{"id":373526,"date":"2025-11-12T09:52:17","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T09:52:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/373526\/"},"modified":"2025-11-12T09:52:17","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T09:52:17","slug":"mavericks-vs-suns-preview-3-storylines-within-dallas-first-game-of-the-post-nico-harrison-era","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/373526\/","title":{"rendered":"Mavericks vs. Suns Preview: 3 storylines within Dallas\u2019 first game of the Post-Nico Harrison Era"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Dallas Mavericks (3-8) will usher in their No Nicos Era<\/a> on Wednesday when they host the Phoenix Suns (6-5) at American Airlines Center. Win or lose, this game represents an inflection point in franchise history, and we\u2019re glad it\u2019s here. Moving on begins now.<\/p>\n

Some former fans may rush back into the fold, others may trickle back as the team\u2019s outlook shifts and a new direction is charted. But one is for sure \u2014\u00a0Wednesday\u2019s game will be the first to be played since the team and what\u2019s left of its fandom successfully wriggled free from the specter of Nico Harrison and The Trade That Is And Should Not Be.<\/p>\n

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We\u2019re all a little (or a lot) worse for wear, no doubt. But at least we can focus on the future and on basketball from this point on. The small consolation begins with a matchup against a hated foe who conjures fond memories of recent yesteryear. It feels like millennia have passed since Luka Don\u010di\u0107 looked lovingly (trollingly) up at a reeling Devin Booker in that playoff game as the Mavericks bludgeoned the Suns, stole their souls even, on Dallas\u2019 way to a Game 7 blowout win in the Western Conference semifinals.<\/p>\n

The Suns haven\u2019t been the same as an organization since. They hung around as a Western Conference playoff contender in that iteration for a couple years, while the Mavericks changed shapes multiple times before devolving into the dumpster fire we see before us to begin the 2025-26 season. This year\u2019s Phoenix bunch was thought in the pre-season to be something of an enigma, with pieces cobbled together from every wayward direction in free agency and in the historic seven-team trade that sent Kevin Durant to the Houston Rockets for Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, rookie Khaman Maluach and two second-rounders.<\/p>\n

The team\u2019s 6-5 record thus far has been a little bit of a pleasant surprise, with Booker stepping up and into his seat as Mr. Everything and the pieces fitting nicely around him to start the year. The team suffered a huge setback, though, when Jalen Green went down with an apparent hamstring injury in Saturday\u2019s 114-103 win at the Los Angeles Clippers. Green was the main attraction in the package the Suns received in the seven-team deal to send Durant to Houston, and averaged better than 20 points per game in his first four years in the NBA with the Rockets. He will be re-evaluated in four-to-six weeks with a hamstring strain, according to ESPN\u2019s Shams Charania<\/a>, and, thus, will not be making the trip to Dallas for Wednesday\u2019s game.<\/p>\n

Even without Green\u2019s services, the Suns made quick work of the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday, 121-98<\/a>. Remember, the Mavs lost to the Pels 101-99 last Wednesday<\/a>, a moment that no doubt pushed the momentum forward in the Adelson & Dumont Regime\u2019s decision-making calculus to relieve Harrison<\/a> of his duties at general manager.<\/p>\n

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Here are three storylines we\u2019ll be keen to focus on as the Mavs host the Suns, instead of brooding in our regularly scheduled sullen pessimism about front office ineptitude.<\/p>\n

Bring on the bad guys<\/p>\n

If you can\u2019t help but still view anyone in a Phoenix Suns jersey as \u201cthe bad guy,\u201d their current roster still fits that bill to a tee. The Suns currently harbor the likes of Brooks as well as the former serial tripper Grayson Allen. In fact, Allen dropped a career-high 42 points on a Suns franchise record 10 made 3-pointers<\/a> in Monday\u2019s win over the Pelicans. He\u2019s the man of the moment over there in the desert, which should elicit no shortage of eye-rolls as the Suns roll into Dallas.<\/p>\n

Allen and Brooks, who is averaging better than 18 points through the first five games of his season, are in full bloom in the sunny climes of Phoenix, and we can\u2019t think of a more annoying storyline than that for fans of literally any other franchise.<\/p>\n

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Then there is Booker. Yea, that guy. He made us hate him in 2022 when he coined the term \u201cLuka Special.\u201d The Mavs fans shot back with the \u201cK-Mart Kobe\u201d nickname across the bow. Those were the days, weren\u2019t they?<\/p>\n

Things remained chippy between the Suns and the Mavericks for at least a year after that. We may have less reason to dislike Booker now that the point has been rendered moot in the aftermath of the Don\u010di\u0107 trade, but, still, he sticks in our craw. And he sticks even stickier because he knows he does, and he likes that he does. He\u2019s the type of dude who revels in it.<\/p>\n

