The Dallas Mavericks defeated the Charlotte Hornets 116-100 on Saturday with Seth Curry dazzling in front of his home crowd 26 points. Coming off the bench, Curry shot 10-for-14 from the field and nailed six of his eight 3-point tries.
Willie Cauley-Stein scored 15 points and Tim Hardaway Jr. made 14 points, while Dorian Finney-Smith and Jalen Brunson scored 13 points each. Boban Marjanovic chipped in with 11 points.
Fifth straight loss for the Hornets
Charlotte suffered its fifth consecutive loss. Devonte' Graham's 26 points led the Hornets, while Miles Bridges had 20 points, Malik Monk pumped in 19 points and Terry Rozier had 15. Graham, who also had 10 assists, shot 10-for-20 from the field, but just 3-for-10 on 3-pointers.
Curry, the younger brother of Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry, was in his second game in as many nights after missing the two previous games with a sore knee. He posted 20 points in Friday night's one-point loss at Washington. The Mavericks improved to 3-3 in games without scoring leader Luka Doncic, who has been out with an ankle injury. Charlotte has lost 13 of 14 games since a 123-120 overtime victory Jan. 4 at Dallas.
Shooting differences decide the outcome
Dallas built a 31-10 lead by the end of the first quarter. It was 94-65 entering the fourth quarter. The Mavericks finished 11-for-11 on free throws. Seven Dallas players made at least one of the team's 17 successful 3-point shots. Charlotte made 11 of 36 shots from 3-point range. The teams were nearly equal in turnover, 12 for Dallas and 11 for Charlotte, so the shooting differences made the biggest impact.
This was the Hornets' only home game during a five-game stretch and they didn't give themselves much of a chance from the get-go. The Hornets, who hadn't played since Tuesday night, might have been reeling from news earlier in the day that veterans Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Marvin Williams had been waived.
(With inputs from agencies)
