Dallas Mavericks launch a second half blitz to outshine the New Orleans Hornets 121-89
On Wednesday night, the Dallas Mavericks snapped their wretched streak of nine successive losses as they routed the New Orleans Hornets with a 121-89 win at the American Airlines Center.
Dirk Nowitzki wrapped up another top scoring performance and landed a blistering game-high 32 points to spearhead his team. Both the teams were playing their last game of the regular season. The visiting Hornets managed to seal 3 points advantage in the first half; however Dallas utterly dominated the opposition in the second half of the game to clinch a massive 32 points victory.
The star of the night Nowitzki said on their incredible surge after halftime. "Everything was a little too easy for them in the first half and we talked at halftime how we had to step it up and bring a little more energy and really contest shots. We got into them a little more and made it tougher. We were really rotating well."
With Nowitzki leading the attack, five other Mavs also landed double figures. New Orleans’s starting five on the other hand failed to put up an upright performance. Jarrett Jack was the only Hornet who demonstrated an impressive performance as he racked up a team-high 22 points and dished out seven assists off the bench.
Marco Belinelli landed two sizzling blows from beyond the arc in the preliminary minutes of the game as the New Orleans nabbed an early 12-8 advantage. Nowitzki however lifted the momentum for the home team and scored 9 points to tie the game at 25 in the last minute of the first quarter. With 7.9 seconds remaining, Jack surged back with a jumper for the Hornets, but Jose Barea buried a scorching blow from downtown to provide 28-27 lead to the Mavs at the end of the first period.
The Hornets took the charge stoutly in the second quarter, romping to a 12-3 run and snatch back the lead 39-31. Jack scored 14 points of his 22 in the period as the Hornets carried a 61-58 advantage going into the second half.
The Mavericks were a completely different team in the second half. They landed five blistering 3-pointers in the third quarter and Nowitzki scored 12 points of his 32 to smash the Hornets out of the game. New Orleans was restricted to only 13 points as the home team entered the final quarter with a 86-74 lead.
Corey Brewer and Jason Terry then carried the action for Dallas in the final 12 minutes. Brewer scored all of his 11 points in the fourth period including two scorching blows from beyond the arc as the Mavericks sealed a comprehensive 121-89 victory.
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