The Mavs have been doing a lot of load managing this year, but the Hawks learned their lesson underestimating their B-team last time the two matched up just a few weeks ago. With Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis out on Saturday, they decided it was time to steal one right back.
The Hawks trailed for the majority of the game. It looked like the Mavs were going to run away with another one, but Atlanta bounced back in the second half and were able to squeeze it out in the end
The majority of the scoring in the first half came from Cam Reddish, who had 16 points going into halftime, and John Collins, who would go on to tie his career-high of 35 points. He was able to get whatever he wanted in the paint, flashed his outside shooting ability, converting all three of his 3-point attempts, and brought down 17 rebounds.
Atlanta went on to catch fire in the fourth quarter, and after a quiet night early, Trae Young hit some big three-pointers to tie the game late, and later give the Hawks the lead.
Young went on to score once again, and then a controversial call gave the Hawks a four-point lead that sealed the victory. Trae Young went up for a layup that the officials initially ruled a goaltend. This proved not to be the case, but since John Collins had already put up the putback, apparently the basket counts. Let’s just say Mark Cuban was not pleased.
Overall, an excellent team win for a Hawks squad that took control of a game late despite having a pretty bad shooting night. Even if the Mavs did have the big guns sidelined for this one, Atlanta seems to be playing with different energy out of the All-Star Break.
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