The Atlanta Hawks defeated the Dallas Mavericks 135-to-120.
This recreation began on the mistaken foot, and the Mavericks by no means fairly discovered their stage. If you blinked (or spent the primary couple of minutes taking a look at your telephone), you would possibly’ve missed the Hawks beginning the sport by opening up a 10-to-0 lead throughout the recreation’s first two minutes. The Mavericks awakened a bit of at that time and labored their means again into it, however that was how issues went all evening — Atlanta would surge forward, and Dallas would get simply shut sufficient that you simply didn’t need to flip the sport off, however the Mavs have been by no means threatening to win this one.
Daniel Gafford had an enormous recreation, scoring a season-high 24 on nine-of-10 taking pictures and 4 offensive boards.
For Atlanta, CJ McCollum led the way in which with an environment friendly 22 factors on eight-of-12 taking pictures.
There are few issues much less productive as a sports activities fan than complaining about refs, and that’s not even essentially the intention right here, however Cooper Flagg’s whistle has nowhere to go however up.
As a rookie, Flagg has been damn-near stoic relating to exhibiting seen frustration on the ground, however after a n0-call on a layup within the first quarter left Coop bleeding from the forearm, he did have an prolonged dialog with the closest referee, exhibiting off the wound like a courtroom prosecutor bringing the juror’s consideration to “Exhibit A.”
He’s a rookie. Sure, the identical guidelines ought to apply equally to each participant on a regular basis, however in the actual world, it’s only a matter of proven fact that guys have to earn their lumps. Cooper is actually doing that this yr. His hesitation to let it fly from deep and as a substitute drive to the cup as typically as doable nearly appears purposeful. Like he desires to ensure he pays sufficient dues this season in order that subsequent yr, his whistle can be simple.
Daniel Gafford, a man who began the yr vying for minutes with Anthony Davis and Dereck Lively, has been charged with shouldering the overwhelming majority of the minutes at middle. He’s performed by means of some accidents and logged a bunch of minutes, however he’s nonetheless in a position to ship strong performances in video games like tonight.
He ended up with 24 factors on a nine-of-10 taking pictures, plus an almost good six-for-seven from the road and eight whole boards.
Ideally, he’s a man who may come off the bench (which he truly did tonight, because the Mavs began a wacky forward-heavy lineup with Flagg, Naji Marshall, and PJ Washington all beginning) and play a hyper-efficient recreation across the basket with a top-tier facilitator. That’s nonetheless within the playing cards within the close to future, however whereas we’re nonetheless within the current, his steadying presence as Dallas’ premiere Big is commendable.
