Article originally titled “Mavs edge Hornets”
To paraphrase a line from the great rock band The Who, the kids were all right on Sunday night.
The Mavericks needed a jolt and it came from youngsters Jaden Hardy and Dereck Lively II, who provided a spark late in the third quarter and early in the fourth as the Mavericks ran down the Charlotte Hornets for a 124-118 victory at American Airlines Center.
Oh, the old man, 24-year-old Luka Dončić wasn’t bad, either. And neither was the really old man, 31-year-old Kyrie Irving.
But this night was dedicated to Lively and Hardy, the two youngest Mavs at 21 and 19, respective. Both had a big role in getting the Mavericks off the mat after they trailed most of the way. Lively had a double-double with 15 points and 14 rebounds while Hardy had 14 points in 15 minutes off the bench.
They helped get the Mavericks running, too, as they had 74 points in the second half.
“I’m going to say and I’m going to continually say it for the rest of the season – Jaden, Lively and Josh Green, those three guys, are going to be huge for us,” said Grant Williams, who was pretty big himself with four three-pointers on five tries and 18 points. “They got to continue to keep taking strides every day, making the right read, continuing with the energy they play with.
“They inspire us. They do a phenomenal job being prepared no matter what role they receive. There’s games when Josh is going to play 30 minutes. There are games when Jaden may play five minutes but the next game may be asked to play 34. Their attitude, their approach is going to be the true mark of this team.”
And Williams speaks from experience.
“I always want to say thank you to those guys because I’ve been in that role and I know how difficult it can be,” he said. “And those guys come up with great energy every single day and they make sure their ultimate goal is winning and they’re going to really benefit from that down the line.”
The exuberance of Lively and Hardy helped energize everybody else. Luka finished with 23 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists. Irving had 18 points and 10 assists.
“In pregame, we talked about it, and I thought the message the guys heard before the game, they carried it out,” coach Jason Kidd said of the pace of the game, which improved as it went along. “We missed shots. It happens. The win, it was an ugly win, but it goes into (the win column).
“This group is growing in front of our eyes. Struggles offensively, but they didn’t give in. In the second half, they could have easily folded and started thinking about Orlando. Give the group in that locker room a lot of credit.”
The Mavericks hopped their plane to Orlando for Monday’s visit against the Magic, their first back-to-back set this season.
The Mavericks were the chasers pretty much all night against the Hornets until Tim Hardaway Jr.’s three pointer with 9:15 left put them in front 94-92.
Until then, they had been searching for sparks and the sizzle started with Hardy and Lively.
It was Lively that blocked JT Thor on a dunk try that triggered a break and set up Hardy’s two free throws, widening the lead to 96-92.
Before that, Hardy had buried a couple of key three-pointers and Lively was making plays at both ends.
“Whenever I hear my name, I’m ready to go,” Hardy said. “I’m just trying once I get out there to bring that energy and that spark to the team and get us going. I feel like that’s what I did tonight.”
Said Lively, who had his second double-double of the season: “Just doing the dirty work, cleaning up offensive rebounds, making sure I’m getting defensive rebounds, staying open and making sure I have my hands ready. I’m thankful for my teammates finding me.”
That would be on an assortment of lobs and slip passes in the paint that helped Lively make seven of nine shot attempts.
Meanwhile, LaMelo Ball was putting on a show. He mostly did it with his passing, but he canned three three-pointers in the fourth quarter to keep the Hornets within range. Ball finished with a triple-double: 30 points, 13 assists and 10 boards.
The Mavericks still were only up 112-109 with 2:45 to play, But Grant Williams, who had a handful of big buckets late, hit a corner three-pointer, which Ball answered.
Kyrie Irving missed a drive, but Lively was there to clean it up and make it 117-112, Mavericks and when Charlotte missed, the Mavericks iced it when Luka hit two free throws with 1:08 left.
At least, it looked like it was iced. But things got interesting again when LaMelo made a nifty reverse layup, Tim Hardaway Jr. missed a dunk try and Gordon Hayward got loose for a layup to make it 119-116.
The Mavericks were called for a shot-clock violation with 8.4 seconds left.
The Hornets set up a play with a chance to tie, but never got a chance to run it as they couldn’t get the ball inbounded in five seconds.
The Mavericks made their free throws to end it.
The Hornets were shorthanded after high-scoring guard Terry Rozier suffered a left groin strain Saturday at Indiana.
In that game, Charlotte pulled out a 125-124 victory after opening this three-game trip with a stinker in Houston. Their only visit to Dallas this season would decide whether this would be a winning or losing trip.