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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
ATLANTA (AP) -- Michael Finley was disgusted with the Dallas
Mavericks' poor effort in the first half.
|  | | Mavericks forward Gary Trent is fouled by Hawks center Dikembe Mutombo in the first half Monday. |
So the All-Star forward gave his teammates a piece of his mind
at halftime.
"He's our leader, our captain," Howard Eisley said. "He
ripped into us pretty good. What can I say? It worked."
Eisley and Dirk Nowitzki each scored 22 points as Dallas stormed
back from a 19-point deficit to beat the Atlanta Hawks 91-81 on
Monday night.
Nowitzki scored 12 third-quarter points on 6-for-6 shooting to
lead the Mavericks to their third straight victory and seventh in
nine games.
"Mike took over," Nowitzki said. "He told us we needed to
start playing hard and defending. We knew we couldn't leave this
building with a loss."
Eisley gave Dallas the lead for good with a 3-pointer that made
it 68-66 with 31.6 seconds left in the third quarter.
Dallas trailed by as many as 19 with 2:22 left in the second
quarter after Dikembe Mutombo blocked Shawn Bradley's attempted
dunk and Brevin Knight hit a pair of free throws and a 16-foot
jumper to make it 48-29.
"We didn't come with the intensity that we needed," said
Finley, who scored 15 points. "You can take a team like them for
granted. They're a good, quality team, but not as good as us."
Jason Terry led the Hawks with 21 points as Atlanta lost its
fourth straight to the Mavericks. The Hawks have dropped three
straight overall and nine of 11. Dikembe Mutombo had 21 rebounds.
Atlanta blew a 10-point lead Saturday and lost 96-84 at Orlando.
"It's tough," Terry said. "I've never been in a situation
like this. We're a well-conditioned team. We just don't execute in
the half-court. It's very discouraging. This is getting to be a
habit, and we know how hard it was to break the habit (last
month)."
Dallas played its second straight game without point guard Steve
Nash, who is day-to-day with a sore left hamstring. Acting coach
Donn Nelson again moved Eisley from shooting guard to point guard,
Finley from forward to shooting guard and started Gary Trent at
forward.
"These guys are putting more gray hairs on my head," Nelson
said. "We're capable of losing to any team in the league, and
we're capable of beating any team in the league. We cannot afford
to bring our 'B' or 'C' game, otherwise we'll go through halves like
that. (In) the second half, we decided to play some defense and
guard people."
Game notes
Nash is unlikely to play when Dallas visits the New York
Knicks on Wednesday night. ... Atlanta was without forward Lorenzen
Wright, who had the flu. Alan Henderson, starting his first game
since Dec. 15, took his place but failed to score after getting 12
points in the first half. ... The Mavericks improved to 16-5
against the Eastern Conference. ... Hawks guard Matt Maloney, activated
from the injured list before the game, did not play.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Dallas Clubhouse
Atlanta Clubhouse
RECAPS
Philadelphia 99
Denver 80
Toronto 110
Boston 98
Dallas 91
Atlanta 81
Houston 100
New York 86
San Antonio 109
Golden State 85
Seattle 95
Vancouver 82
LA Clippers 102
Chicago 82
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