clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Preview: Hawks head west for rematch with Mavericks

NBA: Dallas Mavericks at Atlanta Hawks Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

The Atlanta Hawks (11-12) travel to Dallas to face the Mavericks Wednesday evening. Dallas beat the Hawks in Atlanta last week, but still resides near the bottom of the Western Conference standings with a 11-14 record.

Atlanta comes into the contest on a bit of a skid, as they lost three of their four home games last week, though they did avoid the four-game losing streak by beating the Toronto Raptors Saturday evening.

Dallas comes in as losers of seven of their last ten games, but as previously noted, one of those wins did come in Atlanta. Despite that win, the Mavericks come into Wednesday with a -2.2 net rating, ranking behind in Atlanta in both offense and defense.

Atlanta has a +1.1 net rating through 23 games this season, ranking 14th in offense and 13th in defense. Perhaps the biggest advantage in this matchup for the Hawks is on the glass, as they rank 6th in rebounding percentage while Dallas ranks 28th.

An area where the Mavericks have the edge coming in is in the turnover department. Dallas turns the ball over just 12.3 times per 100 possessions, the third best mark in the NBA, while Atlanta ranks 20th with 14.6 turnovers per 100 possessions.

Both teams come into the game near the top of the league in free throw rate, with the Hawks (2nd) and the Mavericks (7th) each getting to the line at a high clip thanks to their young centerpieces, Trae Young and Luka Dončić.

For those interested, Dallas is currently a 3.5-point favorite over Atlanta at most books.

In the injury department, Atlanta is still without several key contributors. De’Andre Hunter (meniscus surgery) is the latest guy on the shelf, while Bogdan Bogdanovic and Kris Dunn remain out. Additionally, Rajon Rondo (low back pain) has been ruled out for Wednesday.

Dallas appears to be back at full strength after missing a few guys, including star big man Kristaps Porzingis, earlier in the season. Porzingis has been back for a while now, but the Mavericks record and overall numbers are certainly a bit tainted as the big guy has only appeared in 14 of the team’s 25 games.

Join us this evening for full coverage of what should be an exciting matchup.

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Wednesday, Feb. 10, 7:30 pm ET

Location: American Airlines Center

TV: ESPN, Fox Sports Southeast

Radio: 92.9 The Game (Atlanta); Hawks Radio Network

Streaming: Watch ESPN, Fox Sports Go