New Orleans Pelicans at Dallas Mavericks

Luka Doncic returns from injury to score 26 points as Mavericks top the Pelicans 132-91

Doncic, who missed his first game