DALLAS – – Luka Doncic returned to the lineup and scored 26 points, Klay Thompson added 19 and Kyrie Irving had 18 as the Dallas Mavericks defeated 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 range. He hit a pair of step-back 3-pointers midway through the fourth quarter, giving Dallas a 111-75 lead.

Trey Murphy III, playing his fourth game this season due to hamstring problems, 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 straight game and is out indefinitely.

The Mavericks won their third consecutive game and finished with their highest point total of the season and largest margin of victory.

The 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 field was not used for home group games last year due to what the team called production issues.

Key moment

The Pelicans cut Dallas’ lead to 81-65 late in the third period before Irving followed a 25-foot 3-pointer with a second to spare, taking off from 29 feet.

Key stat

The Mavericks outscored the Pelicans 66-34 in the paint, their largest margin this season.

Next

The Pelicans will make a back-to-back road trip Wednesday, visiting the Cleveland Cavaliers, who stopped their 15-game winning streak in the season opener on Tuesday in Boston. The Mavericks begin a three-game trip Friday in Denver, where they lost 122-120 to the Nuggets on Nov. 10.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba