Stats Rundown: 3 numbers from the Mavericks throttling of the Suns

Dec 6, 2022 - 5:34 AM

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It was a comfortable victory for the Dallas Mavericks Monday night, squashing the West-leading Phoenix Suns 130-111 in Dallas.

Luka Doncic led all scorers with 33 points, the Mavericks still can’t miss from three, and the defense is finally showing some life again.

Let’s just get to the fun part.

5: Number of Josh Green assists

Josh Green’s 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting were certainly nice, but his passing and five assists were what really stood out in the win Monday night.

Green was assertive and aggressive all night attacking closeouts and taking the ball to the basket — exactly what the Mavericks need more of around Luka Doncic. He made multiple slick passes to corner shooters for made three pointers and genuinely looked like the dynamic role player the Mavericks have been searching for the last four years.

It’s easy to get carried away with Green, especially when he makes it look easy like he did against the Suns. That’s now 10 combined assists for Green in his last two games.

20: Mavericks made three pointers

Just a few days removed from making a season-high 24 three pointers against the Knicks on Saturday, the Mavericks kept up their hot shooting with a 20-of-41 performance.

Dallas is scolding hot from behind the arc, thanks once again to Tim Hardaway Jr. and Doncic, who combined to go 9-of-18 from three. Hardaway has now made five or more three pointers in four straight games.

10: Jaden Hardy points scored in 2:25

The Mavericks talented rookie created some late-game fireworks, checking into the game with 2:25 left in the fourth quarter and immediately going to work, scoring 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting.

Hardy didn’t attempt a single three, and instead attack the basket. He made back-to-back and-1s and put on a show for the crowd that didn’t want to beat the traffic. Hardy has scored 15 points in just nine minutes of game action the last two games. While it might be early to say Hardy needs regular rotation minutes, if Hardy keeps this up when his number is called in garbage time, he might force coach Jason Kidd’s hand to give him a more significant role.

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