ATLANTA (AP) — Luka Doncic scored 27 points and dished out 14 assists as the Dallas Mavericks snapped a six-game losing streak, defeating Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks 122-116 on Wednesday night.
Kristaps Porzingis added 24 points and 11 rebounds for the Mavericks, including a crucial tip-in of a miss by Doncic with 32 seconds remaining that helped Dallas hold off a furious Atlanta comeback.
Doncic clearly won the individual matchup between two of the NBA’s brightest young stars, who are forever linked after being dealt for each other in a blockbuster trade during the 2018 draft.
With Dallas players hassling him the length of the court and coming at him with frequent double-teams, Young needed a late flourish to reach 21 points on 8-of-18 shooting. He had nine assists and four turnovers.
Doncic had no such issues against the Hawks. He continually got to the foul line, where he finished 10 of 10, and came up just two rebounds shy of another triple-double.
After a game that was tight for three quarters — with 10 lead changes, 16 ties and neither team pushing ahead by more than single figures — the Mavericks pulled away at the start of the fourth and held on to snap their longest losing streak since a seven-game skid from March 2-14, 2019.
Tim Hardaway Jr. pushed the margin to double digits for the first time with a pull-up jumper that gave the Mavericks a 95-85 lead with 10:14 remaining.
Doncic pulled off another of his dazzling plays to help extend the margin. Leading a fast break, he brushed off Hawks center Clint Capela with a crossover and hesitation at the 3-point line, burst toward the hoop and dished off to Porzingis cutting into the lane for the dunk.
John Collins led the Hawks with 35 points and 12 rebounds.
TIP-INS
Mavericks: Dallas snapped a seven-game losing streak in Atlanta. … The Mavs have won three of five games against the Hawks in the Doncic-Young rivalry. … G Josh Richardson followed up a season-high 24 points against Phoenix with 14 points, hitting just 1 of 7 from beyond the arc. … Hardaway had another big game against his former team with 22 points, including five 3-pointers. He came in averaging 21.5 points in seven games since leaving the Hawks in 2017.
Hawks: Capela extended the NBA’s longest active streak of games with at least 10 rebounds to 17 in a row before halftime. He finished with 14 boards. … Capela’s double-digit rebounding streak is the longest by an Atlanta player since Dwight Howard’s 19-game run in 2017. … Rookie C Onyeka Okongwu missed his second straight game with a sore left Achilles. The No. 6 overall pick has played just five games while battling injuries all season.
UP NEXT
Mavericks: Return home Thursday night to host the Golden State Warriors.
Hawks: Also facing a back-to-back, hosting the Utah Jazz on Thursday.
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