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    • Kevin Durant and Nurkic lead Suns to their seventh straight win at Mavericks
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    Kevin Durant and Nurkic lead Suns to their seventh straight win at Mavericks

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    Kevin Durant’s 26 points and Jusuf Nurkic’s free throw with 0.8 seconds left led the Phoenix Suns (8-1) to a 114-113 victory over the Dallas Mavericks (5-4) on Friday.

    The victory marks the Suns’ seventh consecutive victory, their best start since 2009, and their second straight win over the Mavericks since being defeated at home on October 26.

    All Suns starters and backup forward Royce O’Neale (18 points) scored in double figures. The Mavericks’ Luka Doncic had a game-high 30 and Kyrie Irving threw in 29.

    Nurkic (15 points, game-high 10 boards) rebounded a floater in the paint from O’Neale, then attempted a putback layup but was fouled at the end of regulation. The play was reviewed to determine whether Nurkic got the shot before the buzzer and the officials ruled to put 0.8 seconds back on the clock.

    Nurkic made one of the two free throws. Then Doncic missed the final shot from deep, sealing the Suns’ victory.

    The Suns, now atop the NBA Western Conference standings, play their next game at home against the Sacramento Kings (5-3) on Sunday at 6 p.m.

    Mavericks surge, Suns answer late in third quarter

    Phoenix leads 87-83 going into the fourth.

    Durant scored 11 of his 20 points for Phoenix in the third, and the Mavericks’ Doncic has a game-high 26.

    After the Suns led by 10 at the 10:28 mark, the Mavericks eventually increased the score to 73-71 led by Doncic’s 10 points during that run. Durant and the Suns immediately answered that surge with their 8-0 run to regain the lead just after four minutes, and held it for the remainder of the period.

    Booker and Suns maintain large lead in second quarter

    The Suns hold a 63-50 lead over the Mavericks at halftime.

    Booker and their backup swingman Royce O’Neale are tied for a team-high 11 points, and starting point guard Tyus Jones has 10 points and four assists. Booker also has a team-high eight assists.

    Doncic has a game-high 16 points for the Mavericks and had an impressive cross-court bounce pass to Klay Thompson for an and-one layup.

    The Suns started the second period with a blast from Josh Okogie’s driving slam over big Daniel Gafford. Okogie and O’Neale are part of their productive bench, outscoring the Maverick reserves 21-3.

    Suns bomb from 3 in the 1st quarter

    Phoenix closed the first quarter on a 13-4 run, fueled by their hot three-point shooting to lead Dallas 36-26.

    The Suns shot 8 of 13 from deep and shot a stellar 61.9% overall, led by point guard Tyus Jones (eight points), Kevin Durant (seven points), Jusuf Nurkic (six points, two 3s) and Devin Booker ( five points, four assists).

    Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic led Dallas with eight and seven points, respectively.

    The Suns gained their largest lead of 12 in the final minute of the first.

    Starting lineups

    Booker (disease) has been upgraded to available. The Suns will go with their usual starters, including Booker, Tyus Jones, Bradley Beal, Kevin Durant and Jusuf Nurkic.

    The Mavericks open with Doncic, Irving, Klay Thompson, Naji Marshall and Daniel Gafford.

    Booker questionable for Suns

    Booker (illness) is listed as questionable. Rookie forward Ryan Dunn (sprained left ankle) is questionable for Phoenix. Beal (sprained right elbow) is listed as likely to play.

    Dallas center Dereck Lively II (shoulder), power forwards Maxi Kleber (hamstring) and PJ Washington (knee), and Dante Exum (wrist surgery) are out.

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