The Charlotte Hornets overcame a 40-point game from Luka Doncic on Sunday to defeat Dallas 110-104, their second win over the Mavericks in the last three days and another huge blow to Dallas’ playoff chances.
Gordon Hayward scored a team-high 22 points and P.J. Washington contributed a double-double with 21 points and 12 rebounds for the Hornets, who have been eliminated from playoff contention.
The Mavericks entered the day knotted with the Oklahoma City Thunder for 10th place in the Western Conference standing but were still outside of the play-in tournament bubble because the Thunder hold the head-to-head tiebreaker.
“It’s unfortunate that we let these two games go and we have to figure out a way to stop the bleeding,” said Mavericks coach Jason Kidd, adding that he wasn’t pleased with the team’s defensive effort.
Doncic picked up his 16th technical foul of the season in the third quarter, meaning he will face a one-game suspension on Monday night against Tyrese Haliburton and the Indiana Pacers unless the technical is rescinded by the league office.
“The desire to win has to be at an all-time high right now,” Tim Hardaway Jr. said. ” … The second half it was, but the same as last game it was too late.”
The desire will need to be even higher on Monday night.
Kyrie Irving had 18 points for the Mavericks (36-39).
“Losing in basketball is very frustrating, especially when we have as talented a group as we do,” Irving said.
A dispirited Doncic said after Friday night’s loss to the Hornets he was frustrated over how the season has played out. He added that they are not just basketball-related but did not go into detail.
The Mavericks fell to come out of the gate strong in the rematch. Dallas fell behind by 18, 30-12, in the opening quarter after missing 15 of their first 18 shots from the field. Doncic went 0 for 6 in the first quarter.
Down 19 with four minutes left in the second quarter, Doncic began to turn up the heat a notch, connecting on four shots from the great beyond and assisting on another 3 to engineer a 19-7 Mavericks run to close the half and slicing the Hornets lead to seven at the break.
The Mavericks stormed back in the fourth quarter with Tim Hardaway Jr. and Irving knocking down back-to-back 3-pointers before Doncic nailed a step-back 3 with just under six minutes remaining in the contest to give Dallas its first lead of the game.
But Dennis Smith Jr, a former Maverick, snuck behind the Dallas defense and dunked off an alley-oop feed from Washington to put Charlotte up by five with 1:05 left.
Maxi Kleber responded with a 3 off a feed from Doncic, but Charlotte answered again with a layup by Mark Williams off a dish from Hayward.
Doncic then missed a 3-pointer on the other end, all but securing the Charlotte victory. After Doncic missed another late 3-point attempt and the clock expired, he exchanged words with a spectator seated courtside and wagged his finger at him.
“The biggest part of the game again was the first quarter,” Hornets coach Steve Clifford said. “Playing from ahead is a big deal. Every year the numbers bear it out, people want to say, ‘All you have to do is watch the fourth quarter,’ but they have no idea what they’re talking about. It’s anything but that.”
Mavericks: Doncic has been assessed the third-most technical fouls in the league behind only Memphis’ Dillon Brooks (18) and Atlanta’s Trae Young (17). Irving asked officials to have a fan removed from the arena in the third quarter.
“I just had to make sure I looked him eye to eye and see if he would say it to my face,” Irving said. “A lot of fans say things when you turn your head or say it in a crowd because they can get it away it. … He yelled it and I handled it.”
Hornets: Terry Rozier (right foot discomfort) and Kelly Oubre Jr. (right shoulder sprain) both were sidelined for the second straight game.
The Mavericks travel to Indiana to take on the Pacers on Monday night.
The Hornets are at Oklahoma City to take on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder on Tuesday.
