Australians Dyson Daniels and Jock Landale have helped their rising Atlanta Hawks to an NBA-leading 11th straight win.
Regular starter Daniels racked up an impressive 19 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals as the Hawks crushed the floundering Dallas Mavericks 135-120 in Dallas on Wednesday night to improve their season record to 38-31.
Boomers centre Landale did his bit with five points and five assists off the bench as CJ McCollum led the way with 24 points, as All-Star Jalen Johnson added 17 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists.
It's the first time Atlanta have won 11 games in a row since winning their franchise-record 19 straight in 2014-2015.
While they have played some of the teams in the NBA's bottom half, the closest game in this run has been nine points and the streak has catapulted them to eighth in the Eastern Conference standings, only a small margin off fifth place.
Mid-season arrival McCollum was inserted in the starting lineup on February 22, the same night the winning streak started and has been a regular scorer since his trade from Washington.
While Atlanta have been rising, the Mavericks have been sinking in the West. They have now lost 11 of their last 13 games and 21 of their last 25.
In Chicago, Josh Giddey's hot streak cooled dramatically as he was held to just nine points (on 4-13 shooting), three assists and no rebounds in a 139-109 shellacking by the Toronto Raptors.
The Australian star had been on a tear, posting five triple-doubles while averaging 19 points, 12 assists and 11.7 rebounds over his previous seven games.
The Bulls' season record slipped to 28-41 as they sit a lowly 12th in the East.
At the other end of the standings, defending champions and NBA leaders Oklahoma City Thunder extended their winning streak to 10 games as they routed the Brooklyn Nets 121-92 in New York.
Thunder All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored his 20 points in the first three quarters - his NBA record 130th straight game with 20-plus points despite not attempting a three-pointer for the first time since February 10, 2024.
Jared McCain surpassed Gilgeous-Alexander by scoring a season-high 26 off the bench for the visitors who improved to 55-14.
In Houston, the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Rockets 124-116 as Luka Doncic flirted with a 40-point triple-double and LeBron James added 30 points while missing only one shot.
After James fuelled a 13-4 start to the fourth quarter with a pair of baskets and two assists, Doncic took over to close out a sweep of the two-game set that included an eight-point victory Monday.
Third-place Los Angeles (44-25) won their seventh in a row, while fifth-place Houston (41-27) fell one game behind fourth-place Minnesota (43-27) in the Western Conference.
with agencies
