Dallas Mavericks Archives - Page 4 of 4

The well-rested Hawks aim to contain the Mavericks

The Hawks are hoping for a different outcome when they face the Dallas Mavericks on Monday night, compared to the last time the two teams met in Atlanta.

On January 26 of last season, Luka Doncic scored 73 points, leading the Mavericks to a 148-143 win.

Doncic, who was traded for Atlanta’s point guard Trae Young on draft night in 2018, will not play in Monday’s game due to a wrist injury he got in last Tuesday’s win over the New Orleans Pelicans. The good news for Dallas is that the injury is not expected to keep Doncic out for a long time.

Monday’s game will be the Mavericks’ final stop on a three-city road trip. Dallas had its four-game winning streak ended with a 123-118 overtime loss to the Miami Heat on Sunday.

Dallas was ahead by two points until Jimmy Butler’s dunk with 4.1 seconds left in regulation. The Mavericks then went scoreless for the last 3:21 of overtime.

For Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd, learning how to play without Doncic could help the team in the future.

“You never know who’s gonna have foul trouble or an injury,” Kidd said. “The bench has been in the positive since Luka’s been out, but unfortunately that wasn’t the case tonight. You just never know who’s going to be able to play, and this is a great lesson learned for all of us.”

Doncic is averaging 28.1 points per game, which ranks eighth in the NBA. Kyrie Irving, who scored 27 points in the loss to Miami, is the second-leading scorer for Dallas, averaging 24.1 points per game.

The Hawks haven’t played since Friday, when they lost 136-122 to the Chicago Bulls. Trae Young and Jalen Johnson each scored 25 points for Atlanta, but the team allowed the Bulls to shoot 57% from the field and 44.2% from three-point range. Chicago also made 19 of 21 free throws in the game.

The Hawks are giving up 120.5 points per game, which is the third-highest in the league, and this is a major concern for the team.

“When you play a team that puts up 50-40-90, those are Hall of Fame numbers,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said. “That’s not to say you can’t do more. We could have contested better, we could have kept them out of the paint more. I thought that was a big part of the game, as well as our inability to score at times.”

After starting the season 2-0, the Hawks have not been able to get back to a .500 record since October 28. They are now trying to avoid losing three straight games for the first time since that point.

Trae Young leads the Hawks with 22.1 points per game and an NBA-best 11.7 assists per game. Jalen Johnson follows with 19.4 points per game and a team-high 10.4 rebounds. Dyson Daniels, one of the few bright spots on a struggling defense, leads the league with 3.2 steals per game.

Heat rally in overtime to secure win against Mavericks

Jimmy Butler scored 33 points, grabbed nine rebounds, and handed out six assists as the Miami Heat defeated the Dallas Mavericks 123-118 in overtime on Sunday night.

Kyrie Irving led the Mavericks with 27 points and six assists. P.J. Washington contributed 21 points and 10 rebounds, while Naji Marshall scored 19 of his 20 points in the second half. Dereck Lively II had a double-double with 14 points, 13 rebounds, four assists, and two blocks.

Klay Thompson, who had struggled with shooting in Dallas’ win over Denver on Friday, bounced back with 15 points on 5-for-12 shooting.

The Mavericks played without Luka Dončić, the reigning NBA scoring champion, who was sidelined with a wrist injury.

Miami, which had been off since Monday, had strong performances from Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro. Adebayo finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds, while Herro added 18 points and 10 rebounds.

The Heat took the lead for good on Adebayo’s 3-pointer, making it 120-118 with 2:54 left in overtime. Dallas missed its final seven shots, and after Lively’s dunk gave the Mavericks a brief 118-117 lead with 3:21 remaining, Miami held on.

Adebayo was 3-of-6 from beyond the arc as the Heat shot 34.1 percent (14-of-41) from 3-point range. Dallas, on the other hand, hit just 10 of 40 threes (25 percent) and shot 41.9 percent overall.

Dallas’ first lead since the opening quarter came when Irving hit a 3-pointer to make it 106-103 with 4:34 left in the game. The Mavericks held a one-point lead when Irving stepped to the free-throw line with 8.2 seconds left but made only 1 of 2 free throws, leaving the door open for Miami.

Butler took advantage, dunking off a pass from Duncan Robinson with 4.3 seconds left, tying the game and sending it to overtime after Spencer Dinwiddie’s last-second 3-point attempt missed.

Dinwiddie finished with seven points but had a rough shooting night, going 1-for-12 from the field, including 0-for-9 from 3-point range.

The game saw three lead changes in the first quarter, which ended with Miami ahead 33-28. Dallas missed its last six shots of the period, allowing the Heat to close the quarter on a 9-0 run.

Miami shot poorly in the second quarter, hitting only 28.6 percent of their shots, including 1-for-10 from beyond the arc. Despite this, they led 56-51 at halftime.

Both teams scored 23 points in the second quarter, and the third period ended in a 33-33 tie, leaving Miami with an 89-84 advantage heading into the final quarter.