Hornets can be pesky. The New Orleans Hornets certainly bugged the Mavericks on Sunday night, knocking a 25-point lead in the third quarter down to four in the fourth. But behind Dirk Nowitzki’s 36 points, the Mavericks swatted back and beat the Hornets 108-100 at American Airlines Center.
Nowitzki’s third consecutive 30-point performance helped the Mavs’ extend their wining streak to seven games -- their longest since the 2007-2008 campaign. Nowitzki remains seventh in the NBA, averaging 25 points per game.
Following the Nuggets’ loss to the Lakers earlier Sunday, the win also puts the Mavs within half a game of the Nuggets for second place in the Western Conference.
The real reason the Mavericks won this game lies in the first two quarters – a half that saw the Mavs shoot an amazing 67 percent from the floor. Nowitzki had 16 of his 36 in the first half, Caron Butler bucketed 12 of his 19 points before going to the locker room and Jason Kidd put 10 of his 13 through the hoop in the first quarter. The Mavs also out boarded the Hornets 21-15 for the half. It all added up to a commanding 69-50 advantage after 24 minutes.
But the Hornets came to the court re-energized in the third quarter, and the Mavs’ shooting percentage plummeted down to 29 percent. For 4:45 minutes near the end of the third quarter, the offense consisted of two free throws – one from Nowitzki and one from Brendan Haywood That combination allowed the Hornets to cut a 19-point lead down to 11 at 86-75.
The lead shrank to single digits in the fourth. With 2:45 remaining, a Darren Collison 3-point shot closed the gap to 4 points at 101-97. But a Nowitzki jump shot and three late free throws would ensure the Mavericks victory.
Collison led the Hornets with 35 points, a career high for the rookie guard.
The Mavs face the Bobcats in Charlotte at 6 p.m. Monday.
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