DHJ Quick Take: Finding Diamonds in the Desert
The Poulakidas “Blackout”: In just his 11th NBA game, undrafted rookie John Poulakidas looked like a seasoned vet, torching the Suns for 23 points and five threes. His fearless performance—including a block and a bucket on Devin Booker—earned him post-game praise from the Phoenix superstar, marking a massive developmental win for Dallas.
The 18-Point Rally: Despite missing eight rotation players (including Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson, and Naji Marshall), a patchwork Mavericks group clawed back from 18 down to briefly take a fourth-quarter lead. The grit shown by Max Christie (18 points) and Marvin Bagley III (20 points) reinforces the “habit-building” culture Jason Kidd is instilling for 2027.
Flagg’s Floor Game: Cooper Flagg struggled with a 4-of-19 shooting night but proved why his impact transcends scoring, tallying a 12-rebound, 6-assist line. By tying LeBron James for the third-most 10/10/5 games by a teenager, Flagg continues to rewrite the record books even when his “bunny” shots aren’t falling.
PHOENIX — The Dallas Mavericks erased a deficit of 18 points to pull within one in the fourth quarter Wednesday night before the Phoenix Suns steadied themselves for a 112-107 win at Mortgage Matchup Center. Dallas falls to 25-55. Phoenix improves to 44-36 and clinches the Western Conference’s seventh seed with two games remaining.
The Mavericks played shorthanded again. Naji Marshall missed the game with a left hip contusion, and P.J. Washington remained out with a left elbow sprain. Daniel Gafford was inactive due to a right shoulder impingement. Kyrie Irving and Dereck Lively II continued their respective surgical recoveries. Caleb Martin missed with a right plantar fascia strain, and Klay Thompson was held out for rest.
John Poulakidas came off the bench to set a career high with 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field and 5-of-8 from three. Cooper Flagg finished with 11 points, 12 rebounds, and 6 assists in 31 minutes despite going 4-of-19 from the floor. Marvin Bagley III contributed 20 points and 8 rebounds on 8-of-11 shooting, connecting on 3 of his 6 three-point attempts. Max Christie added 18 points on 5-of-11 shooting, and Ryan Nembhard distributed 7 assists without committing a turnover.
Devin Booker led Phoenix with 37 points, 5 rebounds, and 9 assists on a perfect 9-of-9 showing at the free-throw line. Dillon Brooks added 28 points, including 19 in the second half. Khaman Maluach, making his first career NBA start, grabbed 14 rebounds and blocked 3 shots.
John Poulakidas Delivers Career Night in 11th NBA Game
Poulakidas became the first Dallas rookie since 2022-23 to score 23 or more points with 5 or more threes off the bench. His first-quarter block on a Booker putback attempt set the tone early, and he converted the pull-up jumper on the other end to close out the period. In the fourth, he hit a pair of corner threes that fueled the rally and finished with 8 points in the final frame.
Asked to describe what it feels like to be in that kind of rhythm during a game, Poulakidas reached for a phrase that captured something closer to absence than presence — the crowd, the defenders, the moment all receding at once.
“Honestly, I would best describe it as kind of like a blackout feeling,” Poulakidas said. “You just kind of black out — you’re not noticing the crowd, you’re not really feeling any defenders. It’s just you and the hoop. It’s like being in the backyard having fun.”
Poulakidas said the sequence — a block on Booker in the first quarter followed by the pullup jumper on the other end — barely registered during the game itself. It was only afterward, when Booker sought him out, that the weight of the moment landed.
“It was super cool,” Poulakidas said. “He’s a guy I’ve been watching since I was in seventh or eighth grade. But in the middle of the game — after the block, after the bucket — I’m not really thinking about that. I was just locked in on the next play. After the game, though, him showing love to me was a super special moment.”
Booker told him something in that exchange that Poulakidas said he will not forget.
“I told him I’ve been watching him for a while, and he told me he’s going to be watching me now,” Poulakidas said. “That was a super cool moment for me — someone I’ve studied and learned from, who’s a superstar in this league.”
Poulakidas said the key to Wednesday’s performance was a deliberate reset in his mindset after several games in which open looks refused to fall — staying aggressive not because the shots had been going in, but because he knew they would.
“I went into this game with the right mindset, just trying to refocus and stay aggressive,” he said. “The last few games, I’ve had good looks that didn’t drop, but I know they will. So it’s about staying confident, even when I’m missing shots that I know I make every day.”
Kidd zeroed in on something beyond the shooting line — the way Poulakidas competed defensively and made sound decisions in late-game situations that would test most rookies.
“John was good,” Kidd said. “He competed on both ends, offensively and defensively. I thought the group did a good job of finding him, and to have him in the game late to see how he would handle it — he made a big three. A lot of positives there. He’s a competitor. He wants to win, he plays hard, and he’s about the team.”
Christie kept it simple.
