Kyrie Irving scored a game-high 35 points and the host Dallas Mavericks came to life at the start of the fourth quarter on the way to a 111-103 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night.
P.J. Washington added 24 points and seven rebounds for Dallas, which led by only two, 86-84, after Pelicans wing Bruce Brown made good on a layup 29 seconds into the final frame.
However, Klay Thompson responded with a 3-pointer that ignited an 8-0 spurt, allowing the Mavericks to build a 94-84 cushion with 9:21 remaining. New Orleans later got its deficit down to three on two occasions, but it never found a way to draw even.
Irving drilled the dagger with 57 seconds to play, as his trey made it 109-99 Dallas.
Max Christie and Naji Marshall were effective off the Mavericks’ bench, posting 16 and 15 points, respectively. Marshall also had 10 boards to complete a double-double.
Zion Williamson paced the Pelicans with 29 points and seven rebounds. Trey Murphy III went for 20 points, six boards and six assists, and CJ McCollum finished with 16 points.
Dallas outshot New Orleans 43 percent to 41.3 percent from the field and made twice as many threes (16-8).
Washington piled up 10 points in the first quarter to send Dallas to the second with a 32-22 lead.
After Washington split a pair of free throws with 10:03 left in the first half to extend the Mavericks’ advantage to 37-26, New Orleans rattled off 12 straight points. Jose Alvarado punctuated that run with a 3-pointer that gave the Pelicans a one-point edge.
From there, neither team led by more than four for the rest of the half, with Dallas going into the break leading 56-53.
An Irving layup had the Mavericks ahead 84-77 with 1:45 to go in the third quarter before New Orleans pulled within four by the end of the period.
