Behind a dominant performance from John Collins, the Atlanta Hawks defeated the shorthanded Dallas Mavericks on Saturday night 111-107.
Collins posted a season-high 35 points, which also tied a career-high as well (he has done this three times). The Wake Forest product also added 17 rebounds, his second-most on the 2019-20 campaign. His teammates acknowledged this.
“He played really hard today,” Hawks’ All-Star guard Trae Young said. “He’s played really hard these last two games, so it’s good to see him do that.”
Also making headlines: Trae Young and Cam Reddish.
Young’s 25 points for the game were vital, but the 13 he scored in the fourth were remarkable. He made shots from deep three. he made tough layups. He dribbled around and found open teammates all night en route to a game-high 10 assists.
Reddish contributed 20 points, but his work on defense set the tone as well. He tied a career-high in free throws with eight before the second half ended. He spoke about his improvement on a nightly basis following the game.
“Just staying consistent in my work,” Reddish said. “Just staying grounded, staying humble. I mean, it’s really as simple as that. And obviously, just becoming more comfortable as the season goes on. So, it all kind of comes together after that.”
Yes, Dallas sat All-Star guard Luka Doncic and forward Kristaps Porzingis. But, Dallas’ roster is one full of talent. They used it to keep the game close. Tim Hardaway Jr. and Seth Curry combined for 55 points on 10-23 three-point shooting.
Let us look at how the Hawks earned their sixth home win in seven games in front of a sellout crowd of 17,050 fans.
Yet, another strong comeback
After being down by as many as 16 points, Atlanta battled and notched win to the pleasure of the State Farm Arena crowd. Hawks’ head coach Lloyd Pierce talked about the final stage of the resurgence from his team in the fourth quarter.
“We just switched everything [on defense],” Pierce said. “Our guys did a great job of doing that, getting the switches, keeping everything in front and not having to overreact to anyone.”
Off an offensive rebound and putback from Dewayne Dedmon, Atlanta took a 96-95 with 5:24 left, their first of the game. There was no settling down for the rest of the game. In fact, the next 5:24 would be the most controversial of either team’s season so far.
Dallas did what?
With 8.4 seconds left to play and the Hawks up 109-107, Collins tipped in what many on Dallas’ bench thought was a goaltend. Mavericks Head Coach Rick Carlisle told the media what he saw after the game.
“Goaltending was called, the whistle blew, players stopped,” Carlisle said. “And then the basket was good after the whistle blew, which is hard to fathom.”
The basket counted and doubled Atlanta’s two-point lead. But the visiting team wants an explanation. Mavericks owner Mark Cuban let out his frustrations after the game on Twitter.
The Mavericks have filed an appeal for the decision on the goaltending call.
Overall, the Hawks provided the crowd with energy and it guided them to a victory.
They will look to carry the momentum into Philadelphia when they take on Joel Embiid and the 76ers Monday night. Tip is set for 7:00.
