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The New Orleans Pelicans avenged their previous match defeat to the Dallas Mavericks by winning a very close game at home. The final scoreline was 114-112 in favor of the Pelicans.
This match was more about who is having a better game between Luka Doncic and Anthony Davis than the whole team. They were going back and forth with each other and it was a phenomenal sight to watch as a basketball fan.
This was another close game from both the teams as they both wanted to win this one. While the Mavericks wanted to win 2 on the Pelicans, the latter wanted to avenge their previous match defeat to the same.
With this win, the Pelicans are now ranked 14th with a record of 16-20, while the Mavericks are at 12th with a record of 16-18.
Now, the 3 talking points from this game are -
#3 3-point problems for New Orleans
New Orleans are one of the worst 3-point shooting teams as they are 18th in the league at it. They lack shooters who could take them out of a slump and clearly rely too heavily on their inside-the-paint finishers like Davis and Randle to save them.
In this match, they shot a disastrous 17% which almost made sure that they lost the game. But thanks to a herculean effort from Davis, they survived this one.
But, if this is the sign of things to come for New Orleans, then Davis may not be able to save them next time. All of them were ice cold and none of the shots for the Pelicans were falling from the arc. It was due to their inside shot and some bad interior defense from Dallas they won this game.
#2 Bad effort on the boards from Dallas
The Mavericks grabbed 10 rebounds less than the Pelicans. And that resulted in them taking 18 shots less than the Pelicans throughout the game. It ultimately led to them losing this game. They gave away too many second-chance points as well, of which Davis and Co. took a lot of advantage of.
They did not put enough effort nor enough bodies in the paint to box out or crash the glass for rebounds. Davis was completely having his way on the boards and he was even making monstrous put back dunks to demoralize the Mavericks and put them off their game.
The Mavericks are currently 13th in the league in rebounds per game, which clearly indicates that they need to put in more effort on that front. On the other hand, the Pelicans are at 5th in rebounds per game throughout the league.
#1 Davis vs Doncic 2.0
The last time this amazing encounter happened, it was a tremendous sight to watch as a basketball fan. Anthony Davis did everything he could but came up short against Doncic and Co. But this time he came in and let his intentions be clear from the beginning. He dominated entirely and didn’t give the Mavericks any chance of taking a breather even though they were ahead.
And, by the end, he finished with 48 points and 17 rebounds and also got that crucial victory.
On the other hand, Luka Doncic had his career-high 34 points shooting efficiently, 10-16 from the field. He might even have given Dallas the victory had he taken the last shot.
In their next match, the Pelicans will face the Rockets in a home game, while the Mavericks will host the Oklahoma City Thunder in hopes of getting back to winning ways.
