Young Mavs Hang Tough, but Come Up Short vs. Hawks, 100-95

 

The Dallas Mavericks came into Wednesday night’s game riding a 2-game win streak. With Wesley Matthews sitting this one out with a hip injury, the task of beating the Atlanta Hawks on the road became even more difficult than it already was.

 

 

Headlines earlier in the day were about the newly acquired big man, Nerlens Noel, and how he was not starting tonight due to being 10 minutes late to the team plane for this trip. Therefore, Dorian Finney-Smith started instead. Despite not starting, Noel still got a chance to play against the bigger, more experienced Dwight Howard. It did not end well for the lanky 22-year-old center though, as Howard simply out-muscled him every time they met in the paint. Howard finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds, and Noel finished with 6 points, 2 rebounds in only 16 minutes of play.

 

 

As far as the actual game as a whole though, the Mavs fought hard all night long. Every time Atlanta went up by double digits and threatened to pull away, Dallas would storm back and make it a close game again. Seth Curry continued to torch the nets, going 5-of-8 from deep, including a huge three to tie the game at 87-all with just under 6 minutes remaining. Harrison Barnes then nailed a 3 from the top of the arc to put the Mavs up 90-87. After yet another clutch 3 by Curry to put the Mavs up 93-89, a series of bad breaks at the end resulted in the Mavs falling to the Hawks 100-95.

 

Oh BABY! ? pic.twitter.com/VlV2iaK0z3

— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) March 2, 2017

 

Players of the Game:

 

 

Harrison Barnes – 24 points (9-of-19), 4 rebounds, 4 assists

 

Seth Curry – 21 points (7-of-13), 4 rebounds, 3 assists

 

Dirk Nowitzki – 11 points (5-of-12), 10 rebounds

 

T-minus 50 points to 30K ? pic.twitter.com/MgptX1o6dH

— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) March 2, 2017

 

 

Highlight of the Game:

 

 

This is probably my favorite play by Barnes of this entire season. The force he displays in this and-1 poster dunk shows why he’s going to be a cornerstone for the Mavs for years to come. If Barnes is averaging 20 ppg right now, can you imagine the numbers he’d be capable of producing if he got to the free throw line more? Anyway, back to the point:

 

DW we'll be taking orders for this poster soon ? pic.twitter.com/H5QMkpLvvI

— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) March 2, 2017

 

Up Next:

 

 

Next, the Mavs start a very pivotal 5-game home stand against the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night at AAC. Time is ticking for this Mavs team to string together enough wins to vault them into the playoffs. In my opinion, this home stand will determine Dallas’ fate for the 2016-2017 season.