It’s a new start for the Dallas Mavericks.
On Tuesday, the team fired embattled general manager Nico Harrison, who had been under fire since he traded superstar Luka Doncic in February. The final straw for team owner Patrick Dumont could have been Monday’s 116-114 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks, who came from 13 points down in the fourth quarter amid a chorus of “Fire, Nico” chants in the background.
The post-Harrison era will begin Wednesday in Dallas when the Mavericks host the Phoenix Suns and red-hot Grayson Allen.
Allen is coming off a franchise-record 10 made 3-pointers and a career-high 42 points in the Suns’ 121-98 win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday.
“He makes it look pretty good,” said Suns first-year coach Jordan Ott of Allen after the victory. “We want him to shoot more and take some ones where maybe he doesn’t feel as comfortable all the time. It’s awesome to see how his teammates push for him.”
Phoenix reshaped its roster after a disappointing 2024-25 season, when the Suns finished at 36-46 and out of the postseason. Kevin Durant was one of the departures.
Devin Booker is the No. 1 option on offense and is sixth in the NBA in scoring with 28.4 points per game. Allen leads the NBA with 46 3-point shots made.
“This roster is filled with shooting,” Ott said. “We just have to put enough paint pressure on teams and move the ball.”
The Suns still haven’t been at full strength. Jalen Green, acquired from the Houston Rockets in the monster seven-team NBA trade headlined by Durant, has played in only two games and is dealing with a hamstring strain.
Dallas has lost five of its past six games. Anthony Davis has missed all six of those contests with a calf strain.
Without Davis, Mavs rookie Cooper Flagg has become a bigger part of the offense. He had a career-high 26 points in the loss to Milwaukee, including a sensational drive at Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo in the final minutes for a key basket.
“I’d like to say my first thought was I was going to dunk on him, but no, it wasn’t going to happen,” Flagg said after the game. “He’s a huge dude. I just made a read to challenge him at the rim and made the play.”
Dallas trailed the Bucks by one point late when the inbound pass to Flagg was intercepted and led to a Milwaukee basket. There was a lot of contact on Flagg, who was playing with a brace on his right thumb.
“I’m not getting fined,” Dallas coach Jason Kidd said about the play. “It wasn’t called. You gotta play through it.”
P.J. Washington leads the Mavericks with 15.5 points a game, but the team is hitting only 29.5% from beyond the arc.
“I think every game is about trust and competing,” Kidd said. “Win or lose, we gotta play 82 games. I think we’re building that trust and we are competing. Sometimes the ball doesn’t bounce your way. That’s where you gotta trust each other and keep fighting.”
