Phoenix Suns (15-7) vs. Dallas Mavericks (11-11)

The 2022-23 NBA season goes on Monday, December 5, with the marquee Western Conference showdown between the Phoenix Suns and Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, with the tip-off at 8:30 PM ET.

Phoenix meets Dallas for the second time this season, and the Suns outlasted the Mavericks 107-105 as 4-point home favorites with a total of 218.5 points on October 19. The Suns head to Dallas without Cameron Johnson (knee), while Chris Paul (heel) and Torrey Craig (groin) are doubtful to play. On the other side, the Mavs listed Christian Wood (non-COVID illness) as questionable.

The Suns play without rest
Sunday’s contests have been excluded from the analysis, and the 15-7 Phoenix Suns visited the lowly San Antonio Spurs, hoping to bounce back from a surprising 122-121 home defeat to the Houston Rockets. Last Friday, Phoenix put an end to its six-game winning streak, playing as huge 12-point favorites against the hapless Rockets. The Suns blew a 16-point second-half lead despite 52.9% shooting from the field and 45.9% from beyond the arc (17-for-37).
Phoenix was outscored 62-40, sending the Rockets to the free-throw line a whopping 43 times. Devin Booker led the way for the Suns with 41 points and eight assists, Cameron Payne had a double-double of 20 points and 12 assists, while Mikal Bridges added 22 points.

“Offensive rebounds and free throws. Fourth quarter they scored 36,” Payne said. “We’ve got to keep him off the boards, off the free throw line.”

Devin Booker has been unstoppable of late, averaging 34.8 points on 52.1% shooting from the field and 41.1% from downtown through his last eight appearances. Over his previous three games, Booker has dropped 44 points on Sacramento, 51 on Chicago, and 41 on Houston. The Suns boast the second-highest offensive rating in the NBA, notching 117.8 points per 100 possessions.

The Mavs won two of their last three games
After stopping their four-game slide with a 116-113 home victory over the Golden State Warriors, the Dallas Mavericks (11-11; 6-15-1 ATS) returned to losing ways with a disappointing 131-125 overtime defeat at the lowly Detroit Pistons on the first day of December. Two days later, the Mavs trounced the New York Knicks 121-100 as 1.5-point road favorites, holding their rivals to 41 second-half points.
Dallas forced New York into 20 turnovers and allowed just 18 assists. The Mavs made 24 of a staggering 61 attempts from beyond the arc while handing out 27 dishes and committing just 11 turnovers. Luka Doncic accounted for 30 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists, Tim Hardaway Jr. had 28 points (8-for-13 from deep), while Spencer Dinwiddie posted a terrific line of 17 points, nine boards, nine assists, and zero turnovers.

“I think it’s great that everyone’s in the locker room smiling,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said. “Everybody saw the ball go in, we shared the ball, we played the right way. … We’re a team that lives or dies by the 3, and today we made them.”

The Mavs are taking the second-most 3-point attempts per 100 possessions in the NBA (41.9). They are scoring 114.0 points per 100 possessions (tied-9th) on 46.8% shooting from the field (tied-17th) and 35.1% from beyond the 3-point line (17th). The Mavericks rank 28th in the league in assists (21.6) and first in turnovers per game (12.8).