The Dallas Mavericks will try to continue their recent dominance of the Phoenix Suns when the two Western Conference foes collide Sunday night in Big D.
The Mavericks posted a 97-94 win at Phoenix in the first meeting on Dec. 6 and have won nine of 10 and 15 of the past 19 matchups between the teams. Phoenix, which is a lowly 4-18 away from the desert this season, is winless in the previous nine trips to Dallas.
Dallas has dropped two of three overall since winning four in a row and is coming off a 113-107 setback to the rival San Antonio Spurs on Friday night. Rodrigue Beaubois led the Mavericks with 19 points off the bench, while Vince Carter added 17 points. Dirk Nowitzki had 15 points for the Mavs, who got 14 points from O.J. Mayo.
"We were attacking at the end there, but by that time it was too late," said Mavs forward Shawn Marion, who scored just two points and will appear in his 1,000th career regular-season game Sunday.
Marion played in 660 games with Phoenix from 1999-2008.
San Antonio led for good after using a 20-8 run early on. The Mavericks outscored the Spurs, 39-25, in the fourth quarter.
Nowitzki needs just 12 points to pass 76ers great Allen Iverson (24,368) for 18th place on the all-time scoring list. He is posting 13.9 ppg.
Mavs coach Rick Carlisle needs just three wins for 500 in his career.
The Mavericks have scored 100-plus points in each of the last seven games, going 5-2 and averaging 110.1 ppg in that period. They are 11-9 as the host and will hit the road for four games following Sunday's contest.
Phoenix had a two-game winning streak stopped with Saturday's 108-99 loss at San Antonio as Michael Beasley posted 25 points and Jared Dudley scored 23 in a losing effort. Spurs All-Star Tony Parker scored 11 of his game-high 31 points in the final quarter.
"Tony Parker knows how to take over a game," Beasley said. "He's been doing it for years. He did it again tonight. He just knows how to take over games."
P.J. Tucker had 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Suns, who had won two in a row under interim coach Lindsey Hunter.
The Suns will return to the desert Wednesday to open a brief homestand versus the Los Angeles Lakers and Mavericks.
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