NBA Friday: Hawks hold on against Pacers, Spurs dust Mavericks in Dallas

On national television, the Mavericks were roasted, burnt and then, for an entire second half of garbage time, cooked as a slow simmer that let everyone revel in the humiliation of an absolutely brutal loss. The Spurs are brutal and devastating, no doubt, dominating plenty of opponents this season, but Dallas is a fellow Western Conference playoff team. Performances like this shouldn’t happen.

Matthews has been one of the major culprits to Dallas’ struggles. Given the Achilles tendon he ruptured last March, it’s incredible that he leads Dallas in minutes played. Still, he only averaged 11 points in January on 38-percent field goal shooting and 30 percent from behind the line, with his numbers in February falling even farther. Matthews won’t blame dead legs, but you can’t help but wonder if the sheer volume of an NBA schedule might be wearing on him. His defense has noticeably slipped, too, and the All-Star break might be exactly what he needs.

Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg after the game said Butler will have an MRI exam on Saturday in Minneapolis, with initial tests by doctors in Denver indicating only a sprain with his knee ligaments intact, per Nick Friedell of ESPN Chicago.

Butler stayed in the game only to shoot his two free throws while clearly being in pain before leaving the floor on a wheelchair. Here’s the play on which he was injured, with almost all of his weight landing on his leg at an awkward angle.

Salah Mejri is only a rookie in the NBA but he’s already making a name for himself. Not only is he carving out a spot for himself on the Mavericks’ roster, but he’s calling people out, apparently.

On Friday against the San Antonio Spurs, Mejri scored and stared down Tim Duncan and Gregg Popovich, saying a few words to them in the process. There was only one problem with this attempt to dethrone the best team in Texas: THE MAVERICKS WERE DOWN BY 20. Duncan and Coach Pop didn’t take the confrontation too seriously. All Popovich could do is jokingly ask, “What did I do?”

It’s a true buzzer beater, too, with the shot going in just after the clock lit up. The Celtics stay even with the Hawks tied for the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference thanks to this win.

It looks like Kryie Irving and Tristan Thompson are forgoing a traditional basketball defense and are instead taking a page from pro wrestling with the way they lock arms and plow through the Celtics.

We can definitely see Kyrie and Tristan competing for the tag titles against the New Day. They already have matching uniforms and a signature move, after all. This defense will probably slow them down, so it’s best not to use this very unique technique against teams like the Golden State Warriors.

How in the world did Paul George make this the way he did? When you see a desperation shot like that, you hope for the player to make the shot but it never actually happens. It’s as though your brain protects you from disappointment.

But George absolutely shot in the most precise way possible, even if he wasn’t looking at the rim. Doing this in the final minute of regulation makes this shot that much more impressive. There’s no disappointment in this. Just awe.

Thomas ran into Love’s left knee and Love immediately went down. After staying down for several minutes, Love limped to the bench and then to the locker room, although he wasn’t able to put weight on the leg, per Yahoo’s Chris Mannix. He needed assistance as he went back into the tunnel.

Here’s video of the play where Love was injured.

Many Al Horford plays begin with an inconspicuous pump fake, like this one. It’s one of his most common moves, set up by an excellent mid-range shot. But it’s only so often that Horford will rear back and unleash a posterizing slam dunk on some unsuspecting defender like this.

Dayum. We see you, Horford. And Solomon Hill? Just don’t be a hero.

Dwyane Wade is turning back the clock with the powerhouse slam in transition. It’s fitting given that the Miami Heat are rocking the throwbacks. It looks like he’s too fast for his own good as he speeds by two Hornets defenders in the paint for the one-handed dunk.

To top it off, it looked like he was about to fall pretty badly, but he somehow maintained his composure by barely landing with one foot. That’s the Wade we remember!