Notes from Dallas Mavericks 102-91 win over Atlanta Hawks Friday, January 29, 2011
TONIGHT’S KEY RUN: With the score knotted at 79, Dallas used a 14-3 run from the 10:24 mark of the fourth quarter until the 8:07 mark of the period to take an 11-point advantage (93-82) en route to the win.
NOTES
For the second consecutive game (second time this season) seven Dallas players scored in double figures. The Mavericks are now 9-0 when at least six players record 10-plus points. The last time seven Mavericks scored in double figures in back-to-back games was in the 50-point win (128-78) over New York on 1/24/10.
Mavericks guard Jason Terry posted his first double-double of the season with 18 points (5-11 FGs, 2-4 3FGs, 2-2 FTs) and a game-high 11 assists. Mavericks center Brendan Haywood tallied 10 points (2-2 FGs, 6-9 FTs). It marked the first time he’s scored in double figures since the third game of the season (at L.A. Clippers 10/31/10). Dallas is now 2-0 when Haywood scores 10-plus points in a game.
Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki, who entered Saturday’s meeting with Atlanta shooting 38.9 percent since returning from injury at Memphis on 1/15/11 (54.5 percent before suffering a right knee sprain at Oklahoma City 12/27/10), shot 6-of-7 from the field to open the game and finished 6-of-8 from the floor in the first half. Nowitzki and Mavericks guard Jason Terry both recorded 12 first-half points to help give Dallas a 52-49 advantage at the break.
Dallas shot 13-of-14 (.929) from the line in the first half, while the Hawks went just 4-for-5 (.800). The Mavericks finished 22-of-27 (.815) from the stripe compared to the Hawks’ 17-of-22 (.773) clip. Dallas trailed by one (78-77) at the end of three, but opened the fourth quarter on a 14-1 blitz to take a 91-79 lead. The Mavericks outscored the Hawks 25-13 in the fourth en route to the win. Atlanta was 25-2 when leading going into the fourth quarter prior to tonight’s game (fourth-best in the NBA). The Mavericks improved to 8-10 when trailing heading into the final period, which is the fifth-best in the league.
Hawks guard Joe Johnson went 8-of-12 from the floor en route to 16 first-half points. He led all scorers through two quarters of play. Johnson finished with a game-high 27 points (13-24 FGs, 1-1 FTs) on the night.
Dallas led by six (41-35) with just over 5 minutes gone by in the second quarter, but Atlanta used a 10-2 run to take a two-point lead (45-43) with 3:50 to play in the period. The Mavericks then outscored the Hawks 9-4 to close the half and led by three (52-49) at intermission.
With the win, Dallas swept the season series and has now won 19 of the last 25 meetings with Atlanta, including 11-of-13 at home against the Hawks.
The Mavericks are now 21-1 when tallying 100-plus points in a game.
The attendance for tonight’s game was 20,309. The Mavs have sold out 384 consecutive regular season games at AAC. Dallas currently owns the longest running sellout streak in the NBA. Dallas has sold out all 41 games in each of the past seven seasons.
