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The Nerlens Noel “undefeated” era in Dallas comes to end.
Winners of two straight, the Dallas Mavericks visited Atlanta and nearly pulled off a comeback on the road against a tough Hawk squad, but they sputtered and collapsed in crunch time, allowing the Hawks to score the last six points of the game in the final minute, volleying in front for good.
CURRY AND BARNES KEEP ROLLING
It’s become a familiar refrain, but Seth Curry and Harrison Barnes carried the Mavs’ offense again on Wednesday night, combining for 46(25 for Barnes, 21 for Curry) of their 95 points. Dallas frankly struggled when someone other than those two shot the ball. Players not named Curry or Barnes shot 6-21 from three. Dirk and Yogi were the next highest scorers with 11 points, each, and no other Mav scored in double figures.
DALLAS CLIMBS BACK FROM DEFICIT ONCE MORE
Another recent trend has been Dallas starting slow or otherwise getting down by a large lead, only to slowly grind there way back into it late. Unfortunately, though Dallas went back in front with four minutes left(their first lead since early in the first quarter), and then held a one point lead again with under a minute left, they couldn’t hold on. Atlanta shot a blistering 72%(!) from the field in the first half, cooled off badly in the second, but ultimately it was turnovers that may have decided things. The Mavs committed an uncharacteristic 20 TO’s, including a Barnes fumble with only a few seconds left that turned a one possession game into the nail in the coffin.
CARLISLE THROWING THE KITCHEN SINK LINEUP OUT THERE
We saw Nicolas Brussino with some of the earliest minutes of his career, after Dorian Finney Smith got into foul trouble in the first quarter. Ben Bentil made his NBA debut(not that you might have known from the stat sheet). Late in the second half, Dallas made a run with Quinn Cook out there. Clearly, Rick is reaching deep into his bag of tricks to see what works and what doesn’t. The Wizard couldn’t materialize a victory tonight, though.