Hornets hold off Mavs
It was as if Dwight Howard didn’t even have a game off.
Howard had 23 rebounds and 18 points to cap an eventful four days and the Charlotte Hornets held off the Dallas Mavericks 10298 on Saturday night for their third straight victory.
Howard had a career-high 30 rebounds and scored 32 points against Brooklyn on Wednesday night, then served a one-game suspension for his 16th technical foul of the season as Charlotte beat Memphis 140-79 on Thursday night.
That’s 50 points and 53 rebounds in Howard’s last two games.
“I was just trying to get as many rebounds as I can,” he said. “Dominate the paint, set some screens for Kemba (Walker) and the rest of the guys to open up everything else in the paint.”
Charlotte led by as many as 15 points, but Dallas cut it to 87-86 on two of Yogi Ferrell’s 11 fourth-quarter points.
“He’s getting better all the time,” Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. “His level of confidence gets higher and higher.”
The Mavericks had a chance to win after rebounding a miss by Charlotte’s Jeremy Lamb, but Walker stole the ball from Dennis Smith Jr. and Dallas had to foul Marvin Williams with five seconds left. He made both free throws.
“At that particular time, I had to get on the floor and fight for the basketball,” Walker said. “I was able to poke it loose.”
Smith answered two versions of the same question the same way.
“I turned it over. I’ve got to be better in those situations.” Dallas has lost five games in a row.
Walker scored 24 points, and Smith led the Mavericks with 21.