Anthony Davis drained a leaning 15-foot fallaway jumper – floating to his left — with 3.4 seconds left and the Dallas Mavericks eked out a 120-118 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night at American Airlines Center.
Coupled with Washington’s 116-111 win over Sacramento on Wednesday, the Mavs (38-39) moved
a game-and-a-half ahead of the Kings (36-40) for the Western Conference’s No. 9 seed with five games remaining.
The game-winner by Davis came after Klay Thompson knotted the game at 118 apiece with a three-pointer with41.3 seconds left. Following a turnover by the Hawks, the Mavs called timeout and Davis wound up being the hero at the end.
“Coach (Jason) Kidd drew up a play for me to have the ball on the left side of the floor, which I like to get to, and the left side was open and I just beat my man and shot a shot that I’ve been shooting for a long time,” Davis said. “When you work on (that shot) so much it becomes second nature.
“I’ve been shooting that shot since I was playing in New Orleans, so it’s a shot that I’m very comfortable and familiar with.”
Davis led the Mavs with game highs of 34 points,15 rebounds and five blocks. He also got plenty of help from Thompson (17 points), Spencer Dinwiddie (14 points, 10 assists, two steals), Jaden Hardy (13 points), Max Christie (11 points) and Daniel Gafford (11 points, six boards).
Also, in his first game back after missing 36 games since suffering from a stress fracture in his right ankle in the Jan. 14 game against the Denver Nuggets, cente r Dereck Lively II scored four points, grabbed five rebounds and blocked a shot in 16 minutes.
Trae Young paced the Hawks with 25 points and 12 assists, Onyeka Okongwu collected 20 points, 14 rebounds and two blocks, Dyson Daniels finished with 17 points, six rebounds and five assists, Caris LeVert had 14 points and five assists, and Mouhamed Gueye and Vit Krejci added 11 points apiece.
The Mavs had overcome an 11-point deficit and appeared on their way to cruising to a win when they built a 108-96 lead with 10:15 remaining following a triple by Thompson, an alley-oop pass from Lively to Davis for a dunk, and an alley-oop pass from Thompson to Davis for a dunk.
But the Hawks flew all the way back and assumed a 118-115 lead with 1:46 left after Daniels fired in a three-pointer and Okongwu added a floater in traffic. Then, came the shot from downtown by Thompson that tied the game.
“It’s good to see the players be able to execute, the fans are into the game and for the ball to bounce our way tonight,” Kidd said. “
Davis also was the ringleader for the Mavs in the first quarter when he tallied 13 of his points and grabbed six of his rebounds. And when the first quarter ended, Davis had to get four stitches above his right eye after he was hit by friendly fire – Gafford.
Still, the Hawks led, 34-32, when the quarter ended thanks to shooting 13-of-27 from the field. Atlanta went on to lead 72-7 at the half, primary because Young had 21 points at that stage of the game.
The Mavs got aggressive in the third quarter when they outscored the Hawks, 34-24, and toted a 101-96 lead into the fourth quarter. Then they held on for dear life at the end.
X: @DwainPrice
