Hawks at Mavericks Live Notebook

What could have been a captivating duel between the perpetually linked Trae Young and Luka Doncčić will instead be a meeting of two NBA teams, each hampered by multiple injuries. Both the Hawks and Mavericks will be remarkably shorthanded on Saturday night as they battle in Dallas, and each team will ask role players to assume larger mantles than usual.

Neither Dončić (sprained ankle) nor Kristaps Porzingis (injury management) will play for the Mavs, while De'Andre Hunter (sprained ankle), DeAndre' Bembry (hand neuritis), Alex Len (strained hip flexor), Bruno Fernando (calf strain), or Jabari Parker (shoulder impingement) will all be out for the Hawks.

Down five rotation players, Atlanta will start Young, Kevin Huerter, Cam Reddish, John Collins, and Damian Jones. Dallas will counter with Jalen Brunson, Tim Hardaway Jr., Dorian Finney-Smith, Maxi Kleber, and Willie Cauley-Stein.

Hawks will start Trae Young, Kevin Huerter, Cam Reddish, John Collins and Damian Jones vs. Dallas.
— Sarah K. Spencer (@sarah_k_spence) February 2, 2020

The inclusion of both Collins and Jones in the starting five is interesting given the Mavericks' relative lack of physicality inside, though Hunter's unavailability leaves the Hawks without many good replacements. Expect a fairly heavy stagger of Collins and Jones; Carter could even see time at center for brief stretches again.

Follow along for insights and observations from tonight's game.

First Quarter

Hawks jump out to early lead

The Hawks opened the game with a 12-3 spurt, but with the exception of an open pull-up 3 by Kevin Huerter, most of their shots have been well-contested. Dallas has stayed in front of the ball and limited Trae Young's passing options in the pick-and-roll; the Hawks have simply made tough shots.

The Mavericks, meanwhile, have botched a few easy looks around the rim but generated mostly quality looks from the field. Credit the Hawks for contesting Dallas' first attempts well, but they have probably been a touch lucky on that end of the floor.

What happens when the two teams even out will be worth watching. Will their respective shot qualities remain the same? Will one side continue an unsustainably hot or cold shooting night? Stay tuned.

Mavericks respond, cut Atlanta lead to two

Sure enough, the Mavericks have begun to hit shots and closed the Hawks' lead to 15-13. Most of their offense has come on second chances, an area that has given Atlanta trouble before. Dallas has three offensive rebounds and six second-chance points thus far, and the difference between Atlanta's first and second efforts on defense right now is noticeable.

Reddish exits with bloody nose

Cam Reddish took an elbow from Dorian Finney-Smith while defending a drive and immediately went to the locker room with two members of the training staff. We don't yet know how severe the injury is, but if Reddish is unable to return, the Hawks will have only nine available players and one above-average wing defender.

Reddish has played well on defense tonight, and while Luka Dončić is there to spearhead their attack, the Mavericks still have multiple wings capable of driving and shooting. Reddish has already devoured two of Tim Hardaway's shots and been an effective deterrent of drives tonight.

Updates to follow.

Second Quarter

Young fools Brunson, spots Jones

Trae Young just threw one of his best passes of the season, and somehow made it look routine. After drawing two defenders coming off the pick-and-roll at the top of the key, Young pulled help defender Jalen Brunson out of the paint by looking at Kevin Huerter on the right wing, then wrapped a no-look pass around both on-ball defenders to Damian Jones for an uncontested dunk.

These types of passes separate Young from even great passers around the NBA. He actively creates advantages for his team by manipulating the defense, and always seems to know how an opponent will react to his feints. He always prioritizes the rim, looking for roll men and cutters inside above all else, but has the ability to spot shooters if help defenders don't bite on his ball fakes and look-offs.

It's a joy to watch him pass the ball, and a boon for Atlanta that he does it so well.

Reddish will not return

Cam Reddish will not return to tonight's game with a "face contusion", the Hawks announced. He is entering concussion protocol to determine other possible effects of the elbow he took (incidentally) from Finney-Smith earlier in the game.

That leaves the Hawks with just nine active players tonight. Young, Collins, Kevin Huerter, and likely Vince Carter will be pressed into extremely heavy duty over the final 28 minutes of the game. While Dallas is without its two best players, it still has plenty depth to compete and play a deep rotation; Atlanta is in the opposite situation. The battle between those opposing strengths will be fascinating to watch.

