The Phoenix Suns had a memorable 2022-23 season opener on Wednesday night, erasing a 22-point deficit to take down the Dallas Mavericks 107-105 in a wild finish at Footprint Center.
It was the Suns’ largest comeback win since 2017.
-PT COMEBACK. Tonight marked our largest comeback since 2017. pic.twitter.com/2oqt671FK9
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) October 20, 2022
Dallas led 67-45 at one point in the third quarter, and 93-80 with eight minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
Damion Lee — playing in his first game for the Suns after winning an NBA championship in June with the Golden State Warriors — scored 11 points off the bench and made what would serve as the game-winning bucket with 9.7 seconds remaining. Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic — who scored a game-high 35 points — tried a three-pointer for the win but came up short.
Devin Booker led the way in scoring for Phoenix with 28 points, and he tied teammate Chris Paul for a game-high in assists with nine.
This Devin Booker hesi is a work of ART
The Suns have cut the lead to 5 on ESPN #KiaTipOff22 pic.twitter.com/8GsrnpieRg
— NBA (@NBA) October 20, 2022
Booker 4th quarter
8:30
7 PTS
6 AST
0 TO
2-3 FG
3-3 FT
plus-17 pic.twitter.com/9iQfT3LRlN— Matt Petersen (@TheMattPetersen) October 20, 2022
A controversial moment came with 1:38 remaining in the fourth quarter and the Suns leading by four, as the officiating crew gave Doncic a very questionable technical foul. Booker made the free throw to give the Suns a five-point lead.
Luka Doncic received a technical foul for this with 1:38 remaining in a 4-point game.
pic.twitter.com/goPpjdOEPJ — The Comeback (@thecomeback) October 20, 2022
This was the first NBA game for the Suns since the Mavericks walloped them 123-90 in Phoenix in Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals. So, while this won’t erase the heartbreak and frustration for Phoenix, Wednesday’s win had a revenge element to it.
Here’s a peek at how the NBA world is reacting to the Suns’ comeback win:
The @Suns COMPLETE the 22-point comeback
pic.twitter.com/C84vrO7HDU — ESPN (@espn) October 20, 2022
The Phoenix Suns author the fourth-largest comeback win in a season opener in the last 25 years. It's the franchise's largest comeback victory since Nov. 1, 2017 against the Wizards. pic.twitter.com/6r4tK0Pxnh
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) October 20, 2022
Devin Booker and the Suns skirt off with a win over Luka and the Mavs
pic.twitter.com/zHtKM34sW3 — SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 20, 2022
Devin Booker tonight:
28 PTS
9 AST
10-20 FG
WBook is now 11-5 vs Luka including playoffs. pic.twitter.com/YTdXHDmnqE
— StatMuse (@statmuse) October 20, 2022
Incredible comeback by the Suns to take Game 8
— Kyle Odegard (@Kyle_Odegard) October 20, 2022
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.