PHOENIX — Jusuf Nurkic turned out to be the biggest difference-maker in the Phoenix Suns’ 114-102 triumph over the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday night in the Valley of the Sun.
The Suns’ center scored 18 points, grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds, was 7-of-12 from the field, and played a lot of bully-ball at the Mavs’ expense.
“Yeah, he was aggressive,” coach Jason Kidd said. “We talked about it. We had to box him out.
“He got (three) offensive rebounds, and then in the post he made some layups and then he gave them a spark.