Visiting Mavs squander a 22-point lead, fall to Phoenix in season-opener for both teams
Andre Johnson 
Throughout a majority of the first half, Mavericks superstar Luka Dončić showed why he’s the odds on favorite to win the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award by scoring 20 of his game-best 35 points before intermission, and newly-acquired big man Christian Wood was as good as advertised in his debut for Dallas, which had its way with the Phoenix Suns through the opening 24 minutes.
However, the Suns, who produced the league’s best regular season record last year, regrouped after a lethargic first-half display and won in a nail-biter, 107-105, Wednesday night at Footprint Center in the season-opener for both teams.
After Damion Lee’s 10-foot baseline jumper broke a 105-105 tie with 9.7 seconds remaining, the Mavericks had one last chance to erase the memory of having squandered a 22-point lead. But Dončić’s 3-point attempt hit the front end of the rim as time expired.
Behind a masterful first-half showing by Dončić, who scored 20 points on 6-of-10 shooting, including 4-of-7 from three-point range, Dallas appeared as it would leave Phoenix with another lopsided win after thoroughly dispatching the Suns by 33 points in the decisive Game 7 of last year’s Western Conference Finals.
But on a night in which the Suns witnessed five players score in double figures, Phoenix manufactured fourth-quarter spurts of 7-0 and 11-0 to complete the comeback before an announced sellout crowd and send Dallas to 0-2 in season-openers under coach Jason Kidd.
The Mavs shot 50 percent in the first half and built a 62-45 halftime lead. But the Suns responded by shooting 50 percent from the field in the third while limiting Dallas to a frigid 33 percent (6-of-18 field shooting) and outscoring the visitors, 31-19, in the quarter.
The Suns went ahead for first time since early in the first quarter when Booker’s floater in the lane put them in front, 101-100, with 3:04 remaining in the fourth, a lead they would never relinquish.
Wood, who scored 16 straight points that bridged the third and fourth quarters, finished with 25 points off the bench in 24-plus minutes, Spencer Dinwiddie had 15 points, and Reggie Bullock added 10 for the Mavs, who host Memphis in their home-opener Saturday at 7:30 p.m. CST in the American Airlines Center.
Booker led Phoenix with a team-high 28 points in 40-plus minutes, Deandre Ayton scored 18, Cameron Johnson 15, Mikal Bridges added 13, and Lee finished with 11 for the Suns, who erased a 15-point deficit in the fourth by shooting 57 percent in the final frame for the Suns, who travel to Portland Friday.
— Andre Johnson
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