even a small one for that matter, with 12 lead changes and 8 ties.

Eventually the Mavericks pulled away on better outside shooting. They scored all but 26 of their points on jumpers outside the paint, while the Suns missed shots both short and long without favoritism.

Goran Dragic led the Suns with 19 points, 9 assists and 8 rebounds (though only 2, 0 and 0 in the fourth). Shannon Brown had 20 points on 7 of 11 shooting. Jared Dudley had 17 points (9 in the first quarter). Luis Scola had 18 points and 8 rebounds.

Ultimately it was Dallas' night punctuated by Dragic's frustrated-filled technical foul

The Suns high water mark was a 10-point third quarter lead (71-61), only to go into the offensive tank and allow a 13-4 run to end the quarter with only a 1 point lead (75-74).

Michael Beasley, despite playing better lately, has not had 2 good shooting games in a row. Tonight he missed 11 of his 13 shots. Hunter stuck with him a long time, but finally pulled him out at the 6-minute mark of the 4th.

Goran Dragic was the only Suns standout for much of the game, with 17 points, 8 assists and 8 rebounds in the first three quarters. Unfortunately, despite being set up for the Suns first triple-double of the season, Dragic did little in the 4th.

The Suns may have set a record for misses inside three feet tonight (12 in the first three quarters). Marcin Gortat was clearly still recovering from food poisoning, which held him out of practice yesterday and probably cost him a few precious pounds of sand in his bucket. He missed bunny after bunny, though he wasn't alone. Gortat was clearly not himself, finishing with 16 and 7 but he should have done much better against Elton Brand.

Goran Dragic played great in the first half, with 10 points, 4 assists and 4 rebounds in the first quarter alone. Jared Dudley was on fire as well, making 4 of 5 shots for 9 points in the first but then cooling off in the second on 0-2 shooting.

Dallas kept it close with hot shooting (more than 50% in the first quarter) including 4 of 6 3-point attempts, and both teams scored a good offensive quarter: 31-29 Suns.

The second quarter started out as a slugfest, or the guys just stopping making many baskets on either team. The Suns took an early 7-point lead on the back of nice passing by rookie Kendall Marshall and shot-making by SG Shannon Brown. But Dallas came back while the Suns totally cooled off.

The story of the game.

You wouldn't think Dallas was poor on the road, would you?