Hornets hope to have more fun against Mavericks (Mar 23, 2018)

As far as notching a few historical footnotes, you can't do much better than what the Charlotte Hornets have experienced lately. Their opponent Saturday night, the Dallas Mavericks, can't say the same.

In back-to-back wins over the Brooklyn Nets and Memphis Grizzlies, the Hornets (32-41) witnessed Dwight Howard collect a rare 30-30 game before Kemba Walker became the first player since the advent of the shot clock to score 45 points in as few as 28 minutes.

The Hornets also beat the Grizzlies by 61 points, the largest margin of victory in the NBA in 20 years.

"Two nights in a row it was fun," Charlotte coach Steve Clifford said.

Howard actually missed the game against the Grizzlies because of a one-game suspension for technical fouls. Walker more than picked up the slack, knocking down a team-record 10 3-pointers. He also become the third player in NBA history with at least 10 3s and 10 free throws in the same game.

"I think he's grown in every area, just because of how he is," Clifford said of Walker. "It's not just his skills -- where he's made obviously great strides -- but he's a student of the NBA.

"You spend a lot of time with him. Talk to him. You know, I think he has a great understanding of why teams win, why teams aren't successful.

"He's always been extremely team-oriented, he's a great presence in the locker room. You know because of his work, because of his commitment to the game, to the team. And it's been, I think, just the way you want it to be. It's been every year it gets better and better. Obviously, we're just fortunate to have him here."

The Mavericks, on the other hand, aren't having much fun. Dallas (22-50) has dropped four in a row and locked up its first 50-loss season since 1997-98.

The Mavs were without rookie point guard Dennis Smith Jr. (ankle) in Thursday's 119-112 home loss to the Utah Jazz. His status for Charlotte is uncertain.

Veteran guard J.J. Barea stepped up with 23 points against the Jazz, a fact that wasn't lost on coach Rick Carlisle.

"J.J. is having a great year offensively," Carlisle said. "He's one of the most efficient offensive players in the game this year. That certainly continued (Thursday)."

Carlisle and the Mavs also got their first look at guard Aaron Harrison, a Dallas-area product who signed a 10-day contract before the game against Utah. Harrison, 23, has six points in 20 minutes.

"We just want to see what he can do and if he's a guy that can help us now and possibly in the future," Carlisle said. "We're looking at 2-guards at the moment. He's got nine days left to get some more opportunity. I thought he did some good things.

"He came in (Thursday) morning and tried to learn our offense and defensive concepts. I think he got thrown in against the hottest team in the league with some good defenders, and it's not an easy situation. For the first day, I thought he did fine. We just have to keep building it up."

The Mavs beat the Hornets earlier this season in Charlotte. Dallas leads the all-time series 37-17.