What we learned from Phoenix Suns' win in home opener vs Luka Doncic, Mavericks

The Phoenix Suns shared and protected the ball, Jusuf Nurkic showed up and rookie Ryan Dunn shined in his first career start.

Those performances were all part of the Suns' 114-102 home opener over the Dallas Mavericks.

The evening began with a moment of silence for "The Voice of the Suns" Al McCoy and continued with the Suns responding well to a meltdown loss Friday at the Los Angeles Lakers in which they blew a 22-point lead.

Playing its third game in four days, Phoenix (2-1) led by as many as 15 points and withstood a 40-point blast from Luka Doncic to take down the Mavs (1-1) in the second of a back-to-back.

The Suns had 26 assists and just 11 turnovers that led to only 11 Dallas points after being loose and careless with the ball in their first two games.

Kevin Durant reached the 29,000-point mark, going for 31 along with nine rebounds. With 29,010 points, Durant is now the eighth player in NBA history to reach that milestone, joining LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Dirk Nowitzki and Wilt Chamberlain.

Devin Booker posted 21 points, going 11-of-12 from the line. Nurkic delivered a double-double of 18 points and 14 boards after a horrid performance Friday against the Lakers and Dunn added 13 points in his first career start in place of Bradley Beal.

Grayson Allen (personal reasons), Josh Okogie (right hamstring strain) and Beal (right elbow soreness) didn’t play Saturday. Dunn took on the challenge of guarding Doncic. He was thrown into the fire, got cooked, but kept competing and made an impact on the win.

Here are three takeaways from Saturday's game as the Suns will play their fourth game in six days Monday against the Lakers.

Still sharing the ball, but fewer turnovers

The Suns committed 22 turnovers in their Wednesday opener that led to 16 points for the Los Angeles Clippers, and 17 turnovers Friday that the Lakers turned into 26 points.

Coach Mike Budenholzer likes how his Suns are trying to share the ball, but he wanted better decision-making.

“Decision-making," Budenholzer said before Saturday's game. “I think we've just got to be smart. We've got to probably be more cognizant of just making good decisions, good reads. Maybe not trying to put it into small cracks. Sometimes just really unforced turnovers."

The Suns made better decisions, shared the ball and didn’t give it away so frequently. Part of that was running their offense with pace, better screens and more precise movements.

They played with more purpose on that end. Second, Tyus Jones initiated the offense more in finishing with seven assists to zero turnovers in 31 minutes.

When Jones has the ball up top, the Suns actually run more designed plays instead of when Durant or Booker start the offense with a screen-and-roll. The other four guys tend to just watch instead of moving.

Nurkic made Budenholzer look like a prophet

As for Nurkic, he had a horrid game in Friday’s 123-116 loss at the Lakers in posting just four points on 1-of-5 shooting, four turnovers and committing four fouls in just 18 minutes.

Anthony Davis gave Nurkic and the Suns the business with a dominant 35-point performance. The Suns closed the game going small with Kevin Durant at the five — fully realizing Davis has a size advantage.

After the game, Budenholzer not only defended Nurkic, but added, “He’ll have his nights.”

Nurkic had a much better one Saturday with a double-double, shooting 7-of-12 from the field in 30 minutes. He started slowly, still misfiring from 3 at 0-for-2 and the line at 4-of-8, but was more active not nearly as reckless as he was against the Lakers.

The 7-footer finished a dive at the basket and used his size to score over the more athletic but thinner Dereck Lively II. He delivered 12 consecutive points late in the second quarter on 5-of-5 shooting from the field, going 1-of-2 from the line in fueling a 66-53 Phoenix halftime lead.

In the second half, Nurkic came up with huge defensive and offensive rebounds in the fourth and delivered a dribble handoff to rookie Ryan Dunn for 3 that gave the Suns a 99-90 lead with 7:38 left.

He then had a big block on Naji Marshall that was first ruled a foul, but Budenholzer challenged the call and won it, giving Phoenix possession, up 108-100 with 2:29 remaining in the game.

Nurkic has been playing with a splint on his off hand after missing most of the preseason with a left middle finger injury. He still had five turnovers and he needs to be better. He was better in every other area Saturday.

Beal's the starter, but Dunn earning minutes

Dunn playing well in place of Beal will spark some social media folks to call for the rookie to start.

Not happening.

Beal is the 13-year veteran who came to Phoenix via trade to be a major contributor to a championship contender. He had a great opener, scoring 24, and he got the start against the Lakers.

However, Dunn earned himself more minutes with Saturday’s performance.

He took shots with confidence, had a huge follow dunk, and his challenge on Daniel Gafford’s dunk attempt showed he will challenge anyone, regardless of much bigger they are.

He’s still a rookie, however, and it showed as he committed five fouls.

Granted, Doncic makes life miserable for all who try to stop him. Plenty of lessons learned, but just think about it this way: Those five fouls -- with four coming while guarding Doncic -- could’ve gone to Booker or Durant or someone else.

Budenholzer started Dunn in part because Royce O’Neale gives the second unit some stability and toughness.

O’Neale’s tough driving layup on one end, followed by a block on the other on Jaden Hardy as time ran out in the third quarter, gave Phoenix a 91-80 lead and momentum to power through the fourth quarter on a back-to-back.

O’Neale could’ve easily started, but Dunn was the right choice Saturday night. At 6-8, Dunn gives the Suns more size and alleviates Booker and Durant from having to guard Doncic.

Beal will start once he returns, but the Suns are fully aware of what a difference Dunn can make and how much they need him to grow and improve to help them now and down the road.

(This story ws updated to add new information.)

Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin .

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: What we learned from Phoenix Suns' win in home opener vs Luka Doncic, Mavericks