Dinwiddie scores 36, Mavs top Suns 99-95 after Doncic hurt

PHOENIX (AP)— Luka Doncic’s early injury on Thursday night gave the DallasMavericks a very valid reason to lose on the road.

Instead,Spencer Dinwiddie responded to the adversity with a season-high 36points, Dorian Finney-Smith added 18 points and 12 rebounds, andthe Mavs held on for a 99-95 victory over the Phoenix Suns.

“It’s just anall-around great team effort,” Finney-Smith said. “Once we foundout (Luka) was out, we just stepped up.”

Dinwiddie’shot shooting helped the Mavs thrive without Doncic, who limped tothe locker room early in the first quarter with a sprained leftankle and didn’t return. The veteran guard shot 10 of 18 from thefield, including 5 of 6 on 3-pointers. He also made 11 freethrows.

The29-year-old didn’t shy from taking the lead scoring role afterDoncic went down. It was the first game the Mavs won this seasonwhen Doncic was injured.

“It’s just ashift in mindset in understanding the volume’s going to come andI’ve got to be more aggressive,” Dinwiddie said.

The Mavs ledthe entire second half but Suns guard Chris Paul made a layup with19.7 seconds left to cut the deficit to 96-95. The Mavs were ableto close it out when Dwight Powell got fouled after grabbing anoffensive rebound and sank his two free throws.

“It was thewhole group defensively,” Mavs coach Jason Kidd said. “To hold ateam like Phoenix under 100 points is a big deal. The guys in thatlocker room should be proud.”

Dinwiddiemade tough shots all night, including a long 3-pointer with a fewseconds left in the third quarter to give the Mavs a 76-69 leadgoing into the fourth. He banked in another 3 with 3:32 left thatput them up 95-86.

Cam Johnsonand Paul led the Suns with 22 points apiece. Deandre Ayton scored19 points and grabbed 20 rebounds, but made just 6 of 20 shots.Paul added 10 assists.

“I thought wewere a bit happy on the farm to be honest with you,” Suns coachMonty Williams said. “We did not bring the same juice, energy andfocus we had been bringing.”

The Mavspushed to a 54-48 halftime lead. Dinwiddie led all scorers with 20points before the break while Johnson had 13 for the Suns.

The Maverickssnapped a six-game losing streak against the Suns in the regularseason, though they beat Phoenix in the Western Conferencesemifinals in seven games in last year’s playoffs.

Phoenix hadits four-game winning streak snapped.

“Tonight wasa battle even though Luka went out,” Ayton said. “I hope he is OK,but those dudes put up a fight man. We were supposed to takeadvantage of this.”

DONCIC HURT

Doncic playedjust three minutes before limping to the locker room during atimeout. The 23-year-old, who was voted an All-Star for the fourthstraight season earlier Thursday, came into the game averaging 33.8points, 9.1 rebounds and 8.6 assists.

He was tryingto make a move close to the basket against Johnson, but stepped onMikal Bridges’ foot before passing the ball and limping away. Kiddcalled for a timeout and the 6-foot-7 guard slowly made his way tothe locker room.

Kidd saidDoncic was in “good spirits” after the game.

“He lookedgood, he looked fine,” Kidd said. “But we’ll see how he feels as wego forward.”

TIP-INS

Mavericks: FMaxi Kleber (hamstring) and F Christian Wood (thumb) were out.

Suns: GuardsDevin Booker (groin), Cameron Payne (foot) and Landry Shamet (foot)were out. ... Hosted their 52nd straight sellout. ... Williams used13 players.