WHO: Phoenix suns (7-1) vs. Dallas Mavericks (5-3)

When: 5:30 PM Arizona time

Where: American Airlines Center — Dallas, Texas

Watch: ESPN, Arizona’s Family 3TV, Arizona’s Family Sports

Listen:KMVP 98.7

The Phoenix Suns are aiming for their seventh win in a row. What a time to be alive.

They haven’t made it easy for themselves, with several wins and heroic efforts from their stars in critical time to close out games. Their 6-0 record in clutch time this season shows they are everything last year’s Suns weren’t in these moments. The early combat testing should only benefit them in the long run as they continue to build chemistry.

Kevin Durant said: “We played a lot of close games. I’m sure Suns fans are on edge every game, but I think it’s good for our team that we can play these games in the fourth quarter and get an insight into what it’s like in crunch time.

Photo by Barry Gossage/NBAE via Getty Images

They face a strong Dallas team in a tough environment at American Airlines Center. The Mavs won their last game against Chicago, led by a 27-point, 13-assist performance from their superstar Luka Doncic.

Phoenix defeated the same Mavericks team 114-102 earlier this season at the Footprint Center. Durant had 31 in the win. Doncic had 40 points despite the loss, and his teammates on defense Kyrie Irving (22) and Klay Thompson (19) combined for 41 points.

Likely starters

Injury report

Sunbathing

• Bradley Beal – PROBABLY (right elbow pain)
• Ryan Dunn – Questionable (single)

Mon

• Dereck Lively II — OUT (shoulder)
• Maxi Kleber — OUT (Hamstring)
• PJ Washington – OUT (knee)
• Dante Exum – OUT (wrist)

Uniform match

What to pay attention to

The Big 3 Battle

Dallas has their own “Big 3” with Kyrie, Klay and Luka. In their last meeting against the Suns, that trio scored 81 points and hit 12 threes. The rest of the Mavericks combined to score just 21 points on 9 of 30 shooting (30%). For those following at home, that’s *checks notes* not good! Well, for the sun, yes. Let’s hope that happens again.

Phoenix, meanwhile, trailed Bradley Beal and had six players score 8 or more points, including 31 from Kevin Durant. Ryan Dunn gave them some excellent minutes that night, scoring 13 points to start Beal.

With Beal listed as probable, they will need him to step up, especially on defense where he has made great strides this season. I’m also here for the Boek vs. Klay battle. Those are always fun.

Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images

“The Others”

Dallas will have some key pieces in Dante Exum, Dereck Lively II, Maxi Kleber and PJ Washington. The Suns will be without rookie Ryan Dunn, which is a tough blow for a team that has struggled to disrupt Luka Doncic.

Phoenix should stick to the same game plan by inviting the role players to beat them. Dallas had 22 assists to Phoenix’s 26 and was caught in iso-ball several times, stalling the momentum.

Phoenix’s role players will need to hit the road plain and simple. I believe the stars will be stars on each side, but the game will be decided by which team trio gets the most help, especially from the three-point line and the defensive side of the ball. Who’s going to make plays?

Nurkic vs. Gafford

Jusuf Nurkic had his now the second-best game of the young season (after his last outing) against the Mavs, with 18 points, 14 rebounds and one block in 30 minutes on 7 of 12 shooting. He will look to build a strong game and more confidence against a team he has already played well against this season.

Photo by Kate Frese/NBAE via Getty Images

Gafford was given just 18 minutes and Lively was given 21 minutes as they searched for answers to slow down Nurkic and the Suns domestically. With Lively absent tonight, this will be a match to watch. Dallas doesn’t have many big names to throw low, especially with Kleber, Washington and Lively all out.

Phoenix didn’t necessarily have a great game in their last meeting, but they were solid in all four quarters and did enough to build their lead quarter by quarter heading into the 4th. Let’s hope they do that again.

Prediction

The good times continue and the Suns beat Dallas in a hard-fought slugfest. I predict this will be a high-scoring affair.

Phoenix 123, Dallas 120

Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images