DALLAS, TEXAS — The Dallas Mavericks were successful in their efforts to extend their winning streak defeating the New Orleans Pelicans 143-130. It was a strong offensive outing and the team should be proud of their success offensively, but how long can this team maintain this level of offense without reciprocating on the defensive end of the floor? Who knows, but a win is a win and the Mavericks are one game out from the .500 mark.
For the third time so far this season the Mavericks hosted fans and you could since there have been fans in the stands that Dallas has played a much better brand of basketball. The Mavericks had a really efficient night on the offensive end Kristaps Porzginis had an electric first quarter and continued his success from beyond the arc, knocking down 4 first quarter threes and 5 out of his 11 shot attempts en route to scoring 15 of the Mavericks 27 first quarter points. Even though the Mavericks got a great performance out of Porzingis and shot 57% from the field they still trailed 34-27 going into the second quarter.
Dallas had the most trouble defensively defending Zion Williamson in the paint and allowing him to convert on all of his shot attempts from the field. Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram gave the Mavericks fits on the offensive end as well with Ball setting up Ingram and many of his team mates with easy buckets to convert.
In the second quarter Kristaps Porzingis continued his dominance and to follow Luka Doncic started to turn and burn on offense scoring 15 second quarter points after only recording 2 points in the first quarter. Doncic and Porzingis converted 9 out 16 shots, that’s 60% from the field in the second quarter. Surprisingly, the Pelicans out performed the Mavericks from the field to end the first half shooting 57% compared to the Mavericks 51%, but Dallas still finished the first half with a 69-65 lead.
The third quarter started close but the Mavericks got a much needed spark. The KP-Luka show continued well into the third quarter as both combined to convert on 82% of their shots and the Mavericks as a whole converted on 67% of their shots from the field. It was an explosive and efficient performance which helped the Mavericks develop a 7 point 108-101 lead and carry most of the momentum into the fourth quarter.
The Pelicans made it an interesting game early in the fourth after JJ Redick hit a three point shot to put the Mavericks lead to within 4 points which was the closest the Pelicans would get to the Mavericks lead for the rest of the game. Dallas answered by going on a 15-4 run to take a 123-108 lead midway through the fourth quarter and maintained a 13 point lead margin on their road to secure another win and home victory to improve to 13-14.
This Mavericks team is beginning to turn the corner at the right time and will face a worthy test on Sunday against the Portland Trailblazers. The offensive play has been better than good for the Mavericks but the real question on Sunday will be if the Mavericks can reciprocate the same energy on offense as they do on defense.
