Nowitzki, Mavericks storm past Hawks

Mar 25, 2007, 20:00 GMT

Atlanta, GA - Dirk Nowitzki scored 28 points on 10-of-17 shooting as Dallas held on to beat Atlanta, 104-97, at Philips Arena.

Josh Howard also had 28 points for the Southwest Division leading Mavericks, who won their sixth straight game and have taken 23 of their last 25 contests. Jason Terry chipped in with 27 points and six assists. The terrific trio of Dallas compiled 83 of the team's 104 points.

'We are not the flawless team everybody thinks we are,' said Mavs coach Avery Johnson. 'We have a pretty good rotation but we are still not where we need to be.'

Josh Smith and Josh Childress each scored 21 points for the Hawks, who dropped their third straight and lost for the fifth time in six games. Tyronn Lue tallied 15 points off the bench and Zaza Pachulia netted 14 points and pulled down 13 rebounds.

The Hawks battled back from a 23-point deficit and were down by just eight, 75-67, entering the final frame. Atlanta then forged its way in front with a 12-2 run to start the quarter. A fast break slam by Childress put the Hawks on top for the first time in the game, 79-77, with 8:24 left.

The Mavs regained their composure from there, however, and scored nine of the game's next 10 points. Howard capped the burst with a three to give Dallas some breathing room, 86-80, with 6:15 left.

Atlanta couldn't recover again. Terry drained a three, with 1:39 left, to put the Mavs on top by nine, 97-88, and essentially sealed the game.

'They jumped on us really early,' Smith said. 'With a team like that, we can't spot them 20 points. We didn't give up. We played well for three quarters.'

The Mavs looked like they were going to blow Atlanta out of the gym from the opening tip. Nowitzki capped a 15-4 run to open the game with four consecutive points on a driving layup and a pair of free throws.

Dallas kept pulling away from there. A Jerry Stackhouse layup gave the Mavericks a 20-point cushion, 36-16, with just under a minute left in the opening quarter.

Dallas continued to lead by 20, 39-19, after the opening frame and took its largest lead of the half, 51-28,when Howard knocked down a turnaround jumper with 5:16 left.

The Hawks finally recovered a bit from there and closed the frame strongly to draw within 14, 58-44, at intermission.

Atlanta continued to play well early in the third quarter and managed to cut things to seven, 62-55, after Anthony Johnson connected on a jumper with just over nine minutes left.

Game Notes

At 58-11, the Mavericks are two wins away from tying the franchise record... Atlanta is just 15-21 as the host this season...The Mavs swept the season series, 2-0, and have won four straight against the Hawks.

© 2007 The Sports Network

Game Notes

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