DALLAS — Mavericks coach Jason Kidd wasn’t ready to talk about facing Phoenix minutes after escaping with an 102-98 win Wednesday night over Toronto before a sellout crowd of 19,218 at American Airlines Center.
“I can’t comment on that,” Kidd said. “I’ve got to go look at Phoenix. Phoenix is playing extremely well. They’re the best in the West. That’s all I can tell you right now. I’ll see you in a couple of hours.”
The Mavericks (26-19) have won four in a row, are 10-1 in their last 11 games, but have also lost their last eight matchups against the Suns (34-9). This is the longest active win streak Phoenix has over a single opponent.
More: Dominating Dallas: A look back at Suns current 8-game win streak over Mavericks
“They have the best record in the league,” Mavericks All-Star point guard Luka Doncic said. “They have an amazing team. You saw last year and you (see) this year. We’ve just got to play hard, play our game, play the way we’re playing the whole day, and just try to stop them.”
Phoenix is 2-0 against the Mavs this season, but Doncic missed both games with multiple injuries. The two-time All-NBA selection seems pretty healthy now as he dropped 41 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists in 42 minutes Wednesday night.
“He did a great job from start to finish,” Kidd said. “He was aggressive. He got to the paint, he got to the free throw line and he made some big 3s for us. And then also, he just accepted the double-team and trusted his teammates when he let go of the ball. He was great tonight.”
The Suns are looking to finish a five-game road trip undefeated as it began with a 99-95 win last week in Toronto (21-21).
“They’re on a back-to-back, but they’re at home and they have a number of guys who are really, really good players,” Suns coach Monty Williams said before Wednesday’s game as they practiced in the afternoon on the Mavs practice court in the arena.
Williams noted the play of Mavs guard Jalen Brunson. Averaging a career-high 16 points this season, Brunson scored eight on 4-of-11 shooting Wednesday night.
“You tend to think of Luka and (Kristaps) Porzingis, which you have to, but you also have to take into consideration Brunson, (Tim) Hardaway (Jr.), (Dorian) Finney-Smith. Ability to offensive rebound and they just have guys who eat rocks.”
The Suns will be without Deandre Ayton, who will miss second straight game with a right ankle sprain suffered in Sunday’s victory in Detroit.
Phoenix is 12-3 without Ayton this season.
Have opinion about current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on Twitter at @DuaneRankin.
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