Dallas Mavericks vs. Phoenix Suns: Postgame Grades and Analysis

Thursday night, if nothing else, the Phoenix Suns and Dallas Mavericks learned they have great young power forwards for the future. 

The Suns' Markieff Morris and the Mavericks' Brandan Wright both impressed on a TNT nationally televised game. Both are former lottery picks, and up until this year, Wright had looked to be of the bust variety.

Suns president Jason Rowley guaranteed fans they would be satisfied with the team's effort or they would get their money back. 

Morris did his best to make sure he won that guarantee, making high-effort plays all night and pulling down a game-high 17 rebounds. He also had a couple of nice defensive plays, blocking two shots and changing a few others. 

While his frontcourt mates struggled (Michael Beasley and Marcin Gortat shot a combined 4-of-20), Morris shined, even hitting a game-tying three with under a minute to go.

O.J. Mayo came back to hit a tough contested jumper over the much smaller Sebastian Telfair to give the Mavs a two-point lead with 34.6 seconds to go. Mayo had a team-high 23 points for the Mavs

Goran Dragic, who had struggled all night, got the call on the Suns' next possession, but he missed a left-handed layup, which led to an intentional foul and two Darren Collison free throws (he made only one). 

Dragic answered by pushing the ball up the court and making a flip layup with his right hand. Another intentional foul led to Vince Carter hitting two free throws. Then Dragic answered with two free throws of his own, cutting the lead to 93-91. Two more VC free throws...

Brandan Wright showed his presence again, swatting away a Telfair three, but Shannon Brown banged a three after the inbound, cutting the deficit to just one. 

Wright was active all game. On a team with Shawn Marion, Wright looked much like Marion in his prime. He was running the court, finishing well with both hands and making hustle plays.

Collison nailed a pair of free throws to give the Mavs a three-point lead, which led to a Brown heave from eight feet behind the line, which didn't appear as though it would have counted anyway. Dallas won the game 97-94 despite being 3.5-point underdogs in Vegas.

The game was close, but the Suns didn't play very good defense. 

Luis Scola hustled and Dragic was persistent, but how many Suns fans are going to say they are dissatisfied and ask for a refund?

Read on to see grades for the players.

Point Guard: Derek Fisher vs. Goran Dragic

It's hard to call Derek Fisher the starting point guard when he played less minutes than backup Darren Collison, but Fisher did start the game.

We'll go ahead and compare him to Dragic, notwithstanding the fact that Dragic played almost twice as many minutes and impacted the Suns significantly more than Fisher (0-of-3 from the floor, three turnovers) did the Mavericks.

It wasn't one of Dragic's best games, but he was persistent and kept the Suns clawing at the end right down until the final seconds. Dragic got the call on the isolation play before the game became a foul exchange, but he missed a layup from his dominant left hand. 

Dragic's impact went beyond the poor shooting night, though, as he ignited several fast breaks with four steals and had several passes that led to assists in addition to his four dimes.

It'd be easy to give a guy a C- based on the box score alone, but Dragic was able to stimulate the offense. While he isn't Steve Nash, he very well could be in the running for the league's Most Improved Player Award.

Goran Dragic: B

Derek Fisher: D

Shooting Guard: O.J. Mayo vs. Shannon Brown

If Dragic is in the most improved discussion, O.J. Mayo certainly is as well. He hit the crucial jumper with 35 seconds to go to give Dallas the go-ahead lead.

He scored 23 points in a game he took control over at several points, hitting 9-of-17 from the floor, including 3-of-5 from distance. He also dished out five assists.

Shannon Brown had no answer for Mayo, who looked to get it going both spotting up and off the dribble. Brown wasn't as aggressive as Mayo offensively, but he did hit 4-of-9 from the floor. 

Brown also ignited a few fast breaks playing passing lanes, so it was mainly his man-to-man defense that draws criticism.

O.J. Mayo: A

Shannon Brown: B-

Small Forward: Dahntay Jones vs. Michael Beasley

I covered Michael Beasley in the "Buyer's Remorse" article here on Bleacher Report, and it's becoming painfully clear that he is a bust.

On the game's opening play, he and the Polish Hammer connected on a very nice alley-oop, but things went south from there.

