PHOENIX – The stars were aligned just right for the Dallas Mavericks. They had a seemingly comfortable 22-point lead early in the third quarter of Wednesday’s regular season opener, and appeared well on their way to cruising to a relatively easy victory over the Phoenix Suns.
Then the bottom fell out. Completely out.
The Suns got hot, the Mavs fell apart on both ends of the court and Phoenix found a way to eke out an improbable 107-105 win before a sellout crowd of 17,071 at the Footprint Center. It was a bitter defeat for the Mavs, who had control for the majority of the night, but let things slip away during the game’s clutch moments.