Mavs Tim Hardaway Jr. Finds 'Juice,' Ignites Second-Half Turnaround vs. Knicks

Dallas Mavericks guard Tim Hardaway Jr. looked all too comfortable in a familiar setting during Sunday's win over the New York Knicks.

Dallas Mavericks guard Tim Hardaway Jr. was at a loss for words after falling to the Detroit Pistons in overtime on Thursday.

“I don’t know what to say,” Hardaway said on the loss. “ … I don’t know what else to tell you.”

But his performance in Sunday afternoon’s 121-100 win over the New York Knicks (10-13) at Madison Square Garden left the home team and its fan similarly speechless. In a game highlighted by the Mavs' reunion with Knicks guard Jalen Brunson, Hardaway’s return to MSG -- a place he called home for four years during two separate stints with the Knicks -- shined brightest.

"Me being on the other side of the court for multiple years — knowing when visitors come in here, if you're ever in a shooting slump, you got the juice, the popcorn smell going," Hardaway said. "It's called the Mecca for a reason."

Hardaway tied his season-high with 28 points on 8 of 13 shooting from deep to go along with a season-best seven rebounds. He melted the ice around the rim for the Mavs (11-11) after they trailed headed into the third quarter. From there, saying the Mavericks never looked back might be an understatement, as Dallas completely flipped the game to take a 32-point lead after trailing by as many as 15 in the first half.

Hardaway missed his first 3-point attempt of the half and led Dwight Powell out of bounds on a bad pass in the opening minutes of the third quarter.

Safe to say that's all he needed as motivation, as Hardaway ignited the second-half turnaround. He nailed five 3s in less than five minutes that gave the Mavs new third-quarter life and spread 3-point confidence through the rest of the team, as Dallas finished with 24 makes from deep. 

Luka Doncic capped off the quarter with a pair of deep bombs to give Dallas what felt like an unbreakable 93-74 lead. Incredibly, he and Hardaway single-handedly outscored the Knicks at a whopping 36-15 margin in the third.

"I think coach said it best — when Luka does the hard part, we got to do our job to make it easier for him, and that's knocking down open shots when he collapses the defense and gets 2 guys on him," Hardaway said. "Today we did our part."

Crazy enough, Hardaway never got a true heat-check attempt, as timely passing from Doncic and some late rotation from New York's struggling defense allowed him to prove just how hot he was from behind the arc.

He even elected for some paint production late in the third, as he caught a low-hanging lob from Doncic for a layup that gave Hardaway his 17th point of a quarter that was no doubt one of Dallas' best amid the recent struggles.

"We needed it," Hardaway said. "We love playing in New York I guess. Coach said best before the game that we aren't leaving here without a win. I think guys took it to heart. We have to keep that same mentality moving forward."

Moving forward, the Mavs likely won't be as hot from 3-point land as they were on Sunday. But it's an easy bet that they'll certainly give it a try when they host the Phoenix Suns (15-7) on Monday at 7:30 p.m. CT.

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You can follow Zach Dimmitt on Twitter at @ZachDimmitt7

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