Beasley missed an array of shots, some of which were shot-clock beaters, but that doesn't excuse a 3-of-12 performance. Additionally, Beasley did not grab a single rebound in 21 minutes of play. 

The Suns have to be regretting the signing of Beasley, who was shooting under 40 percent from the floor going into the game and hitting just 28.9 percent of his threes.

Dahntay Jones played only 15 minutes after starting the contest, giving way to Vince Carter (more on Carter later). Jones had three fouls, two rebounds and missed his only shot. 

I'd give him an "Incomplete," but 15 minutes is enough time to do something.

Michael Beasley: D-

Dahntay Jones: F

Power Forward: Shawn Marion vs. Markieff Morris

Markieff Morris had a huge game Thursday night. He had a game-high 17 rebounds to go along with 15 points, and he hit the crucial three that I mentioned in the opening slide. 

Morris appeared to be the same stud he was at Kansas, the one that the Suns were hoping for when they drafted him No. 13 overall in 2011.

Shawn Marion is still a viable NBA player and did his usual thing of late: 10 points, five rebounds and a steal. Marion is finding his backup Brandan Wright doing a great impression of him in his prime, though.  

The thing to keep an eye on now is whether Marion ends up yielding his starting role to the younger Wright.

Shawn Marion: C+

Markieff Morris: A+

Center: Elton Brand vs. Marcin Gortat

Elton Brand played a much better game than his six points and seven rebounds would suggest. He had several hustle plays and tipped rebounds (which led to extra Mavs possessions). 

Brand also kept Marcin Gortat out of the game (as did Chris Kaman's defensive effort). Gortat shot just 1-of-8 from the floor and was forced into a lot of tough shots.

Gortat just struggled all night. He did grab six rebounds and block two shots, but even those aspects of his game didn't seem heightened.

The Mavs had no problem getting to the paint, and Gortat was slow on several rotations—something he normally excels at. Moreover, the Mavs had 11 offensive rebounds, and six of them came from the center position.

Elton Brand: B

Marcin Gortat: C-

Sixth Man: Vince Carter vs. Luis Scola

Vince Carter is really trying to still be Vince Carter, but he just isn't. 

The moves he had years ago look slow, and he just can't get to the basket anymore. It's not a surprise, but every time one sees Carter, it's easy to expect flashes of what used to be.

Carter shot just 2-of-9 from the floor and failed to bail the Mavs out of several late shot-clock possessions. He will be saved from failing Bleacher Report grading just because he was aggressive.

Luis Scola, on the other hand, was a beast. Scola scored 13 points and grabbed nine rebounds, mainly on hustle alone.

Scola ran the court extremely well—as he always does—and played hard. His effort was one to be applauded. If the Suns fans don't ask for refunds, Scola will be a big reason why.

Vince Carter: D

Luis Scola: A

Bench

The Dallas Mavericks bench scored 56 points on 20-of-41 shooting. 

Darren Collison got to the line 12 times, Brandan Wright had a game-changing impact on both ends of the court and Chris Kaman did his best Dirk Nowitzki impression. Kaman hit several fadeaway jump shots and long twos, finishing with 15 points on 7-of-12 shooting.

Wright, as mentioned in the power forward slide, could end up taking Marion's starting role before the season is over.

Collison looked as though he may reclaim his starting spot. Fisher did almost nothing, and Collison looked more like the stud he was in his rookie season in New Orleans.

The Suns bench consisted primarily of the aforementioned Luis Scola. Jared Dudley also chipped in 11.

Sebastian Telfair looked as good as we've seen Bassy look, but that isn't really saying much. Joking aside, Telfair had a decent game (despite missing six of his eight shots).

Telfair was forced to cover Mayo late in the game, and that wasn't a good matchup for the diminutive guard. It's sometimes hard not to pay extra attention to Telfair in light of what he was once billed to be.

All in all, the Mavs bench won Dallas the game. They had 37 of their 56 points in the second half, as the Mavs outscored Phoenix 57-50 over the final two quarters. 

The Suns have to get more from their starters because their bench is weak on a nightly basis. The bench shot 15-of-30 from the floor, which was was a much better percentage than the starters' 19-of-55. 

So the bench was in fact an upgrade, just an upgrade from very poor play.

Mavs Bench: A+

Suns Bench: B+