The Mavericks lost one of the more frustrating games of their extremely young, already disappointing season, falling 119-113 to the Pelicans in New Orleans on Monday night. Anthony Davis led the way for the Mavericks tonight, posting a monster 35-point, 17-rebound double-double. Klay Thompson added 20 points, Cooper Flagg had a quiet 16 points, six rebounds, and six assists, and Naji Marshall contributed with 15 points of his own tonight. The Pelicans had an even attack with six players in double digits,
and it would have been seven if Herb Jones had scored one more time. Zion Williamson had 24 points and nine rebounds, while Derrick Queen had a 19 and 11 double-double.
Dallas leaned heavily on Anthony Davis, who scored early in the paint and on short jumpers while also pulling down rebounds to control possessions. The Mavericks reduced their reliance on perimeter shooting by generating most of their points inside and on assisted shots. Cooper Flagg helped Dallas contain New Orleans’ ineffective early offense by contributing rebounds and defensive stops. Dallas won the rebounding margin and points in the paint to end the quarter ahead.
Anthony Davis scored 12 points during the second quarter (ending the half with 22) on layups, a dunk, a jumper, free throws, and a late three. He also grabbed several defensive rebounds to end Pelicans possessions, helping Dallas win the second quarter almost entirely. With six assists in the quarter, including setups for Davis finishes, a Gafford alley-oop, and several cutters, Ricky Nembhard quietly led the offense and kept Dallas’ scoring productive despite low perimeter volume. Davis and P.J. Washington worked together to control the glass, with Washington grabbing several offensive rebounds to prolong possessions even after Dallas missed. Crucially, Dallas’ halftime lead was built on Davis’ scoring gravity, Nembhard’s playmaking, and rebounding discipline rather than on shooting spikes or pace.
By distributing their efforts rather than relying on a single scorer, Dallas dominated the third quarter. Naji Marshall’s seven points and Cooper Flagg’s five points helped Dallas outscore New Orleans, and Anthony Davis added four points to increase his total to twenty-six. With assists on Davis finishes, Marshall’s perimeter scoring, and early-quarter layups that kept the Pelicans in rotation, Ryan Nembhard continued to lead the offense. With Davis, Flagg, and Washington all grabbing defensive rebounds to stop New Orleans from scoring runs on second chances, Dallas also prevailed in the possession battle. The outcome was a double-digit lead based on disciplined defensive rebounding, assisted offense, and balanced scoring.
Despite Anthony Davis scoring nine points on floaters, turnarounds, and a late tip-in, Dallas’ fourth quarter fell apart because the Mavericks were depending more and more on him to salvage stagnant possessions. While Dallas’ perimeter options combined for missed threes and empty possessions as assist totals decreased and isolation increased, Cooper Flagg added four points at the line but missed several attempts in traffic. Conversely, Zion Williamson and Dyson Queen dominated the paint and offensive glass, as Dallas’ inability to complete defensive possessions frequently turned rebounds and downhill attacks into points. In terms of statistics, the quarter changed because New Orleans won the rebound margin, free-throw volume, and shot quality in the final minutes. At the same time, Dallas’ scoring became concentrated and ineffective.
10: Missed Mavericks free throws
This game came down to the Mavericks’ inability to get to the free-throw line and convert. The Mavs shot 21 free throws and only made 11 of them, including two from Cooper Flagg in crunch time with the game in the balance. Flagg was the culprit of most of the misses, as the only player to shoot more than three attempts on the team. Flagg finished the game 5-for-10 from the free-throw line, a massive disappointment for the team. Cooper started his career making 24 straight free throws, a sign that his shot from the charity stripe
5: Fourth quarter turnovers
The Mavericks legitimately unraveled in the 4th quarter, mainly because they couldn’t dribble. Imagine a collection of NBA basketball players that, no matter who you put on the court, none of them can dribble or pass, thanks to Nico Harrison. The turnovers came throughout the quarter, with three before crunch time and two during, the worst of which was when Naji Marshall dribbled the ball off his leg out of bounds and then proceeded to play for a foul. This should be something to consider for the Mavs as they move closer to the February trade deadline. Even with Kyrie, the Mavericks need another element of consistent ball handling to set up the likes of Cooper Flagg and Anthony Davis, especially if they continue to play a clutch game every other night.
0: Second-half points for Klay Thompson
Klay Thompson had a weird night in New Orleans as the future Hall of Famer showed up looking like himself from 2017. In 15 minutes during the first half of the game, Klay went 7-for-12 with 20 points with five made threes. It was looking to be his best game as a Maverick, and he helped the Mavs take a 6-point lead into halftime. However, Klay disappeared after the break, going 0-for-5 in the second half and being a -10 in 15 second-half minutes. The good news is, Klay is slowly and surely rebuilding his trade stock. The bad news is that Klay is not helping this team.
23-19: Second chance points in favor of the Pelicans
Despite outrebounding the Pelicans by 15+, the Mavericks still lost the second-chance point battle. The Mavericks evened the offensive rebounding battle against the Pelicans, but it was simply not enough. Specifically, in the fourth quarter, the Mavericks gave up seven offensive rebounds, which led to 10 points for the Pelicans. In a 6-point game that was tied with mere minutes to go, allowing the other team, who you dominated all night on the glass, to gain extra possessions to beat you, is entirely unacceptable. It makes it even worse when you consider that Jason Kidd tried to go with a lineup with Anthony Davis and Daniel Gafford, an idea that quickly got scrapped after the Mavericks lost a game to the Wizards early in the season, running two bigs.
