Mavericks vs Hawks Final Score: Dallas defeats Atlanta, 1290119

The short-handed Dallas Mavericks outperformed Atlanta Hawks129-119. Kyrie Irving turned in another masterful performance, scoring 32 points along with seven rebounds and six assists. Jalen Johnson had 28 points and 11 rebounds in the loss to the Hawks.

Dallas found itself without Klay Thompson, Quentin Grimes and Luka Doncic and came out in the first quarter looking tired and disinterested. They committed eight turnovers in the quarter and found themselves down by as many as thirteen in the frame. But despite an ugly start, the good guys found their offense and quickly closed the lead in the final minutes. Dallas was down 31-28 after 12 minutes.

The Mavericks found a bit more offense in the second. Spencer Dinwiddie forced his way to the free throw line, Naji Marshall made some buckets and Jaden Hardy played solid on-ball defense that helped fuel Dallas’ offense. Dallas built the lead to as many as six, then collapsed in the final two minutes of the half. Turnovers paired with missed shots and poor defense allowed the Hawks to go on a 12-0 run that resulted in a 67-61 Atlanta lead at the half.

An ugly start led to a quick timeout two minutes into the second half from head coach Jason Kidd. With Dallas down by 11 points, Jaden Hardy injected life into the Maverick offense with five straight points. Dinwiddie helped close the gap further, connecting on three straight three-pointers before passing to PJ Washington to give Dallas the lead. The two teams traded baskets for the rest of the quarter, and the Mavericks took a 96-95 lead into the final quarter.

The superior top talent from Dallas won in the fourth quarter. A Kyrie Irving burst from… well, anywhere helped give the Mavericks a sizable lead midway through the quarter that Atlanta couldn’t overcome. Washington punctuated the victory with an incredible block on a fast break attempt with just over a minute remaining; the block led to a Kyrie Irving layup in transition to seal the game. Dallas wins 129-119.

Now some thoughts…

The Dallas bench paved the way to victory

After a night where the Maverick bench underperformed and arguably lost Dallas the game, it was great to see a short-handed group come together the second night in a back-to-back and pull Dallas to victory. Dinwiddie was hyper efficient after a 1-of-12 shooting performance, scoring 22 points on just 11 field goals. His free throw drawing helped settle the Dallas offense. Daniel Gafford and Maxi Kleber combined for 17 points, 16 rebounds, four assists, two steals and three blocks as bigs off the bench. Maxi in particular looked good. Considering his hamstring was detached from his bone earlier in the season, this kind of performance is welcome, especially a night after he looked washed out.

Kyrie Irving was tired and then stood up

A night after Irving’s missed free throw sent Dallas falling in overtime against Miami, he led Dallas to a gutsy victory. Entering the fourth, Irving had 16 points on mildly ineffective play, which was to be expected after his high minutes tally the night before against the Heat. His four threes in the fourth to go along with a layup, two long jumpers and two assists were the main reasons Dallas overpowered Atlanta in the fourth. It was an impressive performance for the veteran guard.

Mr. Reliable

PJ Washington is becoming the player’s predictions. On any given night, he’s capable of scoring a dozen, grabbing double-digit rebounds while making the right pass, defending the opposing team’s best player, and racking up various defensive stats to boot. His box score was solid but not exactly standout material on Monday. Still, his 11 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and four shares were key to Dallas walking away with a win.