ATLANTA – Their superstar point guard was back in Dallas dealing with a right wrist sprain. Two other players were battling an illness, and
Klay Thompson was nursing plantar fasciitis on his left foot.
Yet, the Dallas Mavericks exhibited just enough grit and determination to hustle their way to a hard-fought 129-119 triumph over the Atlanta Hawks on Monday night before a sellout crowd of 17,186 at State Farm Arena.
The victory helped the Mavs wrap up this three-game trip with a 2-1 record and padded their overall worksheet to 10-8 entering Wednesday’s home game against the New York Knicks. The Hawks, meanwhile, lost for the sixth time in the last nine games and fell to 7-11 overall.
Kyrie Irving reminded everyone why he’s still one of the most dangerous fourth-quarter players on the planet. With the Mavs suffering through the ebbs and flow of a typical game on the second leg of a back-to-back, Irving took noticed and decided to take matters into his own hands.
The results: Irving tallied 16 of his game-high 32 points in the final 9:25 as he dazzled the crowd with an assortment of eye-popping three-pointers that helped the Mavs bounce back from Sunday’s gut-wrenching 123-118 loss to the Miami Heat.
In the fourth quarter, Irving was 6-of-8 from the field, including 4-of-5 from three-point land. He was in a zone and there was absolutely nothing the Hawks could do about it.
“It’s about time some of those shots went in,” Irving said. “A lot of those shots that I shot in the first half were short — just missing some easy bunnies — and it’s easy to get frustrated, which I was.
“But as a human being you’ve got to feel those emotions, stay present in it and just deal with the results and just really leaning back on the work. I just had to keep being aggressive. When I’m aggressive it helps (my teammates).”
Irving drained back-to-back-to-back three-pointers to pad the Mavs’ lead to 118-109 with 5:25 remaining. Shortly after a
P. J. Washington bucket from downtown stretched Dallas’ lead to 121-111, Irving fed Maxi Kleber for a dunk and a 123-115 lead.
From there, Spencer Dinwiddie scored before the 24-second shot clock expired, Jaden Hardy nailed a tough shot inside the paint, and Irving drove down the lane for an uncontested basket to give the Mavs a 129-119 lead with 49.4 seconds to go.
“That’s what he does,” Dinwiddie said, referring to Irving’s ability to take over a game. “They call him the king of the fourth (quarter). He spent the night – the first three quarters – feeling out the game, getting to the spots he wanted to get to, and kind of getting that rhythm going.
“Once you have that rhythm, it’s almost like boxing. You can set up counter punches, right? You can throw the jab, throw the hook, and you’re setting a rhythm, you’re setting a cadence. And then when you want to flip that switch — if you have that green light, that opportunity, that control – you flip the switch, and he saw one go in and it’s over after that.”
Indeed, once Irving found the magic touch, it was over after that. At that point, he was living rent free in the Hawks’ head.
But it wasn’t just Irving who was a key proponent in the Mavs winning for the fifth time in their last six games. Hardy started and collected a season-high 23 points and three steals.
Naji Marshall and Dinwiddie tallied 22 points apiece. Between Irving, Hardy, Marshall and Dinwiddie, this marked the first time since Jan. 29 against Orlando that the Mavs had four players score at least 20 points in the same game.
Meanwhile, coach Jason Kidd appreciated the character his players displayed in battling back from a 13-point deficit in the first quarter. Despite that bumpy start, the Mavs had high hopes because they were only down, 31-28, after the first quarter even though they committed eight turnovers during that juncture of the game.
“Sometimes when you get caught in just the single game, just understand it’s a marathon, and we’re trying to get everybody into the game, their rhythm, and understand what guys can do in different situations,” Kidd said. “A lot of guys stepped up, starting with Kai, our leader, helping those guys.
“He didn’t start off well, but that just shows his basketball IQ that he felt that it was going to come at some point, and it did there in that second half.”
Hardy entered the game with just 19 points on 7-of-19 shooting in the previous three games. And Dinwiddie had a miserable 1-of-12 shooting night in Sunday’s game against Miami. But those two players obviously had short memories.
“I thought both guys, Hardy and Spencer, got bounce back games,” Kidd said. “Hardy didn’t play well (Sunday), but that’s over with. I love that he pushed forward and responded well. But scoring, and also being able to get us settled, and then defensively he was really good.
“And Spencer, I think had some of those looks tonight that went down. Again, his leadership of getting us organized on the offensive end (was good), and defensively I thought he did a really good job rebounding the ball.”
Hardy, who had 15 points in the first half when the Mavs trailed, 67-61, was confident the short-handed Mavs were going to be able to end this road trip on a winning note.
“I wanted to step up for the t
eam,” Hardy said. “I thought they needed me tonight, and needed somebody who was going to go out there and play with pace, attack and put pressure on the defense, and also find guys and try to get them involved too, and get them open shots.
“That was my main focus coming in today, and bring energy on the defensive side of the ball, and trying to get deflections and steals.”
The Hawks used a 24-7 run assume a 77-66 lead less than three minutes into the third quarter. But a driving layup by Irving kicked off a 30-16 run – which ended with a baseline jumper from Irving — that gave the Mavs a slim 96-95 led entering the fourth quarter.
The Mavs played without Luka Dončić (right wrist sprain), Quentin Grimes (illness) and Thompson. And Dereck Lively II departed for good after the first half with an illness.
But after shuffling the deck, the Mavs battled through adversity and walked away with a winning hand.
Irving, by the way, also had an illness, but still went out and gave what he could.
“It didn’t cross my mind at all (about not playing),” he said. “I was just thinking about being there for my guys as much as they’re there for me. It was just a gutsy win.”
X: @DwainPrice
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