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Rested Hawks look to keep Mavericks in check



The Hawks hope Monday night's meeting with the visiting Dallas Mavericks has a different result than the last time the teams matched up in Atlanta.

On Jan. 26 of last season, superstar Luka Doncic scored 73 points in the Mavericks' 148-143 win.

Doncic, who was traded for Atlanta point guard Trae Young on draft night in 2018, will miss Monday's game with a wrist injury sustained in last Tuesday's win over the New Orleans Pelicans. Fortunately for Dallas, the injury shouldn't sideline Doncic for extended time.

Monday's contest will serve as the Mavericks' final game of a three-city road trip. Dallas saw its four-game winning streak end with a 123-118 overtime loss to the Miami Heat on Sunday.

The Hawks haven't played since Friday, when they lost 136-122 to the Chicago Bulls. Young and Jalen Johnson each scored 25 points for Atlanta, which allowed the Bulls to shoot 57 percent from the field and 44.2 percent on 3-pointers. In an all-around effort, Chicago also made 19 of 21 free throws in the offensive barrage.

Atlanta's 120.5 points per game allowed are third most in the league, an area of concern for the club.

"When you play a team that puts up 50-40-90, those are Hall of Fame numbers," Hawks coach Quin Snyder said. "That's not to say you can't do more. We could have contested better, we could have kept them out of the paint more. I thought that was a big part of the game, as well as our inability to score at times."

Following a 2-0 start to the season, the Hawks haven't been able to reach the .500 mark since Oct. 28. Atlanta is vying to avoid dropping three in a row for the first time since that stretch.

Young paces the Hawks with 22.1 ppg and an NBA-best 11.7 assists per game. Johnson follows with 19.4 points per contest and a team-high 10.4 rebounds. Dyson Daniels, one of the lone bright spots for a struggling defense, leads the league with 3.2 steals per game.

HMFFL wrote:Joe Johnson in the building and came on the broadcast.

HMFFL wrote:Kevin Willis in the building and on the broadcast. I saw him at the airport a couple of months ago with his so and daughter.

Josh Smith on air as well.

Hawks can’t overcome Mavs hot fourth quarter, lose 129-119

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The Atlanta Hawks were at home on Monday evening to take on the Dallas Mavericks. After a week-long road trip finishing 1-3, the Hawks were probably excited to be back home in front of their fans.

A plus for the Hawks is that they got Vit Krejci, Bogdan Bogdanovic, and Kobe Bufkin back from injury, which means this is one of the first time that the team will be healthy to start the season.

The Hawks knocked down a few early three-pointers, courtesy of Jalen Johnson and Dyson Daniels.

he Hawks kept the lead throughout the first quarter and led by as much as 13 points until the Mavericks made a run late to cut their deficit down to three points.

Going into the second quarter, the Mavericks closed the Hawks’ deficit even more and ended up getting the lead. Trae Young was able to get to his patent floater and get the foul call.

The Hawks turned defense into offense late in the second, as they attempted to regain the lead. Through the season, teams have been able to go on runs late in the half, but the Hawks were able to do so on their own this time around and ended up getting the lead going into halftime. Young and Johnson connected for this alley-oop which helped them get a 67-61 to end the first half.

The Mavericks stormed back in the 3rd quarter, as the Hawks went flat again on offense. Going into the fourth quarter, the Mavericks led 96-95.

The Hawks came out in the fourth and hit a few shots to get the lead, but the Mavericks answered back with a few shots of their own. Kyrie Irving went on a run of his own midway through the fourth, and it was always as if he couldn’t miss a shot.

Down 10 points, the Hawks tried to battle back late in the quarter, but the Mavericks had an answer for everything that they did. In the end, the Hawks couldn’t overcome the flurry of Irving’s shots late, and they ended up losing the game.

Johnson finished with 28 points and 11 rebounds, Young finished with 18 points and 16 assists, and Daniels finished with 17 points.

The Hawks will be back in action against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday.

Jamaaliver wrote:

HMFFL wrote:Joe Johnson in the building and came on the broadcast.

HMFFL wrote:Kevin Willis in the building and on the broadcast. I saw him at the airport a couple of months ago with his so and daughter.

Josh Smith on air as well.

It's nice that Hawks hosted so many former players for Mutombo memorial night.

Interesting that -- of those players -- only Kevin Willis actually played with Mutombo in a Hawks uniform.

I wish they had hosted members of the Mutombo family. Dikembe meant a lot to this franchise for the 5 years he was here.

HMFFL wrote:Pathetic performance by the Hawks. They had the rest and these numbers are embarrassing. Zero effort on the boards.

Ball must enter that circle thingy to win.

Spoiler:

3 Points Made and %:
Hawks 9 (29%)
Mavs 16 (46%)

Rebouding:
Hawks 39
Mavs 51
Mavs played 3 games in 4 days.

Fast Break Points:
Hawks 21
Mavs 10

Points In The Paint:
Hawks 74
Mavs 50
Hawks did something right.