Weary Mavericks run over by Teague, energized Hawks

The Dallas Mavericks looked like a tired team Monday night. Played like one, too.

That lack of energy cost the Mavs big-time as the Atlanta Hawks ran away with an easy 112-97 victory before 15,455 at Philips Arena.

Monday’s game completed a heavy-duty stretch where the Mavs (28-23) played 19 games in 32 days. And they sure looked like they had been coast-to-coast a few times after this one was over.

“It’s a tough stretch, one of the tougher ones I’ve ever seen,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “But, look, we’ve got to dust everything off, we’ve got four very difficult games before the [All-Star] break, and so we’re going to summon up the energy to push through all this.”

The Mavs had problems pushing through anything against Atlanta. The Hawks beat up the Mavs on the boards (50-37) and forced Dallas into a poor 36.5 percent shooting clip from the field.

Running as if they had a pile of quicksand in their sneakers, the Mavs were down 23-11 with less than two minutes remaining in the first quarter. Except for a couple of brief flurries, it was virtually all downhill from there.

“We got beat pretty bad and I think you’ve got to credit Atlanta,” Carlisle said. “They came out and played the kind of game that desperate teams play — and I’ve got to look at the film.

“I’m not ready to say that our effort was horrible. I think the missed shots early were a factor, and we were playing uphill and playing from behind and that’s not an easy thing to do on the road against a good team.”

The loss was compounded by the fact that the Mavs lost point guard Deron Williams in the first half to a hip contusion when he collided with Hawks forward Mike Muscala.

“He got hit in the hip,” Carlisle said. “I think it was a hip-to-hip collision on the drive, and so he was unable to return.

“I don’t know anything about a timetable or anything like that, but I’m concerned.”

The Mavs also had to be concerned about their inability to put a body on and slow down guard Jeff Teague. The seven-year veteran did whatever he wanted, finishing with 32 points, five rebounds and eight assists in a masterpiece of a game.

Teague was 12-of-15 from the field and 5-of-6 from 3-point range. And nearly every time the Mavs even thought about getting back in the game, Teague stepped up and hit a key basket or two.

“He was a problem in a lot of ways,” Carlisle said. “Transition, hitting shots, making plays.”

An 11-0 run helped the Mavs crawl within 53-46 of the Hawks at the half. But Atlanta was off and running again in the third quarter.

“We had shots early, they didn’t go in and it may have taken some of the energy out of us,” Carlisle said. “I’m not sure. I’ve got to look at the film.

“But by and large they outplayed us, simple as that. I thought that they were pretty desperate tonight and we didn’t match it.”

Chandler Parsons led the Mavs with 19 points and 11 rebounds as he picked up his second double-double of the season. Also for the Mavs, Dirk Nowitzki returned after missing Sunday’s win over Phoenix to score 18 points on 4-of-11 shooting.

In addition, J.J. Barea fired in 15 points, Raymond Felton scored 13 and Wesley Matthews had 11 points on only 4-of-14 shooting.

“It’s always tough when you have a start like that,” Barea said. “But all the credit to Atlanta.

“They played better, they defended better, they shot the ball better, so all the credit to them.”

This story was originally published February 1, 2016 at 10:54 PM with the headline "Weary Mavericks run over by Teague, energized Hawks."