Davis did not earn his first victory until Monday, when Orlando came back from a 22-point deficit to beat the Suns.
The Lakers beat the Suns, who defeated them in the first round in 2006 and 2007.
Barkley led all scorers with 26 points and added 8 rebounds, but Knicks beat the Suns, 100-90.
Cuban no doubt senses that his Mavs could not beat the Suns in a personality contest.
Magic Johnson had 22 points and 10 assists for the Lakers, who beat the Suns for the third time in four meetings this season.
But beating the Suns was only the beginning of a crucial week.
The Spurs beat the Suns 108-101 as Tim Duncan rallied for 33 points and 19 boards.
That same season, they beat the Suns in a seventh game.
Not having the home advantage might have been the only thing that kept Seattle one victory away from beating the Suns in last season's conference finals.
Yet they recovered their shooting touch, quickly rallied from 12 points down and beat the Suns for the seventh consecutive time, including four games in the regular season.