107
80
The Dallas Mavericks are a team that's known for one thing: building up big leads and taking teams out of the game early, as they entered last night's game at Time Warner Cable Arena as the top scoring team in the league, and they showed the 4-7 Charlotte Hornets why they're the best as they scored early and often en route to a 107-80 win over Charlotte. The loss was a frustrating one for Charlotte, according to head coach Steve Clifford, whose team recently came off a rough 1-3 West Coast road trip.
"We just didn't have the fight and against teams like that you have to be on it." Clifford said. "We weren't there tonight." Things did look promising for the Hornets as they led the game early 5-0, but the Mavericks utilized their "Fun and Gun" offense to run up the score to almost a 30-point lead, with a good chunk of it coming from their captain, Dirk Nowitzki, who had 13 points as one of Dallas' 6 leading scorers, while Monta Ellis, one of the key free agent signings for the Mavs, led the team with 18 points. Chandler Parsons, another key addition to the roster this season for Dallas, added in 17 points, while Tyson Chandler scored 14, as the Mavericks single-handed won the game themselves, out-shooting Charlotte(51.2%), and out-rebounding the Hornets by a 50-35 margin.
The lone bright spot for the Hornets in the loss last night was Gerald Henderson, who had an 18 point performance, as the Hornets were without Gary Neal and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.
Charlotte will hit the road on Wednesday night to take on the Indiana Pacers, as Lance Stephenson will make his first appearance at Bankers Life Fieldhouse as a member of the Hornets, for a 7:00 p.m. start, before they come back to "The Hive" on Friday night to square off against Vic Oladipo and the Orlando Magic.
Dallas Mavericks(7-3) vs. Charlotte Hornets(4-6)
Time Warner Cable Arena
Monday, 7:00 p.m.
Television: SportSouth
Radio: WFNZ-AM(610 The Fan)
Series history(since original Hornets first season in 1988-89): DAL leads series 33-14
The 4-game West Coast road trip wasn't kind for the Charlotte Hornets, as they finished the trip with a 1-3 mark, and they're glad that they're finally back inside the home floor of Time Warner Cable Arena as they begin a stretch of playing 8 of their next 11 games at "The Hive" starting tonight as they welcome in the Dallas Mavericks to town.
Scouting the Mavericks
The Dallas Mavericks are often considered as one of the elite teams in the NBA today, starting with it's star player, Dirk Nowitzki. He has been the catalyst of the Mavericks rise in the league for the last couple of seasons, and the team enters tonight on a 3-game winning streak, while they are currently in third place in the Southwest Division with a 7-3 mark. The Mavs are out for the 4th straight win tonight, as they pay a visit to Charlotte to square off against a 4-6 Hornets team that's coming off a tough road trip out West last week.
Scouting the Hornets
The Charlotte Hornets are coming off their 4-game West Coast road trip with a 1-3 mark, with the lone win of the trip coming last Friday night in Phoenix against the Suns. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist missed the previous 2 games during the road trip, but he is expected to return to the lineup for Charlotte when they take on the Dallas Mavericks tonight at "The Hive". Charlotte has somewhat found a way to defeat the Mavericks at their own game, and they defeated the Mavs last season in Charlotte, and they did the same in 2012-13 at home, but can the Hornets make it 3 straight against the Mavs on their home floor? The answer to that question will come tonight, when the Hornets begin a stretch of playing 8 of their next 11 games at "The Hive".
Next 4 games for the Hornets(Home games in Purple, Road games in Teal)
Wednesday: Charlotte @ Indiana Pacers(7:00 p.m.)
Friday: Orlando Magic vs. Charlotte*(7:00 p.m.)
Sunday: Charlotte @ Miami Heat*(6:00 p.m.)
Next Monday: L.A. Clippers vs. Charlotte(7:00 p.m.)
*-Southeast Division game
NOTES: All SportSouth telecasts begin with "Hornets Live" 30 minutes before tip-off; All Hornets games can be heard locally on flagship station WFNZ-AM(610 The Fan) and throughout the Carolinas on the Hornets Radio Network.
Our three-day weekend in the "Lone Star State" for this installment of our continuing series of NBA team previews, "30 Teams in 30 Days", wraps up with a preview of the Dallas Mavericks, who added a solid shooter to the fray as they look to find a way to get back into form this upcoming season down in Big "D".
Last season's record: 49-33(8th in Western Conference/4th in Southwest Division; Lost to SA 4-3 in Western Conference 1st Round)
Head Coach: Rick Carlisle(13th season, 569-399 overall; 288-188 with DAL)
Arena: American Airlines Center(19,200)
Website: mavs.com
The 2013-14 edition of the Dallas Mavericks struggled at times during the previous season, but managed to do just well enough to lock down the 8th and final playoff spot in the Western Conference with a 49-33 mark for a team that's led by perennial all-star Dirk Nowitzki. In the first round of the 2014 Western Conference Playoffs, they had a tough hill to climb, against their in-state rivals, the San Antonio Spurs, and the big three of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili.
Dallas putted up at fight during the series, but in the end, it was too much Spurs, as San Antonio would win the series 4-3, on their road to winning it all in the 2014 NBA Finals. This season, Dallas would get some help, in the form of Chandler Parsons, who spent the last couple of seasons with the Houston Rockets to join an roster that wants to put their disappointing first round performance behind them and look forward to seeing what's in store in the 2014-15 season for Rick Carlisle's club.
In short, the Mavericks are focused on one thing: Trying to bring home another NBA title to Dallas. The talent is already there, but can they put it together on the floor? Only time will tell.
Upcoming team previews in the "30 Teams in 30 Days" series
- Monday: Oklahoma City Thunder
- Tuesday: Denver Nuggets
- Wednesday: Utah Jazz
- Thursday: Phoenix Suns
