DALLAS, TX – The Dallas Mavericks (36-38) lose their third straight game after losing to the Charlotte Hornets (24-51) 117-109 in American Airlines Center on Friday night. Kyrie Irving returned for the Mavs tonight but Dallas couldn’t get it done.
The Hornets went on a 6-0 run midway through the first quarter to take a 14-8 lead and the lead continued to grow from there. Dallas has a rough time getting back on defense and running the floor and it really showed in the contest against Charlotte. Luka Doncic and Dwight Powell were most of Dallas’s offense in the first quarter. Doncic had 10 points while Powell had eight. The Hornets took a 37-26 lead entering the second quarter.
The lead continued to grow in the second quarter for Charlotte. Doncic and Powell had some chemistry on offense but other than that the Mavs really struggled offensively. They shot 18 percent from beyond the arc in the first half while the Hornets shot 80 percent, making 12 three’s before heading into the locker room.
Dallas trailed the entire second half before going into the locker room down 69-55. Doncic led the Mavs with 16 points, Powell added 12 points. The Mavs had some sparks on offense in the second from Josh Green and Kyrie Irving but couldn’t seem to get the deficit below 10 points.
The Mavs were down 20 points in the third quarter but went on a 9-0 run forcing the Hornets to take a timeout. Following the timeout rookie Jaden Hardy hits back-to-back three-pointers rallying the Mavs offense. Dallas came back within one point to start the fourth quarter and the battle went back and forth from there.
The Hornets went on a 10-0 to create a gap. Charlotte was up 107-96 with five minutes remaining in the game. The Hornets finished it out with a 117-109 victory.
Luka led the Mavs with 34 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists.
Kyrie Irving added 18 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists.
Dallas will head to Charlotte to play the hornets again on Sunday night at noon. Dallas will have a five-game road trip before returning to Dallas on April 5th.
previous post
