Fresh off a surprising 130-120 win on Sunday at the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Dallas Mavericks (23-45) will play their fourth game in five days on Monday against the struggling New Orleans Pelicans (22-46) at Smoothie King Center. Tipoff in New Orleans is scheduled for 7 p.m.
The Mavericks have lost two of three against the Pelicans thus far this year, most recently dropping a 119-113 decision in New Orleans on Dec. 22. Monday’s game will be the fourth and final meeting between these two teams this year.
The Pels had won seven of 10 until their 107-105 loss at the Houston Rockets on Friday.
Whats left in the tank?
The Mavericks may not have much left to give in the second back-to-back set in the last five days, but, hell, how much gas did they have left traveling to Cleveland on Sunday for their third game in four days? That stunning win was evidence that anything can happen in an NBA game.
Dallas is at the tail end of a brutal scheduling stretch that will see them play nine games in just 14 days. The Mavs have gone 2-6 in their first eight games of that stretch and will have traveled more than 2,000 miles criss-crossing the country when it comes to an end after Monday’s game in New Orleans.
The Pelicans, meanwhile, have been twiddling their feathers, waiting on the Mavericks to arrive since they got home following Friday’s loss at Houston.
Cooper gets on the good foot
Cooper Flagg has been on a tear in his last two games after struggling a little in his first five games back from a foot sprain. He scored 25 points and dished five assists in Friday’s 138-105 loss to the Cavaliers at American Airlines Center, then one-upped himself the second time around with 27 points and 10 dimes in Sunday’s win. He’s shot 18-of-33 (54.5%) from the field in those last two, compared to 33-of-94 (35.1%) in his first five games since returning from the foot injury.
He’s had huge second halves in both of those last two games as well. It’ll be interesting to see if he can get going a little earlier against the Pels on Monday. Flagg has scored 20 or more in two of the three games the Mavs have played against New Orleans so far this year. His 29-point, seven-rebound game against the Pelicans on Nov. 21 was one of the first “wow” moments of his impressive rookie year.
Big Tankathon game
The Mavs come into Monday’s game with the seventh-worst record in the NBA, and the Pelicans are one game worse than Dallas, sitting at sixth in the Tankathon standings. The Mavericks would move past New Orleans in the race for better NBA Draft Lottery odds with a loss on Monday, due to losing the season series with the Pelicans, 1-3.
A win on Monday would inch the Mavs ever closer to the Memphis Grizzlies, who are in the eighth slot in the Tankathon standings. It seems a little perverse to root for your team to lose, but if ever there were a game you wouldn’t mind Dallas to lose, it would be Monday’s at New Orleans.
How to watch
The Mavericks and the Pelicans will tip off at 7 p.m. CDT from Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. The game will be televised locally on KFAA Channel 29 and on sister stations throughout the Mavs’ regional viewership area. The stream will be on MavsTV and on NBA League Pass where available.
