The Dallas Mavericks head to New Orleans to take on Anthony Davis and the Pelicans for the second night of a back-to-back. The Mavs look to stay hot at they take on an MVP candidate in Anthony Davis and the second highest scoring team in the league for a 7 pm CT tip-off at the Smoothie King Center.
The Mavs are 0-2 on the second night of back-to-backs so far this season. They lost in OT to the Spurs in late October and lost to the Jazz in Utah in early November. This is not a great track record but I think its safe to say that the Mavericks are different team than the one we saw in early November. The other sobering news is that the Mavericks are 2-8 on the road so far this season. If we want to maintain our hold on a Western Conference playoff spot Carlisle and Company better figure out how to get some wins on the road.
Even though they have arguably the most dominant player in the NBA, the Pelicans have been struggling as of late, going 4-6 in their last 10, including losses to sub-.500 teams such as New York, Washington, and Miami. They may be struggling but they are still a scary team. Anthony Davis remains among the MVP shortlist with his insane stat stuffing, Jrue Holiday has returned to his All-Star level play, and Nikola Mirotic and Julius Randle give them more scoring depth than they have ever had alongside The Brow. Julius Randle, potential upcoming free agent, filled in for a sick Mirotic as the starting PF on Monday and put up an impressive 37 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists. It is unclear yet if Mirotic will be able to go tonight, but either way the surging Mavs defense will have its hands full.
The Pelicans average 118 points per game, 2nd in the league, but the Mavericks have not allowed a single opponent to reach 118 points in a game since November 2nd. The defense has become the calling card and strong suit of the Dallas team, but Anthony Davis is not a guy you stop, you just hope to contain him. It will be interesting to find out if DeAndre, Kleber, and Mejri will be able to make their presence felt against AD and the run-and-gun Pelicans
Matchup Summary:
| Dallas Mavericks | New Orleans Pelicans | |
| Record | 12-10 | 12-13 |
| Position | 7th in West | 11th in West |
| PPG | 110.8 (13th) | 118.1 (2nd) |
| Points Allowed | 108.5 (9th) | 116.7 (28th) |
| FG % | 46.0% (13th) | 47.9% (4th) |
| 3p % | 35.9% (11th) | 34.5% (19th) |
| FT % | 75.0% (19th) | 76.9% (15th) |
| RPG | 45.5 | 48.0 |
| APG | 22.8 | 26.9 |
| TO | 15.9 | 15.0 |
Projected Starters:
| Dallas Mavericks | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | |
| PG | Dennis Smith, Jr | 13.5 | 2.8 | 4.2 | 1.2 | 0.5 |
| SG | Wesley Matthews | 15.5 | 2.6 | 2.3 | 0.8 | 0.2 |
| SF | Luka Doncic | 18.6 | 6.6 | 4.2 | 1 | 0.4 |
| PF | Harrison Barnes | 17.9 | 4.8 | 1.3 | 0.8 | 0.3 |
| C | DeAndre Jordan | 11.5 | 13.8 | 2.3 | 0.6 | 1 |
| New Orleans Pelicans | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | |
| PG | Tim Frazier | 3.6 | 2.1 | 3.8 | 0.4 | 0.1 |
| SG | Jrue Holiday | 20.6 | 4.5 | 9 | 1.6 | 0.8 |
| SF | E’Twuan Moore | 14.7 | 2.4 | 2.1 | 0.8 | 0.3 |
| PF | Nikola Mirotic | 18.9 | 10 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 0.7 |
| C | Anthony Davis | 28 | 13 | 4.8 | 1.6 | 2.7 |
Injury Report:
| Player | Team | Description |
| Dirk Nowitzki | Dallas Mavericks | Out (Foot) |
| Nikola Mirotic | New Orleans Pelicans | Questionable (Illness) |
| Elfrid Payton | New Orleans Pelicans | Out (Broken Finger) |
Betting Line:
New Orleans favored by 6 with the over/under set at 227.
Give me the Mavs +6 and the under 227.