Dallas Mavericks Fall Late to the Atlanta Hawks

The Dallas Mavericks fought hard against the Atlanta Hawks out in ATL tonight in what turned out to be a very close game. In the end, Atlanta prevailed thanks to some timely buckets from Ersan Ilyasova.

The Dallas Mavericks had a tough match up tonight as they went out to Atlanta to play against the Hawks. Atlanta has one of the most dangerous 4-5 combos in the league with Paul Millsap and Dwight Howard controlling the frontcourt. The Mavs come in with a very potent offensive frontcourt, but Harrison Barnes and Dirk Nowitzki had their hands full on the defensive end.

The Atlanta Hawks jumped out to a solid lead as they played a great first half after which leading 63-52. Atlanta has been a team with a fairly balanced attack all year and tonight was no different. The Mavericks found a way to fight back throughout the 2nd half though, eventually tying the game at 87 with only 6 minutes left in the fourth and taking a lead all the way into the final minute.

At that point, the game was all about who was going to get the last shot. Sadly, thanks in large part to a very questionable foul call and an even more questionable inbounds play, the Hawks delivered the final blow via a pair of Ilyasova free throws and a fast break dunk for Kent Bazemore.

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The Dallas Mavericks were led in scoring by Barnes who dropped 25 on 9-19 shooting. Seth Curry added 21, while Dirk had 11 of his own. Yogi Ferrell also managed double-digits as he had 11 points to go along with his 9 assists.

The Mavs also showed both of their 10-day contracts in the game tonight as Ben Bentil and Quinn Cook both got some minutes on the court. Cook scored 6 points on 2-3 shooting and Bentil did not get a shot off in his 4 minutes of action.

Paul Millsap did everything he could to keep Atlanta close as he scored 18 points and was dangerously close to a triple-double with 8 rebounds and 10 assists. Dwight Howard, Dennis Schroeder, Tim Hardaway Jr., Bazemore and Ilyasova all scored in double-digits.

This was a tough loss for Dallas who had everything appearing to go the right direction until that final minute. The Mavs fall to 24-36 on the season and will look to rebound this Friday. Newest Maverick, Nerlens Noel will look to be more impactful as he only got 16 minutes off the bench tonight.

Next: Why Mavs Fans Should Embrace Nerlens Noel

The Dallas Mavericks will look for another win back at home this Friday against the Memphis Grizzlies. Game coverage will begin at 7:30 CT as Dallas looks to get back to their winning ways after this tough loss.