NBA: Luka Doncic returns as Mavericks pound Pelicans
Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (77) drives to the basket as New Orleans Pelicans’ Trey Murphy III (25) defends in the first half of an Emirates NBA Cup basketball game in Dallas, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
DALLAS — Luka Doncic returned to the lineup and scored a game-high 26 points, Klay Thompson added 19 and Kyrie Irving had 18 as the Dallas Mavericks beat the undermanned New Orleans Pelicans 132-91 in an NBA Cup game on Tuesday night.
Doncic, who missed his first game of the season in Dallas’ win at Oklahoma City on Sunday due to a knee injury, shot 10 of 16 overall and 3 for 8 from 3-point distance. He hit a pair of step-back 3-pointers midway through the fourth quarter giving Dallas a 111-75 lead.
Article continues after this advertisementTrey Murphy III, playing his fourth game this season because of hamstring issues, scored a season-high 19 points to lead the Pelicans. New Orleans was missing five of its rotation players. Two-time All-Star Zion Williamson missed his sixth consecutive game and is out indefinitely.
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🪄 LUKA. IS. HIM. 🪄 pic.twitter.com/6c9DyY598w
— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) November 20, 2024
The Mavericks won their third straight, finishing with their highest point total of the season and largest margin of victory.
Article continues after this advertisementThe Pelicans have lost 11 of their last 13 games.
Takeaways
Pelicans: Rookie Yves Missi had a game-high nine rebounds, all in the first half.
Mavericks: In the second year of the NBA Cup, the Mavericks used a special tournament court at home for the first time. Their court last year wasn’t used for either home group-play games for what the team called manufacturing issues.
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Key moment
The Pelicans cut Dallas’ lead to 81-65 late in the third period before Irving followed a 25-foot 3-pointer with another seconds later, pulling up from 29 feet.
Key stat
The Mavericks outscored the Pelicans 66-34 in the paint, their largest margin this season.
Up next
The Pelicans will complete a road back-to-back on Wednesday, visiting the Cleveland Cavaliers, who had their season-opening 15-game winning streak stopped in Boston on Tuesday. The Mavericks begin a three-game trip on Friday at Denver, where they lost to the Nuggets 122-120 on Nov. 10.
