Jeff Teague Scores Season-High 32, Hawks Breeze Past Mavs
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ATLANTA (AP) — The Atlanta Hawks say they're a better team when Jeff Teague is on his game offensively.
Teague couldn't agree more.
"Just be aggressive, play with a lot of energy and play with a lot of speed," he said. "When we do that, we feel like we're a pretty good team."
Teague scored a season-high 32 points, Kyle Korver added 16 points and the Atlanta Hawks beat the Dallas Mavericks 112-97 on Monday night to snap a three-game skid.
Teague went 12 for 15 from the field with a career-high five 3-pointers, and reserve guard Dennis Schroder finished with 14 points. Atlanta entered having lost five of six to drop to fifth place in the Eastern Conference.
Deron Williams, coming off a 27-point performance in Dallas' home win Sunday over Phoenix, left the game early in the second quarter with a bruised hip.
He was limping in the hallway outside the locker room after the game.
"I don't know right now," Williams said. "Hopefully it's not too bad, but right now it hurts and it's too early to tell."
Chandler Parsons had 19 points and 11 rebounds, and Dirk Nowitzki scored 18 points for the Mavericks.
Dallas missed 23 of its first 29 shots before Wesley Matthews' lay-in made it 36-22 midway through the second. The Mavericks pulled within four on Parsons' 3 early in the third, but the lead was back to 15 on Al Horford's layup in the first minute of the fourth.
The biggest concern for Dallas is Williams' injury.
"I don't know anything about a timetable or anything like that," coach Rick Carlisle said. "But I'm concerned."
Atlanta never trailed after Korver hit a 3 to make it 12-9 midway through the first. Thabo Sefolosha hit a pull-up 15-footer late in the quarter to give the Hawks their first double-digit lead.
Teague's point total was the fourth-highest of his career.
"I felt like he was the difference tonight," Horford said. "His aggressive and his energy really put us at a different level when he's able to play like that."
DAMAGE CONTROL
The Hawks haven't lost four or more in a row since dropping six straight last March 21-29. They were swept 4-0 in last year's Eastern Conference finals by Cleveland.
LOVE THE NEW 'DO
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban had some fun at Nowitzki's expense after the NBA's No. 6 career-leading scorer got a new haircut, saying before the game, "All I can tell you is his not making the All-Star team is probably for the best. I have a good understanding of brand value."
TIP-INS
Mavericks: Williams fell hard to the baseline on his right side while driving to the basket midway through the first. He played 1:31 of the second and didn't return, finishing the game scoreless on 0-for-5 shooting. "It doesn't look like we're going to have Deron back any time soon," Nowitzki said. ... Dallas has dropped five straight to Atlanta.
Hawks: Dallas' 15 points were an opponent low for the first quarter this season. ... Atlanta went 14 for 35 beyond the arc. Kent Bazemore was 0 for 7, but Korver and Teague combined to go 9 for 13. ... Reserve C Tiago Splitter missed the game with an injured right hip. A similar injury forced him to miss eight of nine games in late November-early December.
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