Mavs Beat Magic

via The Sports Xchange

DALLAS — Wesley Matthews’ hot hand from downtown contributed to a game-high 20 points and to the Mavericks’ breezy 112-80 demolition of the Orlando Magic on Saturday night at the American Airlines Center.
Matthews drained 6-of-8 from beyond the arc and was 7-of-10 overall as he powered the improving Mavs above the .500 mark at home for the first time this season. The blowout started late in the first half as Dallas opened a 21-20 game with a five-point spurt to end the first quarter.
Barely a minute into the second quarter, Dallas (22-32) increased its lead to double digits and then quickly made a mockery of the spiraling Magic (20-36), who have punched just five wins since Dec. 26. The Mavs took a 61-35 lead into halftime.
With less than seven minutes left in the game, Mavs forward Dwight Powell drained a rare 3-pointer to sort of show what kind of night it was for Dallas, which surged to a 98-61 lead with that shot.
Matthews was also a team-best plus-24 in 24 minutes. He said this version of the Mavs is the one that would have surfaced earlier if not for an extended stretch of injuries to key players.
“That’s who we are. We got dealt a tough hand to start the season with injuries, rotational stuff, and trying to find our identity,” Matthews said. “Once we found that and we started getting healthy again I think we were able to show what we’re capable of being. We’re going to keep fighting. That’s one thing about us, we’re going to keep throwing punches and we’re going to keep fighting.”
Dallas, which shot around 50 percent from the floor for most of the game, got balanced scoring with Dirk Nowitzki and emerging guard Seth Curry each scoring 14 points, and guard Yogi Ferrell going for 10 points in his first game off the bench because of the return of starting guard Deron Williams.
Williams played 15 minutes, all in the first half, and scored seven points with four assists. Powell finished with nine points on 4-of-5 shooting. Mavs forward Harrison Barnes, who leads Dallas in scoring in his first season with the franchise, was allowed to have a quiet night with just eight points on 4-of-13 shooting.
Dallas snapped a two-game skid, while it was also its seventh win in the last nine games.
“We caught them on an off shooting night for them, as they did have some shots that they missed, but we did what we had to do,” Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said. “We came out with energy and we were able to build an early lead and just kept building it. As we have gotten healthier, with more
troops, it’s a stronger situation for us.”
The Magic, who led just once in the game, lost its fourth consecutive game and appeared Saturday to be wishing it was somewhere else. The Magic shot 38 percent from the floor and was a pitiful 3-of-23 from beyond the arc. Dallas drained 17 3-pointers to outscore the Magic by 42 points from beyond the arc. Orlando’s 80 points was its fourth-lowest total of the season.
“It’s not good. It’s not good,” Magic coach Frank Vogel said when asked about the team’s mood in the locker room after another loss.
Vogel added: “We can’t worry about our opponents. We’ve got to worry about playing at a higher level at both ends.”
Reserve Bismack Biyombo led the Magic with 15 points, a tell-tale sign of how difficult it was for Orlando to generate offense. Evan Fournier (14 points) and C.J. Watson (10 points) were the only other Magic players to score in double figures.
Serge Ibaka was limited to eight points and four rebounds and starting center Nikola Vucevic had just three points on 1-of-5 shooting to go with 10 rebounds.
“I mean, I don’t know what to tell you to be honest,” Fournier said. “I don’t know where to start. In every aspect of the game, we’re not doing what we have to do. I think the (All-Star) break will be much needed for us to start fresh, and just hopefully show better things on the court.”