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Even before the game started there were some new wrinkles thrown in. Alex Len was not going to play because of a hip injury so Earl Watson shifted Marquese Chriss from the starting 4 to the starting 5 and added Derrick Jones Jr. to the starting lineup at power forward. The game was close throughout with quite a few lead changes but Booker put this one into the win column in the last second.
Devin Booker dropped 36 points on the Mavs tonight and hit the winning shot at the end. Need I say more?
BOOKER CALLS GAME#WeArePHX pic.twitter.com/dTxPEfSgGl
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) March 12, 2017
Of course I'll say more but that basically says it all.
I was surprised that the Suns resisted the urge to play Tyson Chandler in this game with Alex Len out but they didn't do it. They just switched Chriss over to the 5 and gave Derrick Jones Jr. his first NBA start at the 4. Jones only scored 2 points tonight but was a defensive pest and grabbed 7 rebounds while he was on the court.
Jones, Chriss and T.J. Warren all got into foul trouble tonight but hung in and didn't foul out. Chriss only had 5 points but grabbed 8 rebounds and got 3 blocks. Warren added 16 points and 8 rebounds.
Off the bench Big Sauce failed to add to his double-double total but still added 10 points, 5 rebounds and 2 blocks. Tyler Ulis added 8 points, 5 assists, 3 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 block.
Eric Bledsoe had a bit of an off night but still added 12 points and 6 assists. He was 4 of 16 from the field tonight and 1 of 4 from three.
Dirk Nowitzki and Harrison Barnes led the Mavs tonight with 23 points each.
The Suns almost gave this game away by giving Dallas 36 attempts at the free throw line. They hit 33 of their 36 attempts while they only allowed the Suns to get to the charity stripe for 20 attempts (the Suns were 18 of 20 from the line tonight).
The Suns hit 46.9% of their field goal attempts tonight while the Mavericks hit only 37.8% of their attempts.
I could say that was the difference in the Suns getting a win tonight...
But I love saying that it was Booker's last second shot that won it much, much more.