The Hawks hope Monday night’s meeting with the visiting Dallas Mavericks will yield a different result than their last matchup in Atlanta. On January 26 of last season, superstar Luka Doncic scored 73 points in the Mavericks’ 148-143 win.
Doncic, traded for Atlanta point guard Trae Young on draft night in 2018, will miss Monday’s game due to a wrist injury sustained in last Tuesday’s win over the New Orleans Pelicans. Fortunately for Dallas, the injury isn’t expected to sideline Doncic for an extended period.
Monday’s contest will serve as the Mavericks’ final game of a three-city road trip. Dallas saw its four-game winning streak end with a 123-118 overtime loss to the Miami Heat on Sunday. The Mavericks were nursing a two-point lead before Jimmy Butler’s dunk with 4.1 seconds remaining in regulation. The Heat held the Mavericks scoreless for the final 3:21 of overtime.
Doncic’s average of 28.1 points per game ranks eighth in the NBA. Kyrie Irving, who led the team on Sunday with 27 points, is second with 24.1 points per contest.
The Hawks haven’t played since Friday, when they lost 136-122 to the Chicago Bulls. Young and Jalen Johnson each scored 25 points for Atlanta, which allowed the Bulls to shoot 57 percent from the field and 44.2 percent from 3-point range. Chicago also made 19 of 21 free throws in the offensive barrage. Atlanta’s 120.5 points per game allowed are the third most in the league, a concern for the club.
Following a 2-0 start to the season, the Hawks haven’t reached the .500 mark since October 28. Atlanta is trying to avoid dropping three in a row for the first time since that stretch.
Young leads the Hawks with 22.1 points per game and an NBA-best 11.7 assists per game. Johnson follows with 19.4 points per contest and a team-high 10.4 rebounds. Dyson Daniels, a bright spot for a struggling defense, leads the league with 3.2 steals per game.
