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The Dallas Mavericks shocked Anthony Davis and the New Orleans Pelicans with a grinding win over them. Luka Doncic and co. sneaked this one from the Pelicans.
It was a very close game, but in the end, the Pelicans came up short 119-122.
The Pelicans looked like they would walk away with this game, as they led almost throughout the whole game, but Doncic and the Mavs had other plans. They never gave up, held their nerves and pulled the final trigger on the Pelicans to get the victory.
The other players for the Mavs also came up big when they needed them. It was a good team effort to stop Anthony Davis, who seemed unstoppable and was locked in throughout the game.
Mavs are now 12th in the West with a record of 16-17, while the Pelicans are at 14th with a record of 15-20.
With all that in mind, here are the 3 talking points -
#3 The Luka Doncic vs Anthony Davis showdown
Anthony Davis is a generational star. Players like him come once in a lifetime. He has been averaging 28.1 PPG, 12.9 rebs, 4.6 asts, 2.7 blks, 1.7 stls. Nobody in the league stuffs the stats sheet like this.
On the other hand, Luka Doncic is in a league of his own. Very few rookies have been able to put up these numbers and give performances the way he does on a nightly basis.
And it was a delight to watch these two go back and forth, especially in the final minutes. Both of them clearly didn’t want to lose and were giving their absolute best.
But, since there could have been only one winner, it was Luka’s night as he gave his team the victory.
These two are going to give many more of these battles for years to come.
#2 The Mavs' bench heavily out-performs Pelicans' bench
Basketball is a team game. You need a team to win. Even though Anthony Davis is much more capable to carry his team on his shoulders, he cannot do it in every game, and this game was an example of it.
While the Mavs' bench were on a shooting streak and single-handedly turning the game around, none of the Pelicans looked like they were in the game, except their trio of Davis, Randle and Holiday.
On the other hand, the Mavs' starters as well as the bench contributed in one way or another in this victory. They were active on the defense and made important shots when it looked like they may let the game slip.
JJ Barea and D. Harris came up with crucial numbers for the Mavs coming off the bench to ensure that they get this close victory.
#1 Inside defense of the Mavs
Even though this is not one of their strong points, the dedication and determination that the Mavericks showed inside their own paint was tremendous. They were tight and made sure that they didn’t give any easy points to the Pelicans.
This air tight defense led to them getting 13 blocks on the Pelicans, which hugely slowed them down, and helped the Mavs to a victory in this game.
The man behind 6 of these amazing blocks was Maxi Kleber. He was tremendous in the game, and made sure that he delivered for his team when they needed him. His great defense in the paint revitalised the Mavs, and gave them easy fast break opportunities to take advantage of.
With this victory, the Mavs have now broken their 6 game losing skid. In their next game, they will face the Pelicans again, but this time in an away game.
Guess the Lakers players!
