PHOENIX (AP) — Kyrie Irving scored 20 points, Daniel Gafford added 16 and the Dallas Mavericks won their first game since star Luka Doncic was injured, beating the Phoenix Suns, 98-89, on Friday night, Dec. 27.

Kevin Durant scored 35 points for the Suns, who have lost four of their past five games.

Doncic is expected to miss about a month with a calf injury suffered in the team’s Christmas Day loss to Minnesota. The Mavs were left further short-handed on Friday in the third quarter after forwards Naji Marshall and P.J. Washington — along with Phoenix’s Jusuf Nurkic — were ejected after a brief fight.

The Mavs persevered anyway thanks to a balanced effort on both ends of the floor. Dallas never trailed and led by as many as 18. Spencer Dinwiddie and Maxi Kleber each scored 15 points and Klay Thompson added 11.

Dallas took a 55-39 lead by halftime, led by Irving’s 15 points. The Suns shot just 33.3% over the first two quarters.

It was a gritty win for the Mavs, who controlled the game from the outset despite playing without Doncic. Irving made just 6 of 21 shots overall, but 5 of 10 from behind the arc.

Two days after a galvanizing win on Christmas Day over the Nuggets, the Suns went right back to mediocrity. Part of the problem is the absence of injured All-Star Devin Booker, but as the Mavericks showed on Friday, teams can still have a level of success without one of their stars.

Meanwhile in Houston, Anthony Edwards made a step-back 3-pointer with 23 seconds left to cap a furious rally and lift the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 113-112 win over the Rockets.

The Rockets were up by by 12 with about three minutes left before a 10-0 run by the Timberwolves, highlighted by a 3-point play by Edwards, cut the lead to 110-108 with 90 seconds to go.

Alperen Sengun made 1 of 2 free throws after that, but Julius Randle’s dunk on the other end got Minnesota within 1. Sengun was fouled a second time and again made just 1 of 2 free throws to leave Houston up 112-110.

In Denver, Donovan Mitchell scored 33 points, Evan Mobley had 26 points and the streaking Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Nuggets, 149-135, for their sixth straight win.

Cleveland set a season high in points and improved to 10-1 since dropping two in a row to Atlanta last month.

Nikola Jokic had 27 points, 14 rebounds and 13 assists for his league-leading 12th triple-double of the season, and Jamal Murray also had 27 with 10 assists for Denver, which has dropped two in a row.

In New Orleans, Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 33 points, Ja Morant scored 25 before leaving with what appeared to be a minor right shoulder injury, and the Memphis Grizzlies beat the slumping Pelicans, 132-124.

Morant was knocked from the game when he was flattened by Pelicans center Daniel Theis’ hard but legal screen.

The Grizzlies never ruled Morant out of the game, classifying him as doubtful after he went to the locker room to be examined. He returned to the bench and cheered on his team from there.

In New York, Victor Wembanyama had 19 points, seven rebounds and six blocks, Jeremy Sochan had 12 points and 14 rebounds and the San Antonio Spurs beat the Brooklyn Nets, 96-87.

Julian Champagnie scored 18 points, and Keldon Johnson had 15 points and six rebounds to help the Spurs end a two-game skid.

Keon Johnson scored a game-high 25 points and Shake Milton chipped in with 16 points and 12 assists for Brooklyn, which fell for the ninth time in its past 12 games.