Hawks at Mavericks
With and without All-Star guard Luka Doncic, the Dallas Mavericks are having some issues on the defensive end. They'll try to tighten things up and snap a two-game slide when they host the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday.
After dropping a 133-104 decision to the Phoenix Suns with Doncic in the lineup on Tuesday, Dallas rallied late before falling 128-121 at Houston on Friday in the first of at least six games that he'll watch from the sidelines with a sprained ankle. "Our guys hung in, fought, and I love the way they got the thing down to three," coach Rick Carlisle told reporters. "We really had a chance. In the end, the threes got us, and it's hard fighting from an uphill battle and getting back after being down, whatever it was, 16 or 18." The Hawks could test the Mavericks' shaky defense with fellow All-Star Trae Young, who scored 39 points in a 127-117 win over Philadelphia on Thursday. Young and Doncic also were selected Saturday to lead the World and USA squads in the Rising Stars showdown during All-Star Weekend.
TIME: 8:30 p.m. ET. TV: FS Southeast, FS Southwest
ABOUT THE HAWKS (13-36): Young is making a push toward the scoring leaders and entered Friday ranked third overall at 29.4 points per game, just a shade behind Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo for the top mark in the East. He averaged 31.7 points and 11.5 assists in January and owns five straight double-doubles. "I think I managed the game pretty well tonight from start to finish," Young told reporters after the win over the Sixers. "I'm getting better every day."
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (29-19): Kristaps Porzingis did his best to keep up with the Rockets on Saturday by scoring a season-high 35 points in 36 minutes while recording 12 rebounds. Seth Curry chipped in 16 points and Tim Hardaway Jr. had 15 - 12 of them coming on his four 3-pointers. "He's a super important guy to us, especially now, with Luka being out," Carlisle said of Hardaway.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Hawks PF John Collins has eight double-doubles in his last 12 games after recording 17 points and a season-high 20 rebounds against the 76ers.
2. Mavericks PG J.J. Barea is averaging 13 points and eight assists in 22 minutes over the last two contests.
3. The teams split two meetings last season.