Kyrie Irving's Strong 4th Quarter Lifts Mavericks Over Hawks, 129-119

Kyrie Irving showed up when he was needed most while playing through an illness

Nov 25, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving (11) drives to the basket against the Atlanta Hawks in the first quarter at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

The Dallas Mavericks played the second night of a back-to-back on Monday at the Atlanta Hawks. To make up for Sunday's overtime loss to the Miami Heat, Dallas would have to do it down a few key pieces, as they were without Luka Doncic, Klay Thompson, Quentin Grimes, and Dante Exum.

With those absences, the Mavs started Kyrie Irving, Jaden Hardy, Naji Marshall, and Dereck Lively II, while Atlanta started Trae Young, Dyson Daniels, Zaccharie Risacher, Jalen Johnson, and Clint Capela.

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It took over two minutes for the Mavericks to finally get on the board as Naji Marshall knifed down the lane to a lay-in. That slow start allowed Atlanta to take an early 12-4 lead, as Dyson Daniels and Jalen Johnson had five early points each. Dallas' offense was just having a lazy opening frame taking care of the basketball with eight turnovers in the first quarter, including three by Jaden Hardy. The floaters that were falling for PJ Washington a few games ago weren't falling early, and Atlanta was consistently making shots, breaking out an 11-point lead late in the first quarter.

Atlanta went up 31-18 with a few minutes remaining in the quarter, but Dallas ended it by going on a 10-0 run to bring the lead down to three points entering the second following a late-clock three-pointer by Naji Marshall.

The Mavericks scored nine points in the first few minutes of the second quarter to bring the Hawks' lead down to one following a corner jumper from Marshall; then Spencer Dinwiddie gave the Mavs their first lead of the game with two free throws at 39-38. Their run was fueled by getting to the free-throw line and playing inside-out.

Dallas got the lead up to six a few times through the final six minutes of the second quarter, using some strong defensive moments from Jaden Hardy, but they couldn't build on that lead. With a little over a minute remaining, Atlanta tied the game with free throws from Jalen Johnson, and then Trae Young feathered in a floater to give the Hawks a 63-61 lead. It would be Atlanta who closed the quarter on a strong run this time, using a 12-0 run to take a 67-61 lead into halftime.

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The Hawks immediately ballooned the lead to 11 to start the second half with Zaccharie Riscaher's first five points of the game, which forced an early second-half timeout from Jason Kidd. But Dallas wouldn't be dead yet despite Dereck Lively II missing the rest of the game due to the same illness that held Quentin Grimes out and had Kyrie Irving listed as questionable entering the game.

Sunday night's villain became Monday night's hero as Spencer Dinwiddie hit three consecutive three-pointers and found P.J. Washington underneath the basket to give Dallas an 88-86 lead with three minutes remaining in the quarter. At this point, he had 17 points on just six shot attempts, thanks to some early free throws, just a total turnaround from the performance he gave on Sunday. The Mavs would carry that to a 96-95 lead into the fourth quarter.

The lead bounced back and forth for the first few minutes of the fourth quarter, with a step-back three by Kyrie Irving putting Dallas up 106-104 with 8:18 remaining. Kyrie would hit two more triples to extend the lead to 115-107. Atlanta took a timeout, thinking that would cool him off, but all he did on the first possession after the timeout was hit a three off a dribble-handoff and fade to his left.

Irving's hot shooting became infectious as PJ Washington hit a shot fake-shot from the corner to extend Dallas' lead to 121-111 with under five minutes to go.

Atlanta would get the lead down to six with a little more than two minutes to go, doing a good job of getting quick buckets when they were needed. But Jaden Hardy hit a tough layup through contact, PJ Washington blocked a layup from Trae Young, and Irving would end up wide open for a layup to extend the lead to 129-119 with 49.4 seconds remaining. That would be all she wrote for this one, with Dallas winning .

Kyrie Irving was lethal in the 4th quarter, scoring 16 of his 32 points in the final frame to push Dallas to the win. It wasn't just him, though. Spencer Dinwiddie responded after a horrific game on Sunday to score a season-high 22 points, Jaden Hardy scored a season-high 23 points, and Naji Marshall poured in another 22 points for his third straight 20-point game, the longest streak of his career.

Dallas shot 16/35 from three for the game but shot 6/9 in the fourth quarter to lift them to this one, while Atlanta was just 9/21 from deep.

Jalen Johnson led the Hawks in scoring with 28 points and 11 rebounds, Trae Young had 18 points and 16 assists, Bogdan Bogdanovic responded from foul trouble in the first half to end up with 18 points, and Dyson Daniels had 17 points.

The Mavericks return home to play the New York Knicks on Wednesday night, and Dallas is hoping guys will be over their illnesses by then.

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