Hawks rewarded for late charge by edging Mavs
ATLANTA -- The Dallas Mavericks, up by 17 points in the third quarter, went stagnant offensively after point guard Jose Calderon left with a sprained ankle and the Atlanta Hawks took advantage.
Forward Al Horford hit a 20-foot jumper with 4.2 seconds left to give the Hawks an 88-87 victory when Dallas guard Vince Carter missed a jumper at the buzzer Friday night.
The one-point lead at the final buzzer was the Hawks first since the opening quarter.
Forward Paul Millsap made a 3-pointer, only the Hawks' third of the game in 15 attempts, with just over a minute remaining and Horford's basket completed a closing 11-2 run for Atlanta, which trailed 85-77 with five minutes left.
"They turned it up a little bit and we just basically choked pretty much," said Dallas forward Shawn Marion, who had a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds. "We kind of laid down and gave it to them."
The Mavericks (10-7) made just 3 of 19 shots in the fourth quarter and were outscored 24-12 by the Hawks (9-8), who snapped a three-game losing streak.
"I'm happy with the competitive nature of our team," Atlanta coach Mike Budenholzer said. "They dug deep."
Point guard Jeff Teague had 25 points for the Hawks, nine of them coming in the fourth quarter. Horford had 17 points and Millsap scored 15.
"Jeff was double teamed and got me the ball," Horford said of the winning shot. "We've worked a lot of years on that pick and pop."
The 3-pointer by Millsap was only his seven of the season in 20 attempts.
"It was early in the shot clock, so I better have made it," Millsap said. "It was one of those situations if you make it you look good, it you don't it's going to be a long walk to the bench."
Forward Dirk Nowitzki and Calderon each had 16 points for Dallas, while forward DeJaun Blair had 18 rebounds.
"We just gave it away," Blair said.
The Mavericks made 12 of their 18 turnovers in the second half, most after Calderon left late in the third quarter.
"The Hawks put pressure on and we didn't handle it very well," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. "It's very disappointing.
Guard Monta Ellis, who scored 32 points as the Mavericks in Dallas on opening night, scored on 12 this time.
"We kept turning the ball over and they made some big shots," Ellis said.
The Mavericks hit their first six 3-pointers -- three by Calderon -- in taking a 28-23 first-quarter lead and were up by as many as 17 points in the second quarter en route to a 53-39 margin at halftime.
Calderon was 4-for-5 on 3-pointers en route to his 16 first-half points, and Nowitzki scored 10 points, including his team's first eight in the second quarter.
Teague, who scored a season-low four points at Houston on Wednesday, had 10 points at the break for the Hawks, who were 3-for-6 at the foul line compared to 12-for-12 by Dallas.
Scoreless in the first half, Hawks forward DeMarre Carroll scored nine points in the third quarter, but Atlanta still trailed 75-64 going into the fourth.
"It was a much needed win for us," Horford said. "We picked up the intensity and the energy just started to shift."
NOTES: Hawks G Kyle Korver, who is one game away from tying Dana Barros' NBA record of 89 consecutive games with a 3-pointer, sat out against Dallas because of bruised ribs. He also missed Wednesday's loss at Houston. ... G Lou Williams, coming back from a torn ACL, got his first start of the season in place of Korver against the Mavericks. Williams still has a minutes and game limit and won't play Saturday in Washington. ... G Shelvin Mack returned for the Hawks against Dallas after missing a game with a sprained ankle. ... The Mavericks defeated the Hawks 118-109 to open the season on Oct. 30 in Dallas, shooting 57.1 percent, and came into the rematch having won nine of the past 14 in Atlanta. ... The Mavericks play back-to-back games for the sixth time already this season when they host Minnesota on Saturday.
