Mavericks AM News: Losing Streak Ends At Charlotte

The Dallas Mavericks dominated the Charlotte Hornets in the first half, but then had to push hard in hanging on for a big win at Time Warner Cable Arena.

If the Dallas Mavericks end up making the playoffs in the Western Conference this season, many will point to Monday night’s unorthodox victory against a red-hot Charlotte Hornets squad that had won seven straight games, which also included eight straight at Time Warner Cable Arena.

In fact, when wearing their home white uniforms, the Hornets were 14-2 on the season and were also undefeated at home on Monday nights this year.

No, the deck couldn’t have been stacked any higher against a Mavericks team that had lost five straight games and was simply trying to stay in the playoff picture with just 16 games remaining on the schedule.

After a 107-96 win, the Mavericks apparently have life after all.

Dallas head coach Rick Carlisle changed up his starting lineup for this contest, a maneuver that’s been called for in recent weeks as the Mavs skid continued. Against Charlotte, Carlisle lined up future Hall of Fame power forward Dirk Nowitzki at center, Wesley Matthews and Chandler Parsons at the forward spots, and Deron Williams and Raymond Felton at the guard positions.

The lineup seemed to fluster the Hornets on their own home court, as evidenced by the fact that the home team had just 13 points just inside the two minute mark of the opening period. The Mavericks yielded just 33 points to the Hornets, a team that had been breaking 30 points in first quarters often lately, in the entire first half.

But a 19-point halftime lead would evaporate before Charlotte finally took their first lead at 72-71 early in the fourth quarter. With the crowd finally awake and the Mavericks looking as though they were on the ropes, Williams exploded with 11 points in the final period that actually helped build the Dallas lead back up. All in all, the Hornets would hold a lead for a total of :32 seconds, not nearly enough to hold off a veteran team that was only waiting for some three pointers to start falling to prevent any kind of heroics.

Parsons hit one long ball in the first half, yet the Mavs would strike eight more times in the second half to hold off the Hornets comeback.

Yes, the Mavericks had to make a decision as to how badly they wanted to make the playoffs a good month before they even begin. The new lineup definitely paid dividends as normal staring center Zaza Pachulia didn’t enter the game until 5:07 left in the third period. The decision seemed designed to help get Nowitzki and David Lee rested for the home stretch.

It can’t be overstated how valuable the defensive performance was is the first half. While the Hornets suffered through a relatively weak 18-point first period, their 15-point second quarter was even worse.

Dallas won the rebounding battle 42-40 and also dominated in points in the paint while holding a 38-26 advantage.

Yes, defense matters and this was the best effort in that category in quite some time. With Pachulia not on the floor, the Mavericks are still a veteran team, but they’re faster and more skilled it seems.

I suggested earlier this month that Lee should start for Pachulia, and while that didn’t exactly happen in North Carolina, Dallas finally made the move to keep their blue-caller center on the bench so others could try to get this team some early stops so the offense could eventually take over, €“ which it absolutely did.

Parsons edged Nowitzki as the team’s leading scorer by a single point with his 24 points. Lee and Devin Harris were huge off the bench in scoring 12 points each.

Great road win, but here’s where the season will be defined for Dallas.

Next: Dallas Cowboys: Re-Signing Hanna Is Huge Move

The Mavericks stay on the road to meet the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday before heading back to American Airlines Center to square off against the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors on Friday night. Having moved back up to the seventh seed with Monday’s win over the Hornets, Dallas has bought itself a little bit of breathing room. The Houston Rockets have fallen back to the eighth seed and the Mavs trail Portland by just a single game for the sixth seed — the Mavericks will play the Trail Blazers twice next week.

• Published on 03/15/2016 at 14:44 PM
• Last updated at 03/15/2016 at 14:44 PM