Dallas, TX — The Dallas Mavericks were able to hold off The Atlanta Hawks 103-94 in Sunday’s victory at the American Airline Center.
The Mavs only put up 10 points in the first seven minutes of the game, but that quickly changed as Jalen Brunson and Luca Doncic started shooting from beyond the arch. Both teams were going back and forth with personal fouls, sending multiple players to the line.
Starting the second quarter, both Brunson and Doncic led in scoring, totaling the pair to 21 points. Jason Kidd was able to rotate his players in, giving Doncic time to rest on the bench.
With not much progression in points, Atlanta brought the score within three halfway into the second quarter. Dwight Powell used his length on defense to snag 4 rebounds and block one shot, while Hawks player John Collins rounded up 10 points before the half.
Jason Kidd decided to pull Doncic with just under a minute left in the second quarter after picking up his third foul of the game. The Mavs let up on defense giving the hawks some room to trail by four at the half, leaving the score at 54-50.
At the start of the third quarter, not even a minute into the game, Luca had picked up his fifth foul of the game, giving Coach Kidd no other choice but to pull the star player back out of the game. Reggie Bullock and Dorian Finney-Smith both picked up where Luca left off and began to take more shots from beyond the arch.
Atlanta is the best 3-point shooting team in the NBA, hitting 37% of their shots from behind the arch. Tonight, the Mavs kept them at 20% shooting 5-25. Fouls are what cost this Dallas team 13 points in the third quarter but this did not stop them from controlling the lead.
Before the beginning of the fourth, both Luca and Brunson had 5 personal fouls each, placing both of them on the bench for some time. The Maverick’s drive and willingness to continue to put points on the board, without their two leading scorers, are what kept the team alive.
With nine minutes left in the game, Jason Kidd decided to check Luca back into the game where he was quickly fouled and sent to the free-throw line.
