Hawks Drop 246 on Dallas in Preseason Finale Shootout as DarkHorse Under Gets Torched

The Hawks and Mavericks decided preseason finales were for scoreboard operators to earn overtime, combining for 246 points in a 135-111 Atlanta blowout that made our under 233.5 look foolish from tipoff. So much for rest management and camp bodies grinding through low-efficiency possessions.

DarkHorse's logic was sound on paper—both teams had been systematically sitting rotation pieces, and conventional wisdom says preseason finales are glorified scrimmages where nobody breaks a sweat. Except someone forgot to tell these rosters they were supposed to sleepwalk through this one. Instead of the plodding, turnover-laden mess we expected, both sides came out firing, and Atlanta in particular looked like they'd been saving up offensive firepower specifically to embarrass this number.

The 135 points from the Hawks alone nearly cleared our total. Dallas contributed a respectable 111 despite presumably still managing minutes for Irving, Flagg, and Lively. Whether the stars played extended run or the deep bench suddenly discovered shooting touch, it doesn't matter—the result was a pace-and-space clinic that went over by 12.5 points.

Preseason logic failed us here. Sometimes teams just decide to light it up regardless of context, and tonight was one of those nights. Tough miss, but we'll take our lumps and move on to games that count.