Young, Hawks open with rout of Doncic, Mavericks
Hawks 113, Mavericks 87: Cam Reddish scored 20 points, Trae Young added 19 and host Atlanta began a season of high expectations with a rout of Luka Doncic and Dallas on Thursday night, ruining the debut of Mavericks coach Jason Kidd.
Coming off a surprising run to the Eastern Conference final, the Hawks took control of the game with a dominant third quarter, stretching a 51-44 halftime lead to 86-64 heading to the fourth.
After a sluggish start, Young scored 12 points and dished out nine assists in the decisive period, drawing chants of “MVP! MVP!” from the home crowd in the very first game.
Reddish led a stellar effort from the deep Hawks bench, which contributed 44 points.
The Mavericks were thoroughly miserable in their first game under Kidd, who had not been a head coach since he was fired in Milwaukee during the 2017-18 season.
A member of the NBA’s 75th anniversary team, Kidd took over in Dallas after longtime coach Rick Carlisle stepped
down on the heels of a first-round playoff loss last season.
It was only just one game, but it looks like the Mavericks will have plenty of work to do if they want to take the next
step behind their dynamic young star.
Doncic was held to 18 points on 6-of-17 shooting, to go along with 11 rebounds and seven assists.
He didn’t get much help from anyone except Jalen Brunson, who scored 17 off the bench.
The Mavericks shot a dismal 32.6% (31 of 93) from the field.
In the unending comparison between Young and Doncic, who were traded for each other during the 2018 draft, the Atlanta point guard was the clear winner in this one.
Heat 137, Bucks 95: Tyler Herro scored 27 points in 24 minutes off the bench, Jimmy Butler added 21 and Miami opened its season with an easy victory over visiting NBA champion Milwaukee.
Bam Adebayo had 20 points and 13 rebounds for the Heat, who set team records for opening night scoring and opening night margin of victory.
It was nearly the biggest margin of victory in any game – falling just short of a 43-point win over the Los Angeles Clippers in 1994.
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 15 points and Grayson Allen added 14 for Milwaukee. Olympic gold medalist Khris Middleton had 10 points on 4-for-14 shooting for the Bucks, who were without, among others, Jrue Holiday (right heel), Brook Lopez (back) and Bobby Portis (left hamstring).