The Atlanta Hawks look to extend their season-high winning streak to seven games on Tuesday when they host the struggling Dallas Mavericks, who have lost seven in a row.
This will be the first meeting between the clubs this season, with Dallas having won the last four. They play again on March 18 in Dallas.
Atlanta beat Philadelphia 125-116 on Saturday for its sixth straight victory. The Hawks have won seven of eight and climbed two games over .500 and into ninth place in the Eastern Conference. Atlanta entered Monday trailing the eighth-place 76ers by 1 1/2 games and sixth-place Orlando by 2 1/2 games.
“I mean, we can only really just keep winning games,” Atlanta guard Dyson Daniels said. “There’s probably four or five teams that could rotate in that No. 5 to 10 spot. So, we just have to keep winning games. We try not to focus on that too much, but it is in the back of our heads. We do want to get that playoff spot. We don’t really want to be in the play-in, so we’ve just got to keep winning games.”
Atlanta’s Jalen Johnson, who averages 22.9 points, 10.5 rebounds and 7.9 assists, produced 35 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists against the Sixers. He has recorded 39 double-doubles and 11 triple-doubles this season.
The Hawks hope to get Jonathan Kuminga back on Tuesday. He is averaging 21.3 points and 7.7 rebounds in three games with Atlanta since being acquired from Golden State at the trade deadline. Kuminga has missed the last two games with left knee inflammation.
The Mavericks were routed by the Toronto Raptors 122-92 on Sunday and have lost 17 of their last 19. Dallas has fallen to No. 12 in the Western Conference, 9 1/2 games out of qualifying for the play-in tournament. Five of their last six losses have been by double-digits and four of those were by at least 19 points.
Dallas coach Jason Kidd indicated that shakeups are likely in the wake of the team’s struggles.
“We’ve got to look at some different combinations as we go forward,” Kidd said. “Maybe looking at the starting group. Maybe it’s different combinations there in the first quarter. We’ll look at that as we get to Atlanta. We didn’t shoot the ball well, nor did we take care of the ball. It’s hard to win in this league if you don’t do those two things well.”
An exception Sunday was Daniel Gafford, who scored 21 points on 10-for-10 shooting, with 11 rebounds. Gafford is averaging 8.6 points and 6.6 rebounds.
Cooper Flagg, the top pick in the 2025 draft, will make his first appearance in Atlanta. Flagg has played three games after missing eight due to a left foot sprain. He averages 20.2 points, 6.6 rebounds and 4.2 assists, and earlier this month, he became the second-youngest player to reach 1,000 career points.
The Mavericks are getting another solid season from P.J. Washington (14.0 points, 6.9 rebounds) and have gotten a lift from veteran Khris Middleton, who was acquired at the trade deadline. Middleton is averaging 11.8 points in 12 games with the Mavericks.
–Field Level Media
