Mavericks vs Pelicans recap: Dallas edge New Orleans, 127-117

The Dallas Mavericks defeated the New Orleans Pelicans home Saturday night, 127-117. Luka Doncic led Dallas with another triple-double, scoring 34, providing 10 assists and grabbing 10 rebounds. Jonas Valanciunas scored 25 goals to beat the Pelicans in the loss.

Christian Wood opened fire for the Mavericks, scoring the first nine points to beat Dallas against a depleted Pelicans squad. Unfortunately, he picked up two early fouls, forcing him to the bench. Dallas kept shooting and built up a double-digit lead as the Pelicans couldn’t find the bottom of the field. New Orleans shot just 6 of 26 from the floor, including 0 of 11 from range in the frame, which helped Dallas maintain a solid lead despite some unusual turnovers. Luka hit a pair of threes to end the quarter and Dallas led 34-15 after 12 minutes of action.

The bench unit continued to score easily although the Pelicans found some semblance of offense in the first half of the quarter. Dallas fans took a long look at rookie Jaden Hardy, who played significant minutes with the bench unit and Luka Doncic. Hardy drove into the paint and connected on a three, but also fouled Naji Marshall on a three-point attempt. The Mavericks managed to maintain a double-digit cushion for much of the quarter and carried a 63-46 lead into the half.

The Mavericks came out in the third a bit too blurry. They took a good look at the basket but failed to convert and stopped coming back in defense. The Pelicans slowly cut the lead to 11 points, forcing a timeout in Dallas with about five minutes left in the quarter. The Mavericks refocused and returned to their bread-and-butter connection between Wood and Doncic and closed the quarter with a strong scoring push. Dallas entered the final period with a 97-81 lead.

Dallas looked set to run away with things, building an 18-point lead with 10:25 left. But fouls, turnovers and overall sloppy play resulted in the Pelicans cut that led to 12 and forced Jason Kidd to call a timeout. Tim Hardaway Jr. nailed some huge threes to break up the game and the Mavericks stayed on offense the rest of the game. The Pelicans would make a late run to close the gap after Dallas pulled the starters, but it wasn’t enough. Dallas wins its 23rd game of the year, beating the Pelicans 127-117.

Division and conference wins matter

It’ll be something I’ll refer to at length in the future, but I’m still surprised the Pelicans sat CJ McCollum in a division game. The Pelicans are now 7-3 against divisional opponents and are 1-1 against Dallas. A win tonight would have given them a good shot at winning the tiebreaker with the Mavericks with two games to play. The divisional race between the Pelicans, Mavericks and Grizzlies will take place in the final month of the season.

Also, take a look at Dallas’ record against the West: 17-6. The Grizzlies are 11-10. The Pelicans are 16-10. It doesn’t mean anything right now, but it’s definitely something I think about in a very competitive Western Conference.

Jaden Hardy finishes at the rim

Considering the direct messages I received during gameplay and the adoration I saw on my Twitter timeline, one would assume that rookie Jaden Hardy was the second coming of Allen Iverson. Even though he wasn’t that good, he attacked with a mixture of relentlessness and patience that I rather appreciated.

Seven made the baskets, six of them right there on the rim and all with a defense in theory there to cause trouble. He had a finish that included a fake hesitation in the paint with a live dribble that was just stunning.

He struggled to finish in the G-League last year and finishing is NOT an easy skill to improve on. So kudos to him for taking advantage of the minutes the Mavericks found for him and giving us all more to talk about between games.

The Mavericks having another confident player on the dribble is something that could prove extremely valuable as the season progresses.

Good minutes from JaVale McGee

Dallas’ front court had a number of fouls in the first half and McGee deserves a lot of credit for his next-man mentality. His four points, five boards and two blocks in the first half helped the Mavericks hold on to the established first-quarter lead. He hasn’t played much this season and he really shouldn’t play much, but if he can give the Mavericks energy and minutes when it’s lacking or there are foul issues then it will be a boost in the second half of the season.

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