They had climbed all the way back from a 17-point deficit to take a four-point lead early in the fourth quarter, but now came the hard part: Trying to finish off a high-caliber opponent.
Instead of posting what would’ve been an excellent early-season home victory, the New Orleans Pelicans lost the momentum and eventually fell to the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday, in a seesaw Southwest Division matchup.
After New Orleans outscored Dallas 37-20 in the third quarter, the game turned in the fourth period, with the Mavericks (2-1) holding the Pelicans (1-1) to just 15 points. The hosts were just 4-for-18 in the final stanza and committed seven turnovers, unable to capitalize after leading 94-90 with 10 minutes left. Dallas held a 19-10 advantage from there.
Days after the 2014 World Series wrapped up in Kansas City, Pelicans fifth-year coach Monty Williams used a baseball analogy to describe his team’s late-game decision-making on offense.
“You get yourself out of a hole, but then I thought in the fourth, we kind of settled a little bit instead of going to the basket,” Williams said. “Guys were going for home runs, but we needed singles.”
“We didn’t necessarily take the smartest shots down the stretch,” Pelicans forward Ryan Anderson said. “(Dallas is) a great defensive team. They did a good job with their scouting report, forcing us to take tough shots… Obviously (Dallas is) a tough team to guard, but on the other end, we had to be smarter down the stretch.”
The defeat spoiled what was a second straight dominant statistical performance by New Orleans third-year power forward Anthony Davis, who followed up his show-stopping Opening Night performance with 31 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks. On Tuesday vs. Orlando, Davis registered 26 points, 17 rebounds and a career-high-tying nine blocks.
Meanwhile, Pelicans point guard Jrue Holiday turned in one of his best games with New Orleans, accumulating 24 points, six assists and three steals. After a slow start across the board, Tyreke Evans came within a whisker of a triple-double, with 22 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists.
Evans’ game mirrored that of his team. He was scoreless for much of the opening half, but terrorized Dallas in multiple facets in the third quarter, highlighted by his 16 points, only four fewer than the Mavericks scored in that period. Davis added 10 points of his own in the third.
“We just got stops and we got easy shots because of the stops and our defense,” Anderson said. “That’s what this team thrives on, a fast-paced game. That’s the way we were playing in the third quarter – we had a lot of juice, a lot of momentum.”
Dallas regained the lead on a 15-4 run during the middle chunk of the fourth quarter. Despite foul trouble that forced his temporary exit in the third quarter, Dirk Nowitzki returned in the fourth to make key shots for the Mavericks, who were plus-13 with him on the floor, but minus-8 without him.
New Orleans ultimately couldn’t overcome its sluggish start and being outplayed during the critical portions of crunch time.
“It started in the first quarter,” Davis said. “We gave them 66 points (in the first half). We weren’t defending. They were getting whatever they want… We could have had that game. We had the lead in the fourth. We have to make sure we execute and focus, especially when we face a team like Dallas.”
Anderson: “We can beat them. I think we’re all confident in that. We just need to play a complete game. That’s something that this team needs to work on in practice and figure out how to play consistently for the whole game. If we can play like we did in the third quarter, it’s going to be tough for any team to beat us.”