The Dallas Mavericks fell to the Atlanta Hawks 135-120 on Wednesday, extending their home losing streak to nearly two months as Atlanta won its 11th straight game.
CJ McCollum scored 24 points, Nickeil Alexander-Walker added 22, and the Atlanta Hawks kept rolling Wednesday night, beating the Dallas Mavericks 135-120 for their 11th consecutive victory.
The Hawks are 38-31 and squarely in the middle of the Eastern Conference play-in race. They haven't strung together 11 straight wins since a franchise-record 19-game streak in 2014-15. The current run is tied for the fourth-longest in club history.
Dyson Daniels was efficient throughout, finishing with 19 points on 9-of-13 shooting (69.2%). Jalen Johnson was one assist shy of a triple-double, scoring 17 points and pulling down 11 rebounds. Onyeka Okongwu scored Atlanta's first 10 points of the game, and the Hawks never looked back. Dallas trailed 37-30 after one quarter and 67-56 at the break.
Then Jonathan Kuminga made history. With time expiring in the third quarter, Kuminga grabbed a defensive rebound and launched a shot from 74 feet that dropped through as the buzzer sounded. Officials confirmed the basket after a review. It was the longest made shot by a Hawk in the play-by-play era and the sixth-longest by any player since 1997-98, according to Elias Sports. The previous record for Atlanta belonged to Jason Terry, who hit from 63 feet on Jan. 5, 2000. Kuminga's shot pushed the lead to 101-82 and finished off any remaining drama.
For Dallas, the loss extended a miserable home stretch. The Mavericks haven't won at American Airlines Center since Feb. 22 and have dropped 11 of their last 13 games. At 23-47, a draft lottery berth looks increasingly certain.
Daniel Gafford was the one bright spot off the bench, scoring 24 points on 9-of-10 shooting (90.0%). It marked back-to-back 20-point games for the first time in his time as a Maverick. Six days earlier at Memphis, he put up 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting to go with 14 rebounds. P.J. Washington scored 23 to lead Dallas's starters. Cooper Flagg had 17 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists in 33 minutes. Klay Thompson, returning from injury, chipped in 17 points off the bench.
The Mavericks shot 48.8% from the field and made 25-of-29 free throws (86.2%), but 18 turnovers — seven more than Atlanta — repeatedly killed momentum. The Hawks outscored Dallas 72-56 in the paint and held a 23-19 edge in points off turnovers.
Caleb Martin (right plantar fascia), Brandon Williams (concussion protocol), Kyrie Irving and Dereck Lively II, both out for the season, did not play for Dallas.
Dallas hosts the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday night.