Dirk Nowitzki drops 27 as Dallas Mavericks hold off Charlotte Bobcats - NBA Recap
On Thursday night Dallas Mavericks handed a 101-96 defeat to Charlotte Bobcats at the American Airlines Center. With the win, the defending MNBA champions took their one-on-one record against the Bobcats to 15-0 and now remain as the only team that Bobcats
have never defeated.
The Mavs were led by Dirk Nowitzki who tallied a game high 27 points while Jason Terry poured in 18 coming off the bench. Reserve Rodrigue Beaubois collected 14 and Vince Carter had 11 to help Mavericks roll onto to a 2 game winning streak.
Corey Maggette netted 21 and Tyrus Thomas recorded 14 while Gerald Henderson, Kemba Walker and D.J. Augustin shared 12 apiece.
The Bobcats started strongly but lost a 14 point 1st half lead. They however sparked a resurgence down the stretch after the Mavs went ice at 94-77 in the last moments of decisive frame.
However Dirk Nowitzki didn’t have any remorse as long as his team won. All he is concerned about now is to make it to the playoffs;
"Our goal is to make a push here in the last 21 games and get into the playoffs. We just need to go from there and get better so we can make a run in the playoffs."
The Bobcats took an early 7-2 advantage and stretched it to 16-10 late in the first frame, but the hosts came up with 6 consecutive points and tied the scores at 16. The Bobcats nipped the surge in the ensuing passage, finishing the first quarter at 23 apiece.
Early in the 2nd, Dallas managed a slender 30-28 advantage, but the visitors erupted with a huge 14-2 run and took a double digit, 42-32, lead. They augmented it to 54-41 deep but the Mavs trimmed that down to 54-48 with 7 unanswered points at
the end of the period.
The Bobcats went ice cold in the third and netted only 14 points, shooting 23.8 % from the field. Dallas took full advantage of the situation converting their 6 points deficit into 6 points lead by the end of frame. They tied the scores at 62 with a 14-8
run and then capped off the segment with a 12-6 spurt to claim a 74-68 advantage.
Derrick Brown opened the last quarter with a jumper and reduced the deficit to 74-70 but Dallas raced away to a huge 20-7 spurt for a comfortable 94-77 lead.
Bobcats refused to go down without a fight and initiated a 17-4 run that made it a four point game, 98-94, with only 26.6 clicks in hand.
Jason Terry split a pair of free throws and that was answered by a layup from D.J. Augustin to narrow the deficit to 99-96.
Dirk Nowitzki however sealed the matter with a conclusive pair from charity stripe helping his team to a 101-96 victory.
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