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 The Mavs gutted out a 107-96 win over the Charlotte Hornets on
Monday night to snap a five-game losing streak and end the Hornets'
seven-game winning streak in the process.
The Mavs watched a 19-point halftime lead disappear completely, then
came from behind in the fourth quarter and led by as many as 13 down
the stretch.
Forward Chandler Parsons called it a huge win afterward, as the Mavs
(34-33) were able to stop the bleeding and get back on track as they
continue to fight for playoff positioning. The Mavs entered the game
in the No. 8 spot in the Western Conference playoff race.
"It's definitely a huge win, just with what's at stake right now,"
Parsons said. "We're coming down to the wire here and somehow we're
still in position for the playoffs even with this five-game losing
streak, so this was a must-win for us. We're playing for a lot right
now. We're playing for our playoff lives, and so hopefully we can
get better and build on this."
Parsons led the Mavs with 24 points, including 11 in the fourth
quarter. He hit three crucial 3-pointers down the stretch, including
two in an 8-0 run that pushed a two-point lead to 10.
Dirk Nowitzki finished with 23 points and 11 rebounds. Deron
Williams scored 15, including six straight down the stretch and 11
for the fourth quarter, and Devin Harris and David Lee scored 12
apiece.
 Coach Rick Carlisle tried to shake things up by starting Raymond
Felton instead of Zaza Pachulia, and the move clearly worked.
"Everybody stepped up, not just the guys who scored the points,"
Carlisle said. "We need everybody. Everything's on the table now
from game to game. They made a big run which we knew they were going
to do, and they got the lead briefly. But our guys held the line and
we kept believing each other and gutting our way through it. So it's
a very important win obviously."
Carlisle particularly liked the defense, which held the Hornets to
28.6 percent shooting from the field in the first half and 42.1
percent for the game. Dallas wound up shooting 48.3 percent.
"The defense was great," Carlisle said. "We just had really good
energy, focus, togetherness. We were playing relatively small, so we
needed everybody to be very vigilant about being on the boards. We
have to play persistently. That's our best chance to win, and we did
that tonight."
The Hornets (37-29) had won 13 of their previous 15.
They had scored at least 100 points in each of their seven straight
wins, and had been averaging 118 points per game in the month of
March.
Kemba Walker again led the way with 25 points and nine assists.
Nicolas Batum scored 20, Marvin Williams 19, and Courtney Lee 12.
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Hornets coach Steve Clifford pointed to 15 turnovers and 22-of-34
free throw shooting as the biggest reasons for the loss.
"First thing is, they played well," Clifford said of Dallas. "They
are in a tough part of their schedule and they had lost of few tough
games, so they certainly played with good desperation. But at the
end of the day it comes down to basic things for us, too many
turnovers, too many missed free throws. We did some good things to
get back in the game after we put ourselves in the hole, but 16
turnovers which turned into 18 points, and missing 12 free throws
makes it tough to win."
Batum credited the Mavericks.
"You've got to give credit to their coach and their defense because
they slowed us down," Batum said. "They took us out of our rhythm. I
mean, we had good rhythm the last couple of games. Their zone
defense and the way they played small disrupted us a little bit. We
didn't play well tonight. We just didn't play well."
NOTES: Hornets G Kemba Walker was named the Eastern Conference's
Player of the Week on Monday. Walker averaged 27.8 points in four
wins during the week. It's his second POW honor of the season and
the fourth of his career. ... It was a rough night for the
officiating crew of Marc Davis, Steve Anderson and Eric Lewis, as
both teams complained throughout the game. Four technical fouls were
called in the first half. ... It took Davis three tries to toss the
ball properly on the opening tip. ... The Hornets won the only
previous game between the teams, 108-94 in Dallas on Nov. 5. ...
This was a matchup of the two least turnover-prone teams in the NBA.
The Mavs lead the league at 12.7, and the Hornets are second at
12.9. ... The Hornets sent G Aaron Harrison down to Erie of the NBDL
on Sunday. ... The Hornets were playing their fifth home game in
eight days, as part of a seven-game home stand. ... G Troy Daniels,
who has replaced G Jeremy Lamb in the Hornets' rotation, played 15
minutes and scored six points Monday night. Lamb did not see any
action. ... The Hornets will host Orlando on Wednesday. ... The Mavs
will play at Cleveland on Wednesday.
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