NBA: Mavs comeback is not rewarded – D12 dominates again

The Mavericks are powerless against Dwight Howard’s next monster performance for a long time. But then Dallas makes a comeback in the fourth quarter – without success. The Hornets win 102:98 (BOXSCORE).

In the last four days, Dwight Howard has experienced some ups and downs. First he played against the Nets the Monster-Statline of 32 points and 30 rebounds (Career-High!), then after his 16. Technical foul of the season banned for the following match against the Grizzlies. Now the 32-year-old was back on the floor against Dallas and immediately demonstrated his current strength.

On the way to the third Hornets victory in a row, Howard again dominated under the boards and, with 18 points (6/12 FG, 6/12 FT) and 23 rebounds, played the next impressive double-double – in the last two games, the centre totalled 50 points and 53 boards!

“I just tried to collect as many rebounds as possible,” Howard explained his simple strategy after the game, “I wanted to dominate the zone and put some screens for Kemba[Walker] and the other guys to give them space in the Paint.

Led by strong Howard and Kemba Walker (24 points, 2 assists), the Hornets took a 15-point lead in the third section. Jeremy Lamb also drew attention with 14 points. But this lead was far from being a preliminary decision.

Thanks to good performances by Dennis Smith Jr (21 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds), Harrison Barnes (18 points, 7 rebounds) and a consistently strong bank, Dallas fought his way back into the match. Yogi Ferrell in particular made a major contribution to the Mavericks’ comeback with 11 points in the final section (a total of 16, 7/10 FG).

In the final minute, Dallas even had a chance to win: after a failed attempt by Lamb, Smith Jr. the ball forward, but let Walker take it off again. Then the Mavs had to foul and the Hornets closed the ceiling from the free-throw line. There were words of praise for the hosts after Howard’s match: “Despite their record and where they stand today, Dallas played really hard today.

This also applied to Doug McDermott (14 points) or Nerlens Noel (10 points, 12 rebounds, 5 steals), while Dirk Nowitzki only scored 4 points (2/9 FG, 0/5 trio). But the German collected 10 rebounds and 2 blocks. Maxi Kleber was only used for 3 minutes and had no points.