The Hawks held off the Mavericks Sunday as Trae Young hit two free throws with less than two seconds remaining in overtime for a 132-130 victory at State Farm Arena.
Here are five observations.
1. Another game which came down to the wire and the key moments occurred in the final minutes of the fourth quarter and overtime. The Mavericks had a chance to win in regulation as Javale McGee was fouled with 0.4 seconds remaining and his team trailing by one point.
With the game on the line and an energetic State Farm Arena crowd making noise, McGee missed the first free throw, but made the second to force overtime. At the end of the extra period, the roles were reversed as Young was fouled in the final seconds - but hit both of his free throws to secure the win. He ended the night with 24 points, three rebounds and 12 assists.
“I think every game brings some type of adversity,” Young said. “Even if you win the game by 30 or 40 beginning the game it’s a battle so I think every game brings a different challenge. Tonight we just playing against two guys who can really I mean, beat a team by themselves that they get going.”
2. With the acquisition of Kyrie Irving at the trade deadline, the Mavericks developed a “pick your poison’ backcourt tandem in Irving and Luka Doncic. With the Hawks doubling Doncic most of the game, it freed up Irving, who attacked the basket and bested the Hawks in a number of one-on-one battles.
Irving gave the Hawks plenty of trouble early in the matchup, scoring a quick 10 points in his first five minutes of action. He accumulated 20 points by the end of the first half as he shredded the Hawks defense.
Irving, who averaged 25.9 points over 18 games with the Mavericks, finished with 41 points, four rebounds, five assists, one block and two steals.
3. The Mavs leaned on Irving’s scoring as the Hawks limited Doncic throughout the evening. Ahead of the game, Hawks coach Quin Snyder mentioned that the Hawks would have to be disciplined in their defense of Doncic, the NBA’s second-leading scorer at 32.9 points per game.
One night after scoring 42 points in a loss to the Heat, Doncic was held to 22 points on 8-of-22 shooting against the Hawks. Saddiq Bey had the primary defensive matchup against Doncic, who stuck with the guard and made shots tough for him. When Doncic tried to use his body to create space, Bey didn’t give him much to work with.
“Just had toughness plays,” Snyder said. “I thought mentally even when the coverages changed, occasionally he was dialed in just a terrific effort. We he said before the game just trying to make everything hard.”
4. Offensively the Hawks began the evening strong, knocking down over 50% of their overall shots to build a 70-66 lead at the half. They held strong when they returned for the locker room at half time, eventually building a 91-76 lead with 6:01 left in the third quarter.
Part of that came thanks to the Hawks’ shooting through the first 30 minutes of Sunday’s action.
John Collins gave the Hawks a huge boost from long range after going 4-of-4 from distance in 20 minutes. He ended the night though 4-of-6 as he continues a strong streak of shooting over his last eight games where he has knocked down 39.4% of his 3s.
This year has not been kind to Collins from a distance. He’s still shooting under 30% from 3 on the season after struggling earlier this year.
“It’s been, it’s been up and down for sure,” Collins said.
5. The Hawks sat at ninth in the standings after their loss to the Nets on Friday. Their win Sunday returned them to eighth, where they remain tied with the Raptors again. The Hawks are one game ahead of the Bulls, who have won their last two games.
Stat to know
The Hawks are 32-13 when holding a double digit lead.
Quotable
“In hindsight that’s what movies are made of, not playing the whole season. Then coming down to you hitting those two free-throws for the win. Unfortunately I missed one of them and it went into OT. Yeah, that movie’s going straight to DVD. It’s not coming out.” -- JaVale McGee on his clutch free throws to send the game to OT.
Up Next
The Hawks head to Chicago to take on the Bulls, who nip at their heels in the standings. The Bulls have beaten the Hawks twice in their three previous meetings.
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