Earl K. Sneed, Mavs.com
Dallas Mavericks (37-21) at Atlanta Hawks (36-20)
The Dallas Mavericks are sky high right now, and they have no plans of coming down any time soon.
Riding a five-game winning streak and coming off of a 101-96 home win over the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers, the Mavericks are certainly on Cloud Nine. The new-look Mavs are tied with the Milwaukee Bucks for the NBA's longest current winning streak, giving the Dallas squad all of the confidence in the world.
"We can match up with pretty much anybody. We've still got some work to do. We'll just keep on working," forward Dirk Nowitzki said.
The work continues against the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night. If the playoffs began today, the two squads would each be in the four spot in their respective conferences.
But the Mavericks have shown an ability to take down playoff-contending teams during their recent stretch, defeating the likes of Phoenix, Orlando, Miami, and most recently L.A.
"We're a veteran ball club and we understand what it takes to win," point guard Jason Kidd said after the win over the Lakers. "We've been playing some really good basketball of late and we wanted to keep it going."
The Mavericks also hope that the equation of Kidd plus Nowitzki plus Jason Terry keeps equalling wins.
(Photo by Barry Gossage/NBAE via Getty Images)
Kidd is coming off of his 18th double-double of the season, tallying 14 points and dishing out 13 assists against the Lakers. With swingman Caron Butler out of the lineup due to a bad reaction from medication, Kidd found his go-to scorers frequently. Nowitzki's game-high 31 points and Terry's 30 paced the Mavericks to the win. It was the first time two Maverick players scored 30-plus points in a game since March 7, 2009 against Washington, when Nowitzki went for 34 and Terry provided 33.
"Dirk and JET (Terry) delivered big time with 30-point nights. And that's what you need, especially when you are down a guy like Butler," Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said of the two sharpshooters.
"You know us. In close ball games, we're going to do what he have to do and get the ball in the right people's hands," Terry added.
While big games have become the norm for Nowitzki, Terry has struggled at times while being shifted in and out of the starting unit. Back in the sixth man role that he thrived in last season, Terry broke out in a big way en route to connecting on 10-of-20 shots.
"I wasn't necessarily in a zone, but I got into a good rhythm. Coming out and being aggressive early is the key for me," Terry said.
While Terry will once again look to be aggressive against the Hawks, his former team, the Mavs expect for Butler to make a return to the lineup. The two-time All-Star went through the team's morning shootaround and is listed as a game-time decision.
"(Butler) is one of the best players," Carlisle said. "It was disappointing (not to have him against L.A.) but he's going to be okay. The hope is that he's going to be okay for Friday."
But while Butler was unable to cash in off of Kidd's legendary court vision in the Mavs' last game, his teammate Brendan Haywood continued to reap the benefits. Haywood has stepped up with center Erick Dampier (dislocated right middle finger) sidelined. One of the newest Mavs, and a 7-footer having a career year, Haywood has been a "walking double-double" since joining the team via a Feb. 13 trade with Washington."(Haywood) is big and long. He's been giving us great minutes. It's a different dynamic, because I don't think he's ever played with a pass-first guard like Jason (Kidd). He's getting a few more opportunities per minute than he had in Washington, probably. That provides motivation for him to run. It energizes him defensively. He's been terrific. We're going to need him to play like this every night," the coach said.
Now Haywood and the Mavericks try to run their win streak to six, while attempting to avenge an 80-75 home loss to the Hawks on Dec. 5. The Mavericks-Hawks matchup will air nationally on ESPN and locally on Fox Sports Southwest at 6 p.m. CT.
"We want to put on a good show," Terry said of playing his old squad.
The Mavericks return home and play host to the New Orleans Hornets on Sunday night, with the game airing nationally on ESPN and locally on KTXA 21 and KTXA HD at 8:30 p.m. CT. Tickets are still available and can be purchased by calling (214) 747-MAVS. The season series is tied 1-1.
For up to the minute news on the Dallas Mavericks, visit Mavs.com. Follow Earl K. Sneed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/EarlKSneed.
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