The Dallas Mavericks (8-7, 1-1 in NBA Cup play) faced an elimination game in the NBA Cup on Tuesday evening against the New Orleans Pelicans (4-11, 1-1 in NBA Cup play), who were already 1 . -0 during the group stage play participating in the match. The Mavericks were once again at full strength for this, as Luka Doncic returned from a one-game absence due to a right knee contusion. The special NBA Cup floor made its debut and the only way I can describe it is “very blue.”

But after shaking off the sticker shock, there was a game to be played and the Mavericks made sure they were up for it. Dallas took an early double-digit lead and never looked back, en route to a comfortable 132-91 victory against these beaten and battered Pelicans. 7 Mavs scored in double figures, which is the second straight game that has happened. According to the broadcast, that hasn’t happened in back-to-back games since 2019.

Early on, Doncic wasted no time in announcing his return, as he had two steals in the Pelicans’ first three possessions and helped catapult Dallas to a 6-0 lead in the first two minutes. Klay Thompson also started well, scoring 10 points in the first quarter while hitting two triples. The Mavericks as a whole shot the ball very well heading into their season high scoring 44 points in the first quarter, shooting 71% from the field and 60% from behind the line. Dallas closed the quarter with Quentin Grimes making his second three-pointer of the game at the buzzer to take a 15-point lead into the second frame.

The Mavericks kept the pedal to the metal to start quarter number two, opening the frame on an 11-3 run to force a Pelicans timeout at 55-32. Doncic picked up another steal and was quite disruptive on defense, which is a welcome sight. However, Dallas fell back a bit from there and saw their once 23-point lead shrink to just 63-51 at the half in almost half. Dallas followed up their 44-point first quarter by scoring less than half of that in the second, managing just 19 points.

Just before halftime, Dallas had the chance to essentially take the last shot, but Luka was stripped after a drive, leading to a Pels run-out. Doncic thought he had been fouled, but referee JB DeRosa didn’t care about the call, leading to Luka’s fourth technical foul in 15 games. For our ‘on pace’ folks, this means Luka is on track to earn a one-match suspension for reaching 16 technicians sometime around mid-February.

Late in the second quarter, New Orleans switched to a zone with good and dead balls. That strategy continued in the third quarter, although Dallas looked better prepared to beat it after the half. Dallas made an early play for Klay Thompson, which resulted in an open three he made. They eventually made enough shots, including two from Kyrie Irving, to push the Pelicans out of the zone as the lead increased to 87-65 with two and a half minutes left in the period. Unlike the end of the 2nd, the Mavs kept the momentum going to close out the third and end the period with a 28-point lead.

The fourth quarter was all window dressing, except for the Mavericks trying to increase their scoring margin for the Cup. The starters played deep into the period, with Luka hitting a pair of threes to extend the lead to 36. Dwight Powell entered the game with about six minutes left (and yes, he got hit in the face), making this officially entered garbage season. .

With that, your Dallas Mavericks are now streaking after winning three in a row! Let’s close with some thoughts on this banging thing.

Stepping it up

One of the unique quirks of the NBA Cup is the scoring margin tiebreaker for advancing to the group stage. With an early loss to the Warriors last Tuesday, Dallas will more than likely need to build margins in their final games to give themselves the best chance to advance. Dallas led by 22 with 2:30 left in the third, and from then on they managed to add 19 points to the lead. That margin of +38 is the best in the group so far, meaning if they can get two wins they have a good chance of advancing.

Splash down

The Mavericks were cooking from deep in this one, starting the first quarter by shooting 60% from 3-point land and finishing at 45%. Klay Thompson had one of his better 3-point shooting nights of the year, going 5 for 9. After his 1 for 11 performance in OKC on Sunday, it was good to see Klay getting sparkly. Kyrie Irving continued his torrid start from 3, moving to 4/5 tonight. Quentin Grimes remains an excellent option whether he starts or comes off the bench, making multiple threes off the bench in this one. It would be really nice to see PJ and Luka find hitting from deep more consistently, but to still perform at this level means the Mavericks can reach another level or two.

Own the paint like Sherwin Williams

The Mavs have cooked New Orleans inside in just about every conceivable statistic available. Dallas held New Orleans to 40% from the field while shooting 53% of their own and racking up 66 paint points, a +32 margin on points in the paint. Dallas was +11 on the glass, had 14 offensive boards to the Pelicans 7 and had 19 shares (steals + blocks). This was a real loss that Dallas can build on.

The Mavs now get two days off for what feels like the first time this season before heading to Denver on Friday for their third NBA Cup game.