DALLAS — The Dallas Mavericks defeated the Atlanta Hawks by a final score of 120-118 on Wednesday night. Anthony Davis led the Mavs with 32 points, 15 rebounds and five blocks. Davis also connected on the eventual game-winning shot late in the fourth quarter. Another positive from the game was that AD's minutes were increased to 32, a sign that he is continuing to trend in the right direction after previously dealing with a left adductor strain.
He ended up playing only 29 minutes on Wednesday, but that was because he missed most of the second quarter after taking an elbow to the face at the end of the first quarter. AD ended up receiving four stitches but returned late in the second quarter.
“I got bumped up to 32 tonight, not sure how much I played because I missed the whole second quarter, still played the last two minutes,” Davis said of his minutes increase. “I think it's an increase. By the time we get to the play-in I should be completely off.”
Related Dallas Mavericks NewsArticle continues below
Anthony Davis is expecting to be completely ready to go without a minutes restriction once the NBA Play-In Tournament begins. Dallas has yet to officially clinch a play-in tournament spot. The Mavs are currently in ninth place in the Western Conference, as they hold a game and a half lead over the Sacramento Kings. Meanwhile, they are two and a half games ahead of the Phoenix Suns.
The Mavs still need to finish the season strong. Dallas will head to Los Angeles to play the Clippers in a back-to-back on Friday and Saturday. The team will then head back to Dallas to host Luka Doncic and the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday.
It seems as if the Mavs are beginning to find chemistry as a unit. Anthony Davis and Klay Thompson are emerging as a reliable duo. As long as the team can avoid further injury trouble, they could be a dangerous opponent in the postseason.
a]:text-link [&_>a]:underline">Joey Mistretta is a Dallas Mavericks beat reporter, Dallas Wings beat reporter and lead MLB editor for ClutchPoints. Mistretta graduated college with a degree in broadcast journalism from Biola University, and he has bylines at NBA Analysis Network and RotoWire.