PHOENIX — It’s not every day that Patrick Dumont visits an opposing NBA arena, but the Mavericks governor sat courtside at Mortgage Matchup Center on Tuesday to watch his team attempt to snap a seven-game losing streak.
However, any hopes he and the Mavericks had of righting the ship were spoiled by the second quarter when they were faced with a 31-point deficit that made a comeback too difficult to overcome.
The Mavericks suffered a 120-111 loss to the Phoenix Suns and increased their season-long skid to eight games — the franchise’s longest losing streak since the 2016-17 season.
The last time the Mavericks lost eight consecutive games was nearly 10 years ago, and that streak lasted from Nov. 6, 2016 to Nov. 27, 2016.
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After trailing by double digits for the majority of the game, Dallas valiantly fought back in the fourth quarter to cut the deficit to six with 2 minutes left, but ran out of gas.
“We got off to a slow start,” Kidd said. “They were physical and we weren’t in that first half. I thought the group did a better job in that second half. Getting to the free throw line 44 times. We gotta be able to produce more 3s. We just didn’t do that…The group fought.”
There are several reasons why the Mavericks haven’t been able to snap out of their funk, starting with their 3-point struggles.
Three-point shooting has also been an issue during the last seven games as Dallas has only been able to convert on 10 triples per game, which is 29th in the NBA over that stretch. Tuesday night was a nightmare from the 3-point line as the Mavericks connected on just 5 of 22 from beyond the arc.
“Sometimes when they don’t go down early, we kind of get discouraged and we gotta be better,” Kidd said. “In this league, you miss some and we gotta look at tape, especially with a team like this that are going to pack the paint.”
Dallas also entered Tuesday’s matchup losing by an average of 8.6 points during their streak, but it’s been a struggle on the offensive end with just 113 points per game since a loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Jan. 24.
The Mavericks attempted the third-most field goal attempts (94.9) across the league over the last seven games, but they’re 27th in the NBA in efficiency, making just 44.6% from the field. On Tuesday, they attempted 77 field goals and finished shooting 48.1%.
Naji Marshall and Cooper Flagg were the Mavericks’ leading scorers on Tuesday, each bouncing back from uncharacteristic performances on Saturday night in San Antonio.
Marshall led Dallas with 31 points on 12 of 17 from the field, his fifth outing of 25 points or more, setting a new career-high for most 25-point games in a single season.
Flagg added 27 points with 11 of 14 coming from the free throw line. Tuesday marked Flagg’s 24th career 20-point effort, which tied Kobe Bryant for the sixth-most 20-point games by a teenager in NBA history.
“I was aggressive,” Flagg said. “Getting downhill to my spots, trying to play with physicality and I was rewarded with getting to the free-throw line. I thought that was good.”
He nearly reached a significant milestone, but came four points short of 1,000 career points. Flagg added another highlight to his rookie reel late in the second quarter when he threw his left shoulder into the chest of Dillon Brooks and posterized the Suns forward with a one-handed dunk.
Dumont was pleased with his star rookie’s performance. During the fourth quarter, Flagg connected on a baseline midrange jumper through contact, which led to an enthusiastic round of applause by the Mavericks governor.
After the game, Dumont hung around in the Mavericks locker room to congratulate Flagg on a good game, along with Caleb Martin, who suffered a left knee and ankle injury.
It was nearly five years ago when Khris Middleton made his NBA Finals debut in Phoenix. On Tuesday, the veteran sharpshooter returned to that same arena for his first game in a Mavericks uniform. However, those fond memories of his lone championship were sullied by yet another loss by his new team.
Middleton played 21 minutes off the bench and finished with 13 points and five rebounds. PJ Washington added 13 points and 5 rebounds as well. Marvin Bagley III had another solid game with nine points and eight rebounds.
Tyus Jones, who started in Marshall’s place, struggled with just two points and three assists and did not start in the second half.
While the blowout loss and growing losing streak looks bad on paper, it helps the Mavericks (19-34) inch closer to the floundering Utah Jazz (17-37) in the league’s infamous race toward the bottom of the standings as teams position themselves for a top-heavy 2026 NBA draft.
Dumont is also expected to be at Crypto.Com Arena for Thursday’s game against the Lakers, the final game before the All-Star break begins.
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