Mavs Defeat Hornets

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The streaks are over, and the Dallas Mavericks couldn’t be happier.

The Mavs gutted out a 107-96 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Monday night to snap a five-game losing streak and end the Hornets’ seven-game winning streak in the process.

The Mavs watched a 19-point halftime lead disappear completely, then came from behind in the fourth quarter and led by as many as 13 down the stretch.

Forward Chandler Parsons called it a huge win afterward, as the Mavs (34-33) were able to stop the bleeding and get back on track as they continue to fight for playoff positioning. The Mavs entered the game in the No. 8 spot in the Western Conference playoff race.

“It’s definitely a huge win, just with what’s at stake right now,” Parsons said. “We’re coming down to the wire here and somehow we’re still in position for the playoffs even with this five-game losing streak, so this was a must-win for us. We’re playing for a lot right now. We’re playing for our playoff lives, and so hopefully we can get better and build on this.”

Parsons led the Mavs with 24 points, including 11 in the fourth quarter. He hit

three crucial 3-pointers down the stretch, including two in an 8-0 run that pushed a two-point lead to 10.

Dirk Nowitzki finished with 23 points and 11 rebounds. Deron Williams scored 15, including six straight down the stretch and 11 for the fourth quarter, and Devin Harris and David Lee scored 12 apiece.

Coach Rick Carlisle tried to shake things up by starting Raymond Felton instead of Zaza Pachulia, and the move clearly worked.

“Everybody stepped up, not just the guys who scored the points,” Carlisle said. “We need everybody. Everything’s on the table now from game to game. They made a big run which we knew they were going to do, and they got the lead briefly. But our guys held the line and we kept believing each other and gutting our way through it. So it’s a very important win obviously.”

Carlisle particularly liked the defense, which held the Hornets to 28.6 percent shooting from the field in the first half and 42.1 percent for the game. Dallas wound up shooting 48.3 percent.

“The defense was great,” Carlisle said. “We just had really good energy, focus, togetherness. We were playing relatively small, so we needed everybody to be very vigilant about being on the boards. We have to play persistently. That’s our best chance to win, and we did that tonight.”

The Hornets (37-29) had won 13 of their previous 15.

They had scored at least 100 points in each of their seven straight wins, and had been averaging 118 points per game in the month of March.

Kemba Walker again led the way with 25 points and nine assists. Nicolas Batum scored 20, Marvin Williams 19, and Courtney Lee 12.

Hornets coach Steve Clifford pointed to 15 turnovers and 22-of-34 free throw shooting as the biggest reasons for the loss.

“First thing is, they played well,” Clifford said of Dallas. “They are in a tough part of their schedule and they had lost of few tough games, so they certainly played with good desperation. But at the end of the day it comes down to basic things for us, too many turnovers, too many missed free throws. We did some good things to get back in the game after we put ourselves in the hole, but 16 turnovers which turned into 18 points, and missing 12 free throws makes it tough to win.”

Batum credited the Mavericks.

“You’ve got to give credit to their coach and their defense because they slowed us down,” Batum said. “They took us out of our rhythm. I mean, we had good rhythm the last couple of games. Their zone defense and the way they played small disrupted us a little bit. We didn’t play well tonight. We just didn’t play well.”

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