Beijing time, March 25 The NBA regular season continues, the Lone Ranger hosts the Hornets, the Lone Ranger recently experienced two consecutive losses due to the injury of the star, 36-37 ranked 8th in the West, while the Hornets were 23-51 ranked 14th in the East, and the "Eastern European combination" finally merged again.
In this game, the Hornets' Ball, Martin, Oubre and Rozier were unable to play, while the Lone Ranger's Hardaway Jr. was absent due to injury. After the opening game, Doncic hit the first shot, but Mikhailyuk hit a 3-pointer, Hayward singled, and the Hornets played a 7-1 mini-climax. Since then, the "Eastern European Combination" has scored back-to-back points, with its Middle East Cic contributing eight of the team's first 16 points, narrowing the gap to two. Irving scored four points and provided one assist, and he led the team to an 8-4 mini-climax to open the gap again. After a timeout, the Mavericks scored just two points with 2 minutes and 30 seconds left in the quarter, Mikhailyuk and substitute Sol hit three straight points, and the Hornets led by 11 points on 6-of-10 three-pointers in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the Hornets took turns attacking the Mavericks inside to make a kill, opening with a 7-0 mini-climax to rewrite the score to 44-26, and to make matters worse, Holladay and Kleber both received second fouls. After a timeout, Irving broke through a layup to end the Lone Ranger's scoring drought in the quarter, and Bullock hit the first three-pointer of the team, ending the previous 9-iron streak. After Doncic came on, he assisted Powell and Nilikina to score, and then he hit his first three-pointer, and the "Eastern European combination" scored seven consecutive points, narrowing the gap to less than 10 points. In the crucial moment, Hayward hit a 3-pointer as he led the Hornets back to an 8-3 mini-climax to control the situation. Although bench Nilikina hit three points and scored five straight points, Hayward was on fire, shooting 7-of-11 in 16 minutes in two quarters and contributing 17 points and four assists. At halftime, the Hornets led the Mavericks by 14 points 69-55.
In the third quarter, Irving hit his first three-pointer, and he also assisted Kleber and Powell to successfully eat cake, and he led the Lone Ranger to a 9-2 mini-climax, narrowing the gap to less than 10 points for the second time. After the timeout, Doncic made two fouls and hit both free throws, leaving the Lone Ranger 66-73 behind. Just as the Lone Rangers gradually turned the tide, the team suddenly went silent for the next 4 minutes, relying only on free throws to get one point, Washington scored six straight points, Hayward played 2+1, and the Hornets blasted a 14-1 offensive wave to extend the gap to 20 points. Doncic turned on singles mode, contributing 12 points in the quarter, and the team's backup Hardy also hit two long-range three-pointers, trailing by 21 points with an 18-5 offensive wave to chase the score to 87-95 by the end of the third quarter.
In the final quarter, some of the stunned Hornets did not score in the opening two minutes, Bullock hit a 3-pointer, Irving assisted Wood's empty layup, and the Lone Ranger narrowed the gap to one point with a wave of 9-2 mini-climax. Williams made a layup at the crucial moment, and McGoverns hit a long two-point shot to temporarily relieve the pressure. After a timeout, Thor hit a free throw, and Smith hit a 3-pointer, bringing the gap between the two teams back to more than 10 points. Doncic hit a shot and Wood hit a 3-pointer with four minutes left in the game. Mikhailyuk returned with a 3-pointer and Richardson broke through for a layup. Although Irving hit both free throws after Mikhailyuk fouled his fifth foul and Doncic singled himself to break the 30-point mark, the Lone Rangers were running out of time. In the end, the Dallas Mavericks lost 109-117 to the Charlotte Hornets, suffering a three-game losing streak.
Technical Statistics:
Lone Ranger (36-38): Doncic 34 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists, Irving 18 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists, Powell 14 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists, Wood 14 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists, Nilikina 8 points and 3 assists, Hardy 8 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists, Block 6 points and 6 rebounds, Kleber 4 points and 2 rebounds, Josh Green 3 points and 3 rebounds
Hornets (24-51): Washington 28 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 1 block, Hayward 25 points, 9 assists and 3 rebounds, Dennis Smith 13 points, 9 assists and 5 rebounds, Mikhailyuk 13 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists, Mark Williams 13 points, 8 rebounds and 2 assists, Thor 12 points and 3 rebounds, Richards 10 points and 11 rebounds, McGoverns 3 points and 3 rebounds