Mavericks catch the cold, lose to Hawks and spoil Barea’s return

Maybe the cold weather found its way inside American Airlines Center on Saturday night. With the morning temperature the coldest it’s been in nearly six years, the Dallas Mavericks neither started nor ended the game hot against the Atlanta Hawks.

The Mavericks shot just 18 of 50 (36 percent) in the last two-plus quarters as the Hawks won their sixth-consecutive game 97-82.

Dallas (11-26) used a 9-0 run to tie the game 51-51 midway through the third quarter, but Atlanta scored 11 of the next 13 points to go up 62-53, and led 66-59 after three.

Dirk Nowitzki got Dallas within 67-65 with his 11-foot banker early in the fourth before the Hawks went on a 9-2 run. A 3-pointer by Kent Bazemore and layup from Dennis Schroder forced coach Rick Carlisle to call two quick timeouts, trailing 76-67 with 7:24 left.

Carlisle tried the Hack-A-Howard method with 6:14 remaining, but Hawks center Dwight Howard made 4 of 6 attempts, and Schroder got a steal and layup to extend Atlanta’s lead to 84-71 with 5:41 to go. Howard finished with 15 points and 20 rebounds.

“We had an untimely turnover — after we got some traction in the pick and roll — but it was a game where we couldn’t ever quite get over the hump,” Carlisle said.

The loss put Dallas in a tie for the worst record in the West alongside Minnesota. It also spoiled the return of point guard J.J. Barea.

Barea (left leg muscle strain) played in his first game since Dec. 21 (seven games) and made his presence felt quickly with three points, four rebounds and six assists in his first eight minutes on the floor.

His return marked the first time all season that the Mavericks didn’t have a single player miss a game due to injury.

“I thought he moved fine, he got through it with no problems so that’s a positive,” Carlisle said.

The Mavericks started 3 of 15 from the floor and trailed 22-16 with 57.2 left in the first quarter after an 18-footer by Tim Hardaway Jr., who had a game-high 22 points. Dallas countered it with the next 11 points and a 21-7 run midway through the second.

Mavs forward Harrison Barnes only had two points in the first quarter, a 19-foot jumper that gave Dallas a 7-5 lead with 7:29 left. Atlanta had scored the next six points when Barea entered the game.

The Mavs guard quickly got two rebounds and one assist to pull Dallas to 13-13.

Trailing 22-16, Nowitzki scored six points during the 11-0 run. Devin Harris gave the Mavericks a 27-22 lead after his 3-point basket with 9:51 left in the first half. Three minutes later, Dallas had its largest lead at 37-29 on Barnes’ 7-foot floater.

But the Hawks went into halftime leading 45-42 with a 16-5 run in the final seven minutes.

“We had a lead in the first half, but once they led, it was all uphill,” Carlisle said. “We have to do everything possible to play in front.”

Barnes scored a team-high 21 points, and Harris and Nowitzki added 11 points apiece. Barea finished with seven points, seven assists and four rebounds before hitting his minutes restriction at 17 minutes in the second half.

Andrew Bogut started at center after coming off the bench in the previous two games, and pulled down a team-high 11 rebounds, his most since Dec. 3.

“We’re flexible with lineups and rotations with all of our guys back, we have different ways we can go,” Carlisle said. “We have a good group of guys that want to win, but we have to do some things better.”

This story was originally published January 7, 2017 at 10:54 PM with the headline "Mavericks catch the cold, lose to Hawks and spoil Barea’s return."