Meanwhile, the Hawks can't cool Jalen Brunson, who now has 19 points on 9-of-14 shooting. Mavericks lead 57-41.

Anyone but Young

With so few available Hawks tonight, the Mavericks have been trapping Young hard on every ball screen, forcing his teammates to beat them. That has so far been an effective strategy. The Hawks are scoring just a point per possession on the game, and Young has only seven points on 3-of-11 shooting and 0-for-4 from deep.

While Kevin Huerter and John Collins' 27 combined points have kept Atlanta within striking distance, Young's inability to get involved has kept the Hawks quiet as a team, and the Mavs have used hot shooting to stretch their lead to 13 at halftime.

Some more halftime numbers:

Dallas scored 1.24 points per possession and grabbed eight offensive rebounds in the first half, which has complemented a 9-for-20 showing from 3-point range.
Staying true to form, the Mavs have only taken eight shots at the rim (and made six), but the Hawks haven't been able to limit Dallas' real priority: the 3-point line.
Both sides took excellent care of the ball in the first half, committing only three turnovers each (both teams also had 11 assists). Two of Atlanta's giveaways have come from Young, which the Hawks can live with given how often he handles the ball and sets up teammates. It's the rest of the team that can't afford to cough the ball up, and only Collins has done so thus far.

Third Quarter

Teague starts second half

The Hawks are down to two playable wings on the roster (Kevin Huerter, and Treveon Graham), so Lloyd Pierce goes with Jeff Teague in the injured Cam Reddish's place to begin the second half. That may be a slightly more tenable strategy against Dallas, who plays a deep guard rotation, than against most teams, but this will still compromise the Hawks' defense on the wing as Huerter and Teague are forced to handle bigger players.

At this point, though, Atlanta is almost out of options.

Brunson continues offense tear

The Hawks have been unable to contain Jalen Brunson's strong, patient play on offense tonight, and the point guard has gotten virtually wherever he's wanted against defenders too frail to slow him. He has 21 points on 10-of-17 shooting, with six assists and no turnovers to boot.

Few backup point guards are as solid as Brunson, who gives Dallas consistent, reliable production and has capably assumed a larger playmaking role in the games Dončić hasn't played this year. An outstanding three-year college player, Brunson has played like a veteran since the moment he stepped on an NBA court and has enough strength and tricks in his bag to overcome a lack of size.

Tonight, he has bullied his way to the basket, stopped and popped jumpers off the bounce, and set up teammates when the Hawks collapse on his drives. He affords his team a certain assurance, as a starter or a backup, that a possession is never too far out of control so long as Brunson is on the court.

"It's been a struggle in this third quarter, for sure."

Dominique Wilkins summed up Atlanta's third quarter well on the broadcast as Atlanta went down 25 to close out the frame. The Hawks simply haven't had the energy they did Thursday night against the Sixers, and once they fell behind early, they simply didn't have the stamina or the bodies to make any sort of comeback effort.

The Mavs increased their scoring efficiency to over 1.31 points per possessions in that third quarter while Atlanta continued to sputter. While the Hawks did a better job on the defensive glass, that was partly due to a scarcity of available offensive rebounds for the scorching Mavericks. Atlanta went scoreless over the final three minutes of the quarter, which was time enough for Dallas to put the game effectively out of reach.

To make matters worse, Trae Young left the game late in the third with a sprained ankle, which gives the Hawks only eight players with which to close out the game.

Fourth Quarter

Collins checks out with 26

It didn't much matter once the Mavs extended their lead beyond 20 points, but John Collins played hard for each of the 30 minutes he played tonight. Even without Young in the game to set up easy buckets, he big man attacked the basket aggressively and was persistent on the glass. He'll finish with 26 points and nine boards on 11-of-20 shooting, having provided one of the few encouraging flashes for the Hawks tonight.

Update: Collins has checked back in, along with Kevin Huerter, with under six minutes to play in a 19-point game. I understand Atlanta is shorthanded, but this is a situation where the reserves should probably just soak up these final few minutes rather than the starters staying in and risking injury or fatigue. Atlanta plays Boston on Monday; punt this one and hope the team has more energy in the next game.