Atlanta is back in action at home on Sunday vs the Raptors

The injury reports were going to dictate a lot about this game and hours before tip off, Dallas ruled out star guard Kyrie Irving, while Trae Young and Clint Capela were able to suit up for the Hawks. Hawks head coach Quin Snyder said before the game that Young was going to be on a minutes restriction, but Atlanta’s offense has been way worse without Young and just having him back on the court was going to make a huge difference.

With Irving out, Dallas was going to have to rely heavily on Luka Doncic to win this game and that was what happened.

The Hawks started Young, Dejounte Murray, Saddiq Bey, Jalen Johnson, and Clint Capela. The first five on the floor for the Mavs was Luka Doncic, Josh Green, Derrick Jones Jr, Grant Williams, and Dereck Lively.

You could tell early on in the game that Doncic was going to be having a special kind of night. The Mavs led the Hawks 25-20 at the second timeout of the game with 3:47 to go and he had 16 of those 25 points. Whether it was getting to the rim or shooting the three, Doncic was on a mission in this game and the Hawks seemed powerless to do anything about it.

Despite Doncic scoring 18 points in the first quarter, the Hawks led 31-27 after the first quarter. Jalen Johnson had nine points and Young had seven points to lead the Hawks.

Doncic kept on coming for the Mavs though and single-handidly kept Dallas in this game. The Hawks had a balanced effort in the game, but Dallas was being carried by Doncic and with 8:37 left in the first half, Atlanta led 43-37 and Luka had 25 points.

It was back and forth for the next four minutes and the game was tied at 53-53 with 4:23 left in the first half. The offenses would not slow down and the game was all tied up at 66-66.

The Hawks offense was perfectly fine in the first half, as you thought it might be with one of the NBA’s best point guards back in the lineup. Atlanta shot 54% from the field and 47% from three in the first half, with Bogdan Bogdanovic leading the way with 15 points and Johnson and Young having 11 each.

Dallas on the other hand was having an incredible first half shooting the ball, all thanks to one of the best first-half performances in recent memory from an NBA player. Doncic had 41 points, 5 rebounds, and four assists on 16-21 shooting, including 5-8 from three.

The Mavs shot 61% from the field and 53% from three in the first half.

The unbelievable performance from Doncic would continue in the third quarter and the Mavs would start to put some distance between themselves and the Hawks.

Atlanta did try everything they could to try and slow down Doncic. They had two players pick him up at halfcourt and tried to play physical and aggressive with him, but the Mavs outscored the Hawks 42-36 in the third quarter and led by six going into the fourt. Luka added 16 more in the third and had 57 points going into the final quarter. On the same week that 76ers center Joel Embiid had 70 points in a game, Doncic had a chance to break that and maybe even challenge for Kobe Bryant’s 81 point mark.

The Hawks would not go away though. They kept battling in the fourth quarter and Murray in particular was starting to heat up as the fourth quarter went along. He appeared to have a possible four point play with the Hawks trailing 131-127, but the basket did not count and the Hawks still trailed.

After Doncic hit an and one to give himself 70 points for the night and he tied Embiid’s mark from earlier this week and the Mavs led 137-127.

Atlanta kept battling though.

After a split pair of free throws from Young, he nailed a three-point attempt to make it 137-131. Jalen Johnson hit a shot in the paint after a Dallas miss and the lead was down to 137-133. Murray went to the line with a chance to cut it to two, but missed the first and hit the second to make it 137-134.

In desperate need of a stop, Atlanta gave up a three to Dante Exum, which made the lead 140-134. After another floater from Johnson to cut the lead back to four, Doncic worked his magic once again and drew a fould and a made shot to give himself 73 points and the Mavs a 143-136 lead.

Trae Young did nail a three to cut the lead to 146-143, but the Mavs hit their free throws and prevented a collapse.

There was simply not enought time for the Hawks. The Mavs could not be stopped and Doncic’s historic performance lifted them to a win on the road and sent the Hawks to their fourth straight loss and drops their record to 18-27. It was a horrible performance, but not an unexpeted one from the NBA’s worst defense.

Doncic finished with 73 points on 25-33 shooting and 8-13 from three. Dallas shot 60% from the field and 54% from three.

Atlanta shot 53% from the floor and 44% from three. Young finished with 30 points and 11 assists, Bogdanovic had 24 points, and Murray had 22.

Atlanta is back on the court this Sunday vs the Raptors at 6:00 in State Farm Arena.