After the 51-point blowout at the LA Clippers, the Dallas Mavericks are back down to earth. In the first home game of the season there was a clear 99: 118 defeat against the Charlotte Hornets, in which number 3 pick LaMelo Ball was finally able to convince.
Dallas Mavericks (1-3) – Charlotte Hornets (2-2) 99:118
Ball scored 22 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists from the bench in 29 minutes, while the brother of Pelicans guard Lonzo converted four of his five threes and was out of the field at 7/10. Terry Rozier (18) and Miles Bridges (20, 16 rebounds), another reservist, were also convincing for Charlotte.
The Mavs, on the other hand, had a used day, Luka Doncic only scored 12 points (4/10 FG, 0/5 triple) and 5 assists. The best scorer was Tim Hardaway Jr. with 18 points, Maxi Kleber contributed 12 points (4/5 threes) and 6 rebounds.
The Würzburger achieved all of these 12 points in the first quarter, which was a new personal record for the German international. The Mavs were still within striking distance after 12 minutes, but the hosts, who presented their new throwback court with the old cowboy logo for the first time, did not find an answer for the reservists Ball and Bridges.
Charlotte led at break with 68:57, although Gordon Hayward had only scored one hit after 11 attempts. From Mavs’ point of view, it got bitter after the change. The guests from Queen City won the third section with 30:12 and rang in garbage time so early. Rozier scored 10 points, the Hornets hit five of their ten threes, while Dallas stayed completely cold (4/24 FG, 1/15 threesome).
So the thing was eaten pretty quickly. There was still excitement in the final section when James Johnson clashed with Hornets forward Cody Martin. Both players were then ejected. Johnson had already picked up a technical foul in the first quarter, although he was not even on the field by then.
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