Davis drills game-winner as Mavs clip Hawks, 120-118

Anthony Davis drained a game-winning 10-foot jumper Wednesday night to beat the Atlanta Hawks on a play that was so routine to him, he could probably do it with one hand tied behind his back.

As it was, the gut-check jumper by Davis – while he was leaning to his left and heavily guarded – came with just 3.4 seconds left, snapped a tie and gave the Mavs a 120-118 victory over the Hawks before a boisterous crowd at American Airlines Center. It also was Davis’ way of reminding folks that, as a 10-time All-Star, hitting pressure-packed game-winning shots is a huge part of his impressive resume.

“I’ve been shooting that shot since I was playing in New Orleans, so it’s a shot that I’m very comfortable and familiar with,” Davis said. “Coach (Jason) Kidd drew up a play for me to have the ball on the left side of the floor, which I like to get to, and the left side was open and I just beat my man and shot a shot that I’ve been shooting for a long time.

“When you work on (that shot) so much it becomes second nature.”

That “second nature” shot by Davis helped give the Mavs some breathing room in terms of hosting one of the NBA’s play-in tournament games. Coupled with Washington’s 116-111 win over Sacramento on Wednesday, the Mavs (38-39) moved a game-and-a-half ahead of the Kings (36-40) for the Western Conference’s No. 9 seed with five games remaining.

In a very dominating performance, Davis had game highs in points (34), rebounds (15) and blocked shots (five) in just 30 minutes. He also played the majority of the game with tape above his right eye after he was inadvertently elbowed by teammate Daniel Gafford as the first-quarter buzzer sounded.

“It’s good to see that he’s starting to get in a rhythm,” said Kidd of Davis, who was 14-of-23 from the field. “Also, just new teammates, his teammates are trying to learn him.

“I thought AD had a lot of great looks. And again, he was assertive from the beginning even when he had to leave to get the stitches.”

The game-winner by Davis came after Klay Thompson rescued the Mavs and knotted the score at 118 with a three-pointer with 41.3 seconds left.

Following a turnover by the Hawks, the Mavs called timeout and Davis ended up being the hero once the final buzzer sounded.

“That was a really incredible shot,” Thompson said of Davis’ game-winner. “People don’t know how hard it is to do — driving left, float, going right.

“But what an incredible performance from Anthony tonight. That was ridiculous. He made it look so easy.”

There still was some work left for the Mavs to do after the critical bucket by Davis. And then he found himself stranded on an island trying to guard Hawks guard Trae Young.

But Davis acquitted himself well and forced Young into attempting a high-arching shot which didn’t come close to finding its intended destination. It ended a time where Young only scored four of his 25 points in the second half.

“I thought again, to go to a zone and then try to take the ball out of (Young’s) hands to make someone else start the offense or take shots, I thought we had a rhythm there where other guys were shooting it for them and we were coming up with the rebound,” Kidd said. “And then the pace going the other way was really good.

“I thought Caleb (Martin) defensively, was incredible tonight. With a minute restrictions (and) being able to get everything on both ends, being able to run the offense and then also being able to guard (was great).”

Kidd also praised the play of center Dereck Lively II, who was playing for the first time after missing 36 games because of a stress fracture in his right ankle suffered Jan. 14. Lively started the game and scored four points, grabbed five rebounds and blocked a shot in 16 minutes.

“His energy for the (16) minutes that he played, he was great,” Kidd said. “(He was) being able to change shots. I look at him as one of our initiators offensively being able to pass. I thought he did a really good job tonight on both ends, especially being out that long for his first game.”

The Mavs had overcome an 11-point deficit and appeared well on their way to cruising to a win when they built a 108-96 lead with 10:15 remaining following a triple by Thompson, an alley-oop pass from Lively to Davis for a dunk, and an alley-oop pass from Thompson to Davis for a dunk.

But the Hawks flew all the way back and assumed a 118-115 lead with 1:46 left after Dyson Daniels fired in a three-pointer and Onyeka Okongwu added a floater in traffic. Then, came the shot from downtown by Thompson.

“It’s good to see the players be able to execute, the fans are into the game and for the ball to bounce our way tonight,” Kidd said. “As much as we want to play fast, we also can’t leave the big guys behind. We got to make sure that they touch the ball.

“I thought in the first half we were taking quick shots in transition instead of kind of just taking the best shot.”

Davis got plenty of help from Thompson (17 points), Spencer Dinwiddie (14 points, 10 assists, two steals), Jaden Hardy (13 points), Max Christie (11 points) and Gafford (11 points, six boards).

After trailing 72-67 at the half, the Mavs got aggressive in the third quarter when they outscored the Hawks, 34-24, and toted a 101-96 lead into the fourth quarter. Then they held on for dear life at the end, thanks to that triple by Thompson and that game-winning basket by Davis.

“That’s who he is,” Dinwiddie said of Davis. “I hope Dallas sees a lot of that for both the city’s sake and his own.

“Any time you’re coming off an injury — whether it’s six weeks or eight weeks, whatever it may be that you missed – you missed time, you’re rusty and obviously he wants to carry this team and he wants to perform. Coming to a new situation off an injury — new play callers, new everything — I feel like sometimes he was thinking versus hooping. He’s one of the best players of all-time, but just hoop, man.”

And since Davis was just hooping against the Hawks, the Mavs, who will play a pair of road games against the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday and Saturday, find themselves in prime position to lock up the No. 9 seed out West, where, if they do so, they’ll host a play-in game on April 16.

“We would like a home (play-in tournament) game, and then we would like to win that and go and play wherever we go,” Thompson said. “We all are very desperate to play in the playoffs.”

X: @DwainPrice