PHOENIX (AP) — Chris Paul has piled up plenty of points and assists during his 17 seasons in the NBA.
He hasn’t been a part of too many 11-game winning streaks, though. After the Phoenix Suns polished off the Dallas Mavericks for a 112-104 victory on Friday night in front of a sellout crowd, he knew these three weeks were something special.
“Guys don’t take this for granted,” Paul said. ”The locker room is great. Sometimes you can win games and it feels like you lost in the locker room. But the locker room’s great and the spirit is right.”
Mikal Bridges and Devin Booker each scored 19 points and Paul added 18 points and 14 assists. The winning streak is the Suns’ longest since the 2006-07 season — and the latest victory followed a familiar pattern. Phoenix was just so-so for the first three quarters before playing its best basketball in the final 12 minutes.
Phoenix struggled at times with turnovers but made up for it with 14-for-29 shooting from 3-point range. Bridges was 7 of 7 from the field, going 3 of 3 on 3s.
Dallas has lost eight straight to the Suns. Kristaps Porzingis led the Mavs with 23 points and 12 rebounds. Jalen Brunson and Tim Hardaway Jr. each had 18 points.
Dallas coach Jason Kidd said his team simply didn’t make enough shots to win against one of the NBA’s best teams.
The teams played each other for the second time in three nights. The Suns won 105-98 on Wednesday night. Once again, the Mavericks put up a good fight without injured star guard Luka Doncic but were overpowered by the Suns in the fourth quarter.
“Both ends we didn’t play our best basketball, starting with our offense,” Porzingis said.
Phoenix took a 55-51 halftime lead. Bridges led all scorers with 17 points and made all six shots. Paul added 10 points and four assists. Porzingis led the Mavs with 12 points before the break.