In the absence of Luka Doncic and Klay Thompson, the Mavericks could have plunged to the second night of a “back-to-back” after losing in overtime the day before in Miami. On the contrary, on the floor of Atlanta, Jason Kidd's men were able to stand together, with the Dinwiddie-Hardy-Marshall trio to support a Kyrie Irving became unplayable at the end, to get the victory, 129 to 119.
Fresher, the Hawks were able to take the match from the right end with Zaccharie Risacher in passer mode for 3-pointers from Dyson Daniels and Jalen Johnson (12-4). The gap quickly rose to +13 (31-18) until Dallas woke up, driven by an 8-0 to end the first quarter, thanks to the Washington-Gafford pair and 3-pointers from Naji Marshall one second from the buzzer (31-28).
Spencer Dinwiddie and Naji Marshall maintained the trend until Jaden Hardy took over with 7 points in a row, a series punctuated by two 3-point baskets from Kyrie Irving to put Dallas at +6 (50-56) . While the Mavs seemed in their comfort zone, the Hawks managed to finish strong to completely reverse the course of the game. First there was Clint Capela's destructive dunk with the foul as a bonus, then a scathing 14- 2 to conclude the first half, with Jalen Johnson in showman mode, between his blind pass for Dyson Daniels from the baseline, and his two alley-oops on two serves from Trae Young, including one after a pass behind the back for its leader (67-61).
Kyrie Irving unstoppable
At 0 points at the break, Zaccharie Risacher showed the way upon returning from the locker room with a dunk and a 3-pointer from the wing, also on two passes from Trae Young (77-66). Except that Dallas did not let itself be walked on and took control of the match again. The new remarkable passage from Jaden Hardy was followed by a big shot from Spencer Dinwiddie author of a nice 3/3 from distance to equalize at 86-86.
The rest was a long mano a mano of almost ten minutes during which the two teams had great difficulty deciding between themselves. Kyrie Irving accompanied Spencer Dinwiddie by scoring difficult baskets without flinching while opposite, Bogdan Bogdanovic gradually took control of the attack alongside Trae Young.
The problem for the Hawks is that Kyrie Irving started to catch fire, between a 2-point baseline basket and especially three 3-point arrows which helped to rebuild a gap as money time approached. » (107-115). “Uncle Drew” once again fired from distance on an off-balance shot before making Maxi Kleber shine on “pick-and-roll” then taking charge of finishing the job with a last basket near the circle 50 seconds from the end (119-129).
WHAT TO REMEMBER
Kyrie Irving's crazy finale. To say that the leader was rather clumsy in the first half, finishing at 3/13 shooting. Its second half was much more convincing (8/15), but what can we say about its finale during which Kyrie Irving gradually ousted Atlanta from the race with great shots of 3-point baskets which ended up cracking the locals? . Paradoxically, he has free rein at position 1 in the absence of Luka Doncic, which allows him to show himself a little more, especially at the end of the match, and to remind us of the player he is (32 points, 7 rebounds , 6 assists).
Spencer Dinwiddie has redeemed himself. In the absence of Klay Thompson, it was necessary to find alternatives at position 2. Jaden Hardy remarkably compensated for the former Warrior's loss by signing his best outing of the year (23 points). Terribly clumsy the day before (1/12 including 0/9 from afar), Spencer Dinwiddie was also a valuable relay off the bench with 22 points and 4 assists. His 3/3 from distance put Dallas into orbit at the start of the fourth quarter, and Kyrie Irving then finished the job.
Tribute to Dikembe Mutombo. Atlanta wore their “City Edition” jersey last night and took the opportunity to pay tribute to the late Dikembe Mutombo. A banner was raised in his name and a sticker in his honor was placed at the edge of the field. A host of former players showed up for the occasion, from Joe Johnson to Kevin Willis and the twirling Josh Smith, while Dominique Wilkins was there from his commentator position.
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How to read the stats? Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; O = offensive rebound; D=defensive rebound; T = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; +/- = Point differential when the player is on the field; Pts = Points; Eval: player evaluation calculated from positive actions – negative actions.