Oh, and Booker is going off through the Suns\u2019 first 11 games as well, averaging 28.4 points per game, which would be a new career high if it sticks. Though there is every reason to believe this Suns roster has the firepower to bring the Mavs out back behind their own woodshed on Wednesday, don\u2019t discount the purified aura surrounding the home team following Harrison\u2019s beautifully abrupt ouster on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

3-point chasm<\/p>\n

Witness the wide crevasse. The expanse that lay before you. That, my friends, is the gulf between the 3-point shooting of one of the best teams in the league (Phoenix) and your team, the suddenly cellar-dwelling Mavericks. This statistical anomaly alone may be enough to sink the Mavs against the Suns.<\/p>\n

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You may not see a more vast disparity between two teams\u2019 skill beyond the arc all season than the one on display at the AAC on Wednesday. After all, Dallas somehow outshot the league-leading Rockets (in 3-point field goal percentage, 42.8%) in Houston\u2019s 110-102 win over the Mavs last Monday<\/a>. Phoenix comes into the matchup shooting 38.5% from 3-point range through 11 games, good for seventh in the NBA. But the fact that they get nearly 43 of them up per game (42.7, fourth-most in the NBA) compounds the potential damage. The Suns hold the fifth-highest mark in the league in 3-point frequency, letting a 3-pointer fly on 48% of their possessions.<\/p>\n

If Wednesday\u2019s game turns into a battle of the math, with the Mavs throwing their bodies around the lane to get to the free-throw line as many times as possible, Dallas may end up on the wrong side of the equation. The Mavericks, for the record, are still dead last in 3-point shooting, at 29.5% on the year.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s just dreadfully cold outside for Dallas, as head coach Jason Kidd noted in his postgame comments following the team\u2019s 116-114 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Availability \u2014 the best ability<\/p>\n

And finally, we get to the last remaining Harrison-related albatross hanging from the neck of the once proud Dallas Mavericks franchise. Anthony Davis (calf), as is tradition, is once again listed as questionable to play against the Suns, as of Tuesday\u2019s 6 p.m. NBA injury report<\/a>. It\u2019s a fun little feature of having Davis as the centerpiece of your team. It seems like you just never know if he\u2019ll play or not, and when he does, if he\u2019ll be in the mood to try that night or not. It\u2019s all just one big question. It\u2019s very questionable. See? Everything fits, in the cosmic sense.<\/p>\n

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Dereck Lively II (knee) has also been upgraded from doubtful to questionable for Wednesday\u2019s game against the Suns. We hope to see one or both of them back on the court at\u2026 some point. That is, if any single, solitary Mavs fan has even an ounce of hope left in their soul at this point.<\/p>\n

You\u2019d like to think that the minute both these bigs get plugged back into the Mavericks\u2019 lineup that it would inject some instant measure of relevance back into this team. But relevance with regard to winning basketball games or having a successful 2025-26 season was most likely out the window before the year started. That\u2019s the reason that Harrison is now unemployed.<\/p>\n

No matter who\u2019s available and who isn\u2019t Wednesday\u2019s game against the Suns offers Mavs fans a chance to begin the process of moving on.<\/p>\n

Come what may.<\/p>\n

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How to watch<\/p>\n

The Mavericks will host the Suns in a game tipping off at 7:30 p.m. CDT on Wednesday at the American Airlines Center. The game will be televised locally on KFAA Channel 29 as well as in select regional markets on TEGNA sister stations. It can also be streamed on MavsTV or on NBA League Pass.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Dallas Mavericks (3-8) will usher in their No Nicos Era on Wednesday when they host the Phoenix…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":373527,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5135],"tags":[5229,6272,1596,3139,179757,7196,7190,9275,3136,7192,3359,2497,3142,3365,3130,3137,12624,1721,150649,8730,358,11019,21887,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-373526","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-anthony-davis","10":"tag-dallas","11":"tag-dallas-mavericks","12":"tag-dereck-lively-ii","13":"tag-devin-booker","14":"tag-dillon-brooks","15":"tag-grayson-allen","16":"tag-houston-rockets","17":"tag-jalen-green","18":"tag-kevin-durant","19":"tag-khaman-maluach","20":"tag-los-angeles-clippers","21":"tag-luka-doncic","22":"tag-milwaukee-bucks","23":"tag-new-orleans-pelicans","24":"tag-nico-harrison","25":"tag-phoenix-suns","26":"tag-playoff-game","27":"tag-points-per-game","28":"tag-texas","29":"tag-the-mavericks","30":"tag-the-suns","31":"tag-tx","32":"tag-united-states","33":"tag-united-states-of-america","34":"tag-unitedstates","35":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","36":"tag-us","37":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=373526"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373526\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/373527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=373526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=373526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=373526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}