“Yeah, very impressive — 8 for 12, 5 for 8, 23 points,” Christie said. “He played really well. Obviously, he shot it very well and looked very confident out there, so that’s exciting to see. I always knew he had some swagger, but he definitely showed it tonight.”
Down 18, Dallas Mavericks Claw Back Within One
The third quarter looked like it might put this one away early. Phoenix opened the second half on a 16-0 run to push its lead to 18 at 71-53 with 9:34 remaining in the period. Booker and Brooks did most of the damage, with Collin Gillespie adding to the surge as Dallas shot 8-of-23 from the floor in the quarter.
Dallas chipped away. Poulakidas hit a three-pointer with 6:30 remaining in the third to pull within six, and Flagg converted free throws and a driving bank shot to keep trimming the deficit. The Mavericks entered the fourth trailing 88-80.
The comeback bid nearly completed itself. A Christie three-pointer with 8:18 left gave Dallas a 95-93 lead — its first advantage since early in the first quarter. Booker answered immediately, draining a step-back three to put Phoenix back on top at 96-95. The Suns went on a nine-point run to push the lead to seven, and Dallas could not close the gap again despite connecting on 4 threes in the final two minutes.
Kidd acknowledged Dallas fumbled the finish but said the group’s willingness to keep competing through a lopsided stretch was the more meaningful story.
“Just being able to keep fighting,” Kidd said. “We got to look at some other guys in some challenging situations, and those guys responded in a positive way. The group kept fighting and found a way to get back into the game. We had a good look at the end, just fumbled it a little bit there.”
Christie pointed to a pattern — Dallas has now mounted significant comeback attempts multiple times in the season’s final weeks — and said the competitiveness itself is what the team is trying to carry into next year.
“We continue to show fight and grit each and every game,” he said. “Last game in LA, we were down 20-something and ended up taking the lead at one point. So we’ve got a lot of fight, and that’s encouraging. We’re trying to build habits for next season already, and it’s a good step to continue to have that tenacity and keep playing.”
Poulakidas said defending Booker and Brooks presented two entirely different problems — one of physicality, one of pedigree — and that the late lapses against Booker, more than anything else, cost Dallas its best chance.
“Brooks is super physical, so that’s a tough matchup,” he said. “And with Devin Booker, he’s a superstar — it’s not really about slowing him down, it’s about containing him and making sure others don’t beat you. Late in the game, we gave Booker some open looks that we shouldn’t have, and that hurt us. But we were fighting all night, so I can’t ask for much more from our group.”
Cooper Flagg’s Shooting Night Belies the Stat Sheet
Flagg went 4-of-19 from the floor. Kidd pushed back on treating the shooting line as the measure of his night, pointing instead to how much Flagg did to keep Dallas in the game without his shot falling.
“He had good looks,” Kidd said. “Sometimes the ball goes in, sometimes it doesn’t. He was aggressive, put us in position with his scoring, playmaking, and rebounding. I thought he did that really well tonight.”
Flagg pulled down 12 rebounds, distributed 6 assists, and drew 3 fouls, resulting in free throws. His 12 rebounds were a game high for Dallas, and the performance pushed him to 33 games this season with at least 10 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists — more than the next two closest rookies combined (Derik Queen has 15 such games, Kon Knueppel has 12). He also tied LeBron James for third on the all-time list of 10-point, 10-rebound, 5-assist games by a teenager in NBA history with five.
Poulakidas said what Flagg faces every night — the attention, the defensive schemes, the expectations — is a kind of stress that tends to reveal a player’s character over time, and that what he sees from his teammate in the gym every day makes the results feel inevitable rather than surprising.
“He’s going to see 3 or 4 defenders every single night,” Poulakidas said. “This is his first season at this level, and with what’s on his shoulders at such a young age, it’s going to be amazing for his development. He’s always working — I see him in the gym all the time. When you work that hard and love the game, things are going to work out in your favor.”
Marvin Bagley III Stretches the Floor; Ryan Nembhard Runs a Clean Show
Bagley posted 20 points and 8 rebounds on an efficient shooting night, continuing a stretch in which he has been one of Dallas’s most reliable offensive options. His ability to operate from the perimeter at the five created mismatches that Phoenix struggled to handle.
Kidd said Bagley’s value right now extends well beyond scoring — his three-point shooting is opening up the driving lanes and playmaking angles that define the modern big man role.
“Bags was good,” Kidd said. “He’s been good for us — he’s been able to score the ball. The game today is being able to shoot the three, and he’s doing that at a high rate. He’s also playmaking, rolling, finishing — he’s doing it all for us right now.”
Nembhard ran the offense cleanly in 32 minutes. His 7 assists and zero turnovers gave the Mavericks the kind of possession control needed to sustain a long comeback run without surrendering easy points on the other end.
