Kyrie Irving scores 25, Moses Brown adds 20 points and 11 rebounds in Mavs’ 103-96 win over Hornets
DALLAS — — Kyrie Irving scored 18 of his 25 points in the second half and grabbed nine rebounds to lead the Dallas Mavericks to a 103-96 victory over the Charlotte Hornets on Thursday night.
Moses Brown, in his penultimate game on a 10-day contract, added 20 points and 11 rebounds in 31 minutes of his first start for the Mavericks.
Mark Williams had 26 points and 16 rebounds for the Hornets, who have lost five consecutive games and 16 of their last 19. Miles Bridges had 20 points and 12 rebounds.
P.J. Washington Jr. again joined Anthony Davis, Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively II among Dallas big men unavailable because of injury. Washington left the Mavericks’ Feb. 8 game with a sprained right ankle and has missed four of seven games since.
LaMelo Ball, who leads the Hornets in scoring and assists, missed his second consecutive game with an ankle injury.
Takeaways
Hornets: Charlotte went 1-8 playing nine consecutive road games, matching a franchise-long road run. The last six followed the All-Star break. The Hornets are 1-21 in games without Ball.
Mavericks: At 32-28, the Mavericks are ninth in the Western Conference but only one game out of sixth place and the conference’s last guaranteed playoff berth. … It was Brown’s highest-scoring game since his career-high 24 points for Oklahoma City in the final game of the 2020-21 season.
Key moment
Irving missed a 3-pointer with Dallas leading 94-91 with 1:52 left but tipped the ball amid a scramble out to Klay Thompson, whose right-corner 3 put the Mavericks ahead 97-91 with 1:48 to play.
Key stat
Irving hit eight of his final 11 shot attempts.
Up next
The Hornets will begin a five-game homestand against Washington on Saturday, when the Mavericks will host Milwaukee.
——
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Series tied 1-1
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CHA | 24 | 25 | 18 | 29 | 96 |
| DAL | 25 | 25 | 23 | 30 | 103 |
| Team | W | L | PCT | GB | STRK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orlando | 29 | 32 | .475 | – | L2 |
| Miami | 27 | 30 | .474 | – | W1 |
| Atlanta | 27 | 32 | .458 | 1 | L1 |
| Charlotte | 14 | 44 | .241 | 13.5 | L5 |
| Washington | 10 | 48 | .172 | 17.5 | L1 |
| Team | W | L | PCT | GB | STRK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Memphis | 38 | 20 | .655 | – | W1 |
| Houston | 37 | 22 | .627 | 1.5 | W2 |
| Dallas | 32 | 28 | .533 | 7 | W1 |
| San Antonio | 24 | 33 | .421 | 13.5 | L4 |
| New Orleans | 16 | 43 | .271 | 22.5 | W3 |
One thought after the Dallas Mavericks defeat the Charlotte Hornets, 103-96
FILED UNDER:
All wins are good wins at this point in the regular season
The Dallas Mavericks held off the hapless Charlotte Hornets on Thursday night, winnin 103-96. Kyrie Irving was the high point man in Dallas with 25, but it was 10-day center Moses Brown who held the fort for Dallas, scoring 20 points, grabbing 11 rebounds, swiping three steals, and swatting two blocks. Mark Williams had 26 points and 16 rebounds in defeat for Charlotte, but he was also awful on defense, which we appreciate.
Dallas opened the game looking to run up the score with Charlotte starting center picking up two quick fouls. The Mavericks led by as many as 11 in the frame despite lackluster scoring from multiple Dallas players. A late 8-0 from the Hornets closed the gap to one, with the Mavericks taking a 25-24 lead after 12 minutes.
The Hornets kept the pressure on for most of the second quarter, overtaking the Mavericks and leading by as many as six. Moses Brown paced Dallas, chipping in 11 in the half (that should tell you how bad the Mavericks offense was). The Mavericks rallied back on a few plays and held the lead for the rest of the half. Dallas took a 50-49 lead into the the third quarter.
Want the full thing? Check out https://www.patreon.com/secretbase When we watch sports, whether in person or at home, we have luxuries not afforded to the athletes playing. Sometimes it’s comfort, sometimes it’s food available, but always it’s the ability to pee the moment we need to. This raises the question: what happens when an athlete really has to go? Well, we’re here to discuss.
Horrible basketball ensued for the first six minutes of the second half until Kyrie Irving came alive with a scoring flurry to retake the lead for Dallas. Neither team could score the ball, missing threes and layups in a professional manner. Dallas held onto a six point lead heading into the final frame, up 73-67.
Slop basketball continued into the fourth, though Dallas built up an 80-71 lead, forcing a Charlotte timeout. The Hornets went on a mini run, tying the game at 83 on a Miles Bridges three. Kyrie Irving led the Dallas response, pulling the lead back up to seven points. Charlotte wouldn’t die, forcing a Dallas timeout with the Mavericks up 94-91. A Klay Thompson three and a Kyrie runner effectively finished the game. Dallas won their 32nd game of the season, 103-96. Dallas plays the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday night.
There are no moral victories for professional sports teams fighting for a playoff spot. Dallas got worked twice on the road, so coming home to play a hapless Charlotte team and winning matters, no matter how ugly the game was. And make no mistake, this was a horrible basketball game for Dallas where they woke up for moments long enough to bury this truly horrific Hornets team. Kyrie is good at basketball, even in games when he doesn’t have his fastball. Moses Brown is not very good at basketball, but we appreciate his effort and will get one more game with him (I think?) before his 10 day contract expires and Dallas goes back to being a team of Lilliputians. Max Christie’s returned from orbit but there is a THERE there with him and I look forward to seeing what he becomes. Klay shooting the ball is beautiful.
Okay so maybe there is more than one THING to take away from this game, but I am tired and I’m simply happy Dallas won. See you on the flip side fellow travelers. Go Mavs.
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Kyrie Irving gets Mavs back on track vs. Hornets
Kyrie Irving poured in 25 points while powering the Dallas Mavericks past the visiting Charlotte Hornets 103-96 on Thursday.
Irving, who tallied 19 points in the second half, tied his season best with nine rebounds.
Moses Brown tacked on season bests of 20 points and 11 rebounds, and Klay Thompson logged 18 points as the Mavericks ended a two-game skid.
Mark Williams (26 points, 16 rebounds) and Miles Bridges (20 points, 12 rebounds) both picked up double-doubles for the Hornets, who absorbed their fifth loss in a row.
Dallas led by nine early in the fourth quarter before Charlotte twice pulled level, the second time on a Williams floater that made it 85-85 with 6:06 to go.
The Mavericks were up by two before Irving took control with under five minutes remaining. He hit two mid-range baskets and completed a three-point play on the second to give the Mavericks a 94-87 advantage with 4:09 to go.
A pair of layups by Bridges brought Charlotte within three points with three minutes to go, but Thompson drilled a 3-pointer, Irving hit a short floater and Brown dunked create a 10-point gap with 53.4 seconds left.
After a slow start in which the Hornets fell as far as 11 points behind, they closed out the first quarter on an 8-0 run to get within 25-24.
Early in the second quarter, KJ Simpson and Nick Smith Jr. nailed back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Hornets a 30-25 lead.
Brown had a pair of baskets before Thompson drained a trey with 6:07 remaining in the second to regain the lead for the Mavericks at 40-39. Dallas was up 50-49 entering halftime.
Irving scored nine straight points for the Mavericks in the middle of the third quarter, including back-to-back layups 20 seconds apart to give Dallas a 66-63 lead.
The lead changed hands six times in the third. A layup from Brown off an Irving assist gave Dallas a 73-67 edge entering the final period.
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