Jefferson’s 31 points leads Hornets over Mavs
Charlotte Hornets guard Kemba Walker (15) goes up for a shot as Dallas Mavericks’ Deron Williams (8) and Jeremy Lamb, rear, defend duirng the first half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, Nov. 5, 2015, in Dallas. AP
DALLAS, Texas—Al Jefferson scored a season-high 31 points on 15-of-18 shooting and Marvin Williams added 17 points and 12 rebounds as the Charlotte Hornets pulled away in the third quarter and beat the Dallas Mavericks 108-94 on Thursday night.
Deron Williams led the Mavericks with 15 points, while Dirk Nowitzki, Zaza Pachulia and Dwight Powell added 14 points each.
The victory was the first in Dallas following 11 defeats for the franchise that began as the Charlotte Bobcats in 2004-05. The Mavericks had run off 14 straight home wins over Charlotte’s two NBA teams since the original Hornets won at Reunion Arena in January 1998.
Charlotte led 54-53 at halftime thanks in great measure to a 30-20 advantage on points in the paint. The Hornets outscored the Mavericks 24-14 in the third quarter, shooting 50 percent while Dallas hit 22.7 percent and missed on all eight of its 3-point attempts.
Jefferson, who had nine rebounds, hit five of six shots in the first quarter to help Charlotte to a 27-23 lead.
Dallas sought to use Chandler Parsons, who is limited to about 15 minutes a game following knee surgery last May, as a second-half spark after playing him only during the first half of his first two appearances this season. Parsons played 14 minutes in the second half and scored two points on 1-for-5 shooting, missing his three 3-point tries.
The Hornets went into the game leading the league averaging 11.5 3-pointers made per game after hitting 14 of 23 in Tuesday night’s 130-105 win over Chicago. They hit 6 of 27 against Dallas.
Earlier Thursday, the Mavericks and coach Rick Carlisle agreed to a five-year, $35 million contract extension that runs through the 2021-22 season.
During the first quarter, Nowitzki became the 16th player in NBA history to pass the 45,000 mark in career regular-season minutes.
The Hornets’ Kemba Walker took sole possession of fourth place in all-time 3-pointers for Charlotte’s NBA franchises at 377. He went into game tied with current Mavericks guard Raymond Felton.
