Suns forward Kevin Durant reacts after taking a shot against the Mavericks in the second half.

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PHOENIX — The last time the Suns played an official game at Footprint Center, they stepped on a banana peel and lost four in a row to Minnesota in the first round of the 2024 playoffs. Frank Vogel called it “disappointing” and “ there is no other way to say it.”

He was head coach at the time. He isn’t now.

To say the Suns are now aiming for bigger things would be understating the obvious. If it’s possible to have a sense of urgency going into a home opener, that was the case Saturday as the Suns were eager to set the tone for 2024-2025.

The first sign was ominous: Bradley Beal was out with a sore elbow for a team that struggled with injuries last season.

But all was well at the end of the night after a thorough, if not dominant, defeat by the Mavericks.

Here are five takeaways from that 114-102 result and a home launch the Suns hope becomes commonplace.

1. Durant reaches milestone

He didn’t have to drop 31 points to secure his place among the all-time leading scorers in NBA history, but it did bolster his credentials.

Kevin Durant’s team-high output pushed him past 29,000 points for his career. Only seven others have managed to break that threshold, and Durant is still getting buckets.

He is truly a scoring wonder, comfortable all over the floor and not one-dimensional in any way. At 36, Durant seemingly has two or three golden years left, perhaps more since shooters are traditionally the last to go.

“It’s a tribute to a generational talent,” Suns coach Mike Budenholzer said. “He gets into great spots to shoot and score against great defenses. He’s been doing it pretty much his entire career.”

2. Mavs glimpse of a tougher path?

When Dallas reached the NBA Finals last season, it was rightly seen as a breakthrough for the franchise here in the Luka Dončić era. Kyrie Irving arrived to give him a co-star, the Mavs added help to the front line at the trade deadline and played in June.

But in another sense, the Mavs benefited from their own good health and the injuries suffered by other contenders, namely the team that beat them on Saturday.

Devin Booker, Durant and Beal played together for exactly half of the 2023-24 regular season. The Suns had a 26-15 record in those games. Had the three core stars remained reasonably healthy, Phoenix would have won more than 50 games and enjoyed more favorable seeding and matchups in the playoffs.

And it’s not just the suns; the Grizzlies also dealt with a series of injuries and, despite winning more than 50 games in each of the previous two seasons, failed to make the playoffs.

Assuming good health throughout the season, the competition for Dallas has only gotten tougher. And so did the Mavs’ chances to repeat as West champions.

3. With Beal out, Dunn flashes worth

Nothing to worry about from the Suns’ point of view; Beal suffered from a sore left elbow and decided to rest. Still, he missed 29 games last season, when a lack of depth cost Phoenix dearly.

With Beal out Saturday, Budenholzer decided to start a rookie: Ryan Dunn, the Suns’ first-round pick whose assignment was guarding Luka.

The cold facts? Dunn held Luka to 40 points.

But the truth went beyond numbers. Dunn was actually impressive, or as impressive as a rookie can get against last season’s league champion and MVP candidate.

The Suns traded up to get Dunn at No. 28. He is 1.80 meters tall, had defensive qualities and shone during pre-season. Ideally, he would provide what the Suns lost when they dealt Mikal Bridges — coincidentally for Durant.

“Great night for Ryan,” Budenholzer said. “That’s one of the top players he played against in the league. He gets the chance to go into the lab and learn from it. His defense and athleticism were positive. His 3 in the fourth was huge. He photographs with confidence.”

Dunn is valuable to the Suns in another way: financially. He’s a rookie on a cheap contract for a team with a bundle of three players. Adding better players in trade is a challenge for such teams, and free agency is out of the question.

It’s better to be able to draft and develop around Durant, Beal and Booker. Dunn is already an asset in that sense.

4. The Bosnian Beast bounces back

Jusuf Nurkić looked shaky the previous night in LA against Anthony Davis, who did what he set out to do in the Lakers’ comeback win.

So Nurk needed another chance to impress in the early season, which he emphatically did. Other than Durant, Nurk was the most impactful player on the floor for the Suns.

That he did it against the Mavs’ collection of big men made it even more impressive. Nurkić had 18 points and 14 rebounds and there was little Daniel Gafford, PJ Washington or Dereck Lively II could do to prevent this.

“He’s a great teammate and competitor,” Budenholzer said. “He wanted to come back and have that positive impact for us, and he did.”

Nurkić said: “My goal was just to play better, help us win. That was all that mattered.”

5. All is well between Klay, Luka, Kyrie

The chemistry lesson is valued, in every way and according to the one voice that matters.

Klay Thompson’s relationship with Luka and Kyrie Irving was ideal from the start and continued to smooth over time.

“That’s why I’m here,” he said. “An opportunity to be with great players and a great organization.”

Thompson appears to be a good fit through two games: 11-for-22 shooting from deep and an average of 20 points. There’s always a transition period when key players are brought together for the first time, but based on the small sample size so far, it almost seems like they’ve been teammates for years.

“We can grow from this and be a lot better, and right now it’s really good,” Thompson said. “There is so much room for improvement. I am very encouraged by our confidence in each other and what our potential can be.”

Credit Luka for this. As a resident MVP candidate and point guard, he has put Klay at ease and studied to learn the shooter’s tendencies in a short period of time.

“He’s easy,” Klay said. “He’s great.”

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Shaun Powell has covered the NBA for more than 25 years. You can email him herefind his archive here And follow him on X.

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