It cannot be emphasized enough how badly the Mavericks needed a win on Wednesday night in Atlanta.  With six straight losses and their record at a disappointing 8-13 entering the game, the team was on the brink of something catastrophic if they dropped another game.

While not all of their problems are solved and they could easily drop the next two games at home against the Golden State Warriors, the Mavericks did what it took to end their losing streak with a 122-116 win over the Hawks.

Thank goodness.

Strong games from Tim Hardaway Jr. and Kristaps Porzingis equal good things 
You can basically pencil in Luka Doncic for 25+ points every night, but it’s definitely a major question where the rest of the Mavs points are going to come from while Kristaps Porzingis is still working his way back towards being 100%. On Wednesday night, Doncic’s 27 points were closely followed by Porzingis’ 24 points and Tim Hardaway Jr.’s 22 points.

Luka Dončić (27), Kristaps Porzingis (24) and Tim Hardaway Jr. (22) each finished with 20+ points tonight.

The Mavericks are now 3-0 this season when three players score 20+ points in a game. pic.twitter.com/RaV1G8PTOm

— Mavs PR (@MavsPR) February 4, 2021

The frequent narrative surrounding the Mavericks is that they need to find a third legitimate scoring threat behind Doncic and Porzingis, but too often so far this season it has only been Doncic carrying the scoring load as KP has combined missing half of the season so far along with plenty of poor outings. Tonight wasn’t all good for the big man. He had a terrible first half on the defensive end, but for the second consecutive game, he turned around his game with a strong second half performance. Perhaps unsurprisingly, he has played a season high 34 minutes in each of the last two games. He has had more time on the court to dig out of slow starts and find his rhythm and spots as the game wears on.

Hardaway Jr. was absolutely key to the Mavericks taking control of this game in the second half with a scorching shooting stretch from deep that greatly boosted an otherwise terrible Mavs perimeter shooting performance as a team. Dallas is now 4-1 on the season when he scores 20 or more points in a game.

Slowing down Trae Young 
When you think of the Atlanta Hawks, you think of the scoring ability of Trae Young. He came into tonight’s game averaging over 26 points per game and it was justified to think he would scorch the Mavs with his perimeter shooting and pick-and-roll playmaking. Dallas was able to limit Young to “just” 21 points on 8-18 shooting from the field and 9 of those 21 points coming in the final two minutes when the Hawks made a push to make the final score look close after the Mavs’ lead grew to as large as 15 in the fourth quarter. The slowing of young was mostly done by increased defensive pressure on him in the backcourt and getting the ball out of his hands quickly.

The other Hawks didn’t totally let him down or anything. Plenty of them had good nights with John Collins standing out with a monstrous 35 points and 12 rebounds. Danilo Gallinari poured in 19 points in just 21 minutes off the bench or Kevin Huerter’s sharpshooting leading to his 21 point performance. Atlanta was in this game virtually for 45 out of 48 minutes despite Young’s subpar performance.

Luckily for the Mavs, that really strong push in the middle of the fourth quarter was enough of a cushion to allow them to bring the game home late with a bit of a sweat.

Mavericks supporting staff steps up 
While the big three of Doncic, KP and THJ handled the major scoring load, this game was filled big moments where Mavs role players made big shots and played great defense.

Maxi Kleber made two huge three’s in the third quarter when the Hawks were trying to create some separation from Dallas. Josh Richardson struggled shooting the ball from deep but found other ways to score, made clutch free throws late and of course played tenacious D for all of his 36 minutes on the court. Jalen Brunson continues to be the Mavericks second best shot creator off the dribble with a relentless ability to get to the basket off the bench.

Dallas won’t be able to get to where they want to without players like these continuing their contributions in all aspects of the game. They got it done tonight and were just as important to the team getting the win as the big point totals for Dallas’ three leading scorers.

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The Mavericks don’t have any time to celebrate their win as they will be right back at it tomorrow night at the American Airlines Center when they host the short-handed Golden State Warriors (11-10) at 6:30 on TNT.