The Dallas Mavericks came into tonight’s game against the Phoenix Suns looking to end their five-game homestand on a positive note, while also seeking some measure of revenge for their loss to the Suns in the second game of the season. After falling behind early, the Mavs staged a furious comeback but ultimately fell short in large part due to their inability to secure rebounds after getting stops, which gave the Suns far too many second-chance points. The Mavs registered a losing record (2-3) in their five-game homestand and fell to 5-4 on the season overall, while the Suns remained red-hot and now hold a 2-0 lead in the season series. This is interesting to assess, because many small things played a role in the evaluations. Let’s get to the numbers!

Luka Doncic: B+

30 points / 7 rebounds / 7 assists / 1 steal / 0 blocks

For the most part, Luka put up his usual impressive numbers, even finding his shooting stroke from three (despite missing a distant potential game-winner) where he went 5-for-12, but the box score doesn’t tell the whole story in this case. An. He was blown to the defensive end far too often, which either resulted in an easy layup or otherwise collapsed the defense, resulting in an open mid-range jumper or three. On a night where the team shot 51.2%, you’d like to see some more ball movement and a higher number of assists.

Kyrie Irving: A

29 points / 7 rebounds / 6 assists / 3 steals / 0 blocks

Kyrie did just about everything tonight. He held his ground all night, making ridiculous finishes and three-pointers that looked good before he let them go, while also defending aggressively. The hot three-point shooting we were used to cooled off a bit tonight, though he shot 58.8% overall on 17 shots. His very uncharacteristic misses on two free throws would ironically have been the difference in the final score.

Klay Thompson: C+

12 points / 4 rebounds / 2 assists / 0 steals / 0 blocks

Thompson had a fun game and did all the little things, including some really nice passes and some solid defense. Unfortunately, he had a bad game doing the main thing he’s here for, which is shooting. 4-for-13 overall and 1-for-7 from three isn’t enough, even if the one three was a huge one that gave the Mavs the lead and broke the 100-point barrier. This loss doesn’t affect any player, but if Klay had played even a mediocre match, the outcome in this one would be different.

Naji Marshall: B+

18 points / 5 rebounds / 0 assists / 0 steals / 0 blocks

Marshall had another nice game and could already be starting to rumble on whether to take over for PJ Washington once he returns from injury. He shot 58.3% from the floor and was 2-for-6 from three. His lack of assists or steals certainly stands out, though, but he gets the “+” after his grade for the little things he did and some dashing defensive efforts that don’t show up in the box score.

Daniel Gafford: B

15 points / 7 rebounds / 0 assists / 1 steal / 0 blocks

Gafford had a Gafford game on the surface, even draining two pressure free throws (3-for-3 for the game) and going 6-for-7 from the floor with some nice finishes on small hooks and dunks. On the other side of the coin, he committed a foul, with his sixth and final foul coming with 0.8 seconds to go, which ultimately proved to be the difference. Gafford is somewhat difficult to judge in this one, as some of his glaring issues (such as guarding in space) are simply not his strengths, but were necessary in this game with Dereck Lively sidelined. I think it’s also fair to say that even a single block would be a reasonable baseline expectation.

Dwight Powell: A

4 points / 6 rebounds / 1 assists / 0 steals / 1 block

Even viewed at scale, this one may not seem A-worthy, but Powell did almost everything right tonight. Throughout the game I found myself watching him do something smart or clever, putting himself in the right place and putting in relentless effort. Yes, it was pretty much all small stuff, but on a night without Derek Lively, Powell played his game about as well as could be expected.

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