The Phoenix Suns beat the Dallas Mavericks 112-104 at Footprint Center on Friday, extending their winning streak to 11, the longest this season.

It is also the team's longest winning streak since the 2006-07 season, when Steve Nash led them to 15 and 17 wins respectively in a row.

The Suns have another (future) Hall of Famer to thank for their latest excellent record, Chris Paul, who dropped 18 points and 14 assists against the Mavericks at home. A 36-year-old veteran, Paul was doing well enough to get 10 points and eight rebounds in the first three quarters, but his team trailed by five points (84-79).

So the "Point God" rushed into the telephone booth, put on his superhero outfit and came out to save the world again. Having made four jumpers out of six attempts in the middle range, Paul also delivered six assists as well as three steals in Q4 alone, helping his teammates complete easy dunks inside and fire free from outside. The Suns drove a 33-20 run in this quarter to seal the victory at home.

"The whole fourth quarter was a lot of fun," Devin Booker said after the game.

"Guys don't take this for granted," Paul added. "The locker room is great. Sometimes you can win games and it feels like you lost in the locker room. But the locker room's great and the spirit is right."

This was the Mavericks' second consecutive loss against the Suns in three days. Luka Doncic sat out both due to left knee and ankle sprains. The Mavericks put up some tough resistance against an opponent that was obviously stronger than them. Kristaps Porzingis and Jalen Brunson both worked hard trying to fill in the leadership gap left by Doncic. They were able to keep it close in regular competition, but when their opponents made the game more intensive and had their aces carry more duties, the Mavericks didn't have the same countermeasure.

Warriors beat Pistons as Curry, Iguodala and Green rest

The Golden State Warriors defeated the Detroit Pistons 105-102 at Little Caesars Arena on Wednesday, remaining leaders of the Western Conference.

Though Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala all sat out this game, the Warriors had Jordan Poole and Andrew Wiggins to turn to for firepower. Poole went 13-22 in field goals (FGs) and 4-8 in triples to get 32 points, 22 of which happened in the first half. Wiggins earned 11 free throws, made eight of them and was 4-6 in the middle range to get 27 points.

"It kind of feels like a homecoming," Poole said after the game. "My parents were here and friends from school."

"I'm really proud of Jordan," Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said. "He struggled the last few games. He was locked in right at the beginning."

Other Warriors made remarkable contributions as well. Gary Payton II continued to display his defensive presence with two steals but he also drained three triples. Juan Toscano-Anderson shouldered Green's orchestrating duty by delivering nine assists.

It's still too early to make any predictions, but the Warriors have shown a very intimidating quality many champion teams have: depth. Last season, the rest of the team were such a disappointment, especially on offense. Curry had to play like a scoring champion trying to shoulder the team into the playoffs and he failed. Now, after a run-in year, the Warriors' system has started to work again, even before Klay Thompson returns.

The Pistons had a desperate rally in the last quarter (32-19) and came close to tying the score in regular time. Cade Cunningham blocked Wiggins under the rim at 0:32 but both Jerami Grant and Frank Jackson missed their shots behind the arc.

"I'll be honest, that was the best feeling one I took all night," Jackson said. "I thought it was going in."

Cunningham had 19 points, six rebounds, six assists, three steals and two blocks. He's still not an efficient scorer, but the first-overall selection of the 2021 Class has been optimizing his shooting area and did not take even one attempt unless he was at the 3-point line or close to the paint. Meanwhile, he's learning how to exploit his decent court vision brought by his 1.98-meter height.

"We've gotten wins, but we keep coming back with losses," Cunningham said. "We have to find a way to string together some wins."

Other games on Friday (away teams first):

Indiana Pacers 118-121 Charlotte Hornets

Orlando Magic 113-115 Brooklyn Nets

Oklahoma City 89-96 Milwaukee Bucks

Los Angeles Clippers 81-94 New Orleans Pelicans

Chicago Bulls 114-108 Denver Nuggets

Toronto Raptors 108-89 Sacramento Kings