Christie said what makes Nembhard effective isn’t simply his decision-making but the way he balances his own scoring threat with his ability to find others — a balance that makes him difficult to key on.
“He’s a true floor general — 7 assists, zero turnovers,” Christie said. “He’s always looking to pass, but he can score really well, too. He understands the balance between getting his own shot and finding others. He makes all of our jobs easier, gets us into our sets, and puts us in positions to be successful.”
Moussa Cisse delivered 11 points and 9 rebounds off the bench, with 2 blocks and an alley-oop dunk in the second quarter that helped Dallas answer a Phoenix run. Kidd said Cisse’s value on Wednesday came from doing the unglamorous things at a high level — energy, effort, and finishing.
“His energy and effort — rebounding, blocking shots, and finishing on the other end,” Kidd said. “I thought he was really good tonight.”
Devin Booker and Dillon Brooks Power Suns Down the Stretch
Booker was the best player on the floor. His 37-point, 9-assist performance marked his second game this season with 35 or more points and 9 or more assists, and the 18th time he has reached those thresholds in his career. He has now scored 20 or more points in nine consecutive games and 30 or more in five of his last six, averaging 31.7 points across that span.
Brooks posted 10 of his 28 points in the third quarter, the 36th time he had a double-digit scoring quarter this season. His 1,119 points in 2025-26 rank ninth in franchise history through a player’s first 55 games with the Suns.
Maluach’s first career start produced the night’s most unexpected storyline. He set career highs in rebounds (14) and minutes (30), and his 3 blocks included a fourth-quarter rejection on a Cisse dunk attempt that wiped out a Dallas possession during a tight stretch. He became just the second-youngest player since 2012-13 to post 14 or more rebounds and 3 or more blocks in a game, behind only Jalen Duren.
Maluach’s relationship with Flagg added texture to their matchup throughout. The two are former Duke teammates. Maluach said that the bond disappears the moment they step between the lines — and that blocking Flagg carried a particular satisfaction given what Flagg had promised before tip-off.
“As soon as we step on those lines, man, it’s competition,” Maluach said. “We go against each other and we’re trying to do whatever it takes for our teams to win. The time we step off, that’s my brother. Spent a lot of time together at school, and we are best friends.”
He said Flagg had predicted a dunk on him before the game started, which made the block feel like a settled debt.
“Before the game, he was like, ‘I’m going to dunk on you,’ and I was like, ‘I’ll try to block it,’” Maluach said. “It always feels good to get a block, especially on a dunk. But it felt extra good because it was him.”
Suns coach Jordan Ott said what Maluach’s first start really reflected was how consistent he had been behind the scenes all season — that the performance was less a breakthrough than a confirmation.
“He’s just a presence at the rim,” Ott said. “Obviously, he helps with the rebounding piece, with a big block there in the fourth. Just good reps for him, good experience to get out there. That just speaks volumes to his progress that he’s made over the course of the year. This is just the next step. Just can’t duplicate that in anything else.”
Booker said the off-court version of Maluach — the communication, the questions, the engagement during stretches when his role has been limited — made Wednesday’s result feel like something the entire team had been waiting for.
“Khaman stayed the course the entire year and just waited for his opportunity and thrived in it tonight,” Booker said. “I’m super proud of him. I think this is a starting point for him that we’ll look down years down the line and be like we knew that kid had it from the beginning.”
Box Score Notables
Kidd explained why Flagg was not on the floor for the final minutes despite his experience in late-game situations, framing it as a deliberate use of the season’s final stretch to evaluate the rest of the roster under real pressure.
“Cooper has played in a lot of clutch games, and the whole team has,” Kidd said. “At this point in the season, being able to evaluate others in those situations is our main objective.”
AJ Johnson handled ball-handling duties late in stretches but finished 1-of-11 from the field. Kidd said the shooting did not reflect how Johnson actually played — that the aggression and paint attack were the things he was looking for.
“Getting into the paint and getting to the rim is something he’s really good at, and I thought he did a really good job with that tonight,” Kidd said.
Tyler Smith scored 3 points and hit 1 three-pointer in 15 minutes. Dwight Powell contributed 4 points and a pair of assists in 16 minutes, including the dime to Poulakidas on a corner three in the fourth.
Dallas shot 90.9% from the free-throw line (20-of-22). The Suns set a franchise record for three-pointers made in a season, with their eighth triple of the night becoming the 1,177th of the 2025-26 campaign.
Christie said the team’s approach to finishing the final two games of the season stems from a desire to set a standard — not to coast through games with no playoff implications.
“It’s about building habits as a team and individually, just continuing to finish strong,” Christie said. “It can be easy to relax with only two games left. I want the opposite of that — I want to keep improving, keep finding ways to get better, and build habits for next year.”
Up Next
Dallas ends a three-game road trip on Friday in San Antonio against the Spurs before closing the regular season Monday at home against the Chicago Bulls.