The New Orleans Pelicans’ chances of advancing to the knockout round of the NBA Cup diminished on Tuesday when they lost to the Dallas Mavericks by 41 points.

Four teams from both conferences will reach the knockout round. Point difference in group play is important. Going into Friday’s game against the Golden State Warriors, the Pelicans were an NBA-worst minus-34.

To have a realistic chance of making it to the eighth round, the Pelicans had to beat the Warriors in both teams’ third group match. The Pelicans fell short of that goal, losing to the Warriors 112-108 at the Smoothie King Center.

Trey Murphy’s 3-pointer with 14 seconds left brought the Pelicans within two points. Brandon Boston came up with a steal, which led to Murphy getting a good look at a potential game-winning 3 with five seconds left. Murphy missed and the Warriors recovered.

“When you have an open mind like that, it’s an opportunity to seize it,” Pelicans coach Willie Green said. “I thought it was good.”

New Orleans fell to 4-13 overall and 1-2 in NBA Cup group play. The final group stage match is next Friday in Memphis.

The Pelicans got some injury relief as shooting guard Jordan Hawkins returned after missing seven games due to a back injury. Hawkins came off the bench and looked rusty in his first game since Nov. 6. He scored six points on 2-for-9 shooting.

The Pelicans held a one-point lead at halftime. Murphy had his best game since making his season debut just under two weeks ago. Murphy scored 15 of his 24 points in the first half. He shot 5 of 9 from 3-point territory.

“We need Trey’s shot,” Green said. “His ability to space the floor allows guys to get to the basket and get to the paint.”

At 3:16 of the fourth quarter, Boston connected on a 3 from the right corner, cutting the Warriors’ lead to three. Steph Curry responded with a quick basket that gave Golden State another two-possession lead.

Curry scored 19 points as the Warriors improved to 3-0 in NBA Cup group play. Andrew Wiggins led Golden State with a game-high 30 points.

The free throw line was a key battlefield. The Pelicans shot 14 of 22 there. With 31 seconds left, Brandon Ingram missed a pair of free throws that could have cut the Warriors’ lead to three points.

“We still came up short,” Green said. ‘A few more times. Knock down some free throws. Maybe the ball bounces our way on that last 3 where we got off. There are some things we can clean up along the way. But they fought like hell.”

The Pelicans play the Indiana Pacers on Monday. It’s likely that guard CJ McCollum will then return from an adductor injury.