The Dallas Mavericks defeated the Atlanta Hawks 120-118 Wednesday night in Dallas in a thrilling game that came down to the final possession for both teams.
Anthony Davis hit a floater on the move with 3.4 seconds remaining to give Dallas the final lead, before then defending Trae Young on the ensuing possession to secure the win. It was a big win for Dallas, since the Sacramento Kings lost to the Washington Wizards earlier today. The Mavericks win now gives them a game-and-a-half lead for the ninth seed.
It wasn’t a pretty game, with the Hawks being on the second night of a back-to-back, and Dallas’ defense looking suspect for most of the game, but a win is a win.
Here’s what we noticed.
Anthony Davis balls out
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There hasn’t been a lot of fun moments in Dallas since Anthony Davis arrived after the Luka Doncic trade, but Wednesday night was definitely fun. Davis had by far his best game as a Maverick, with 34 points, 15 rebounds, and five blocks.
Obviously there was no bigger play for Davis then his game-winning floater with 3.4 seconds left. Dallas got the ball to Davis, cleared the floor and let him go to work quickly and Davis delivered.
Davis was everywhere, scoring buckets down low, in the midrange, and he even made two three pointers. Atlanta guarded him straight up, so Davis used his face-up game from the mid-post to either quickly get into the paint or make comfortable mid-range jumpers. Once Atlanta decided to double, Davis wasn’t as effective, but his teammates consistently made shots for most of the night even if Davis didn’t have a big assist game.
He was also really fun in transition, punctuated by an awesome lob finish from Davis after a beautiful setup from the freshly returned Dereck Lively. It wasn’t a perfect night (Davis still doesn’t seem completely healthy, and doesn’t want to play much defense outside the paint, which the Hawks took advantage of a few times), but Davis is finally starting to look like himself after the long injury layoff.
Dereck Lively is back
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After suffering a stress fracture in his ankle in January, Mavericks center Dereck Lively finally made his return against Atlanta on Wednesday. Lively had a pretty strict minutes restriction, only playing 16 minutes, but it was good to see him on the court.
Lively started next to Davis, and it was a pretty fun pairing, especially when Lively found Davis for a lob in the third quarter. Lively didn’t do too much in his time, with just four points and five rebounds, but he moved well and didn’t get hurt again. Which honestly, that’s all Mavs fans can hope for right now.
It’s easy to win games when you make all your shots
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The Atlanta Hawks stink, especially their defense. Dallas could not afford a rough offensive game against this team, and thankfully they delivered. Dallas’ offense threw in just about everything they put up tonight, shooting 53.5 percent from the floor and 45.5 from three.
Atlanta had no answers for Davis, clearly, but they also didn’t really have answers for anyone else. Trae Young’s size causes a lot of cascading issues for Atlanta defensively, and you can see that by scanning the box score and seeing how well Dallas’ perimeter players operated: Dallas starting guards, Spencer Dinwiddie and Klay Thompson, combined for 31 points on 7-of-14 shooting from three. Thompson’s three pointer with under a minute remaining tied the game and kept Dallas connected enough for Davis’ heroics in the final seconds.
This wasn’t a clean game for the Mavericks, as their defense was Swiss cheese for most of the night, and their fourth quarter offense got goofy and allowed the Hawks back in it. With the Hawks on the second night of a back-to-back and Dallas at home, this really should have been a more comfortable win for the Mavericks. But with how things have been going lately, any win is a good win. Dallas moves on.