Mavericks drop Suns 104-94 as comeback attempt falls short

Turnovers, poor shooting, and an overall lackluster performance doomed the Suns in Dallas tonight, as they lost to the Mavs 104-94. The Suns were able to remain within striking distance until a third quarter avalanche buried them in a 19 point deficit. A fourth quarter push from the bench fell short, dropping the Suns to 11-15 in what is increasingly looking like another lost season.

The Mavs' backcourt tandem of Deron Williams and Raymond Felton more than held their own against the more heralded Suns duo. Williams scored 18 and Felton 17. Dirk Nowitzki had a relatively quiet night with 14, but the Mavs had plenty of firepower to dispatch of a Suns team playing such sloppy offense. Williams led six Mavs scorers in double figures.

16 turnovers and 41% shooting put the Suns at a disadvantage they couldn't overcome. Bledsoe scored 23, Knight totaled 12, but the Suns offense sputtered and stumbled all night.

In search of any spark, coach Jeff Hornacek took Sonny Weems and Archie Goodwin out of mothballs and gave them minutes in the second half. Each player had some nice moments, and ignited a rally, combining for 15 points.

Mirza Teletovic put up a goose egg with 0 points on 0-5 shooting, T.J. Warren was again mostly invisible and, well, the only player I'd say had a good game was the steady Jon Leuer before Weems and Goodwin led the too little, too late charge in the fourth.

Fret not, fans. Perhaps tomorrow holds better things for our Suns. Maybe they will finally remove a certain disgruntled, underperforming power forward from their roster. It might not produce any more wins, but it should at least provide the relief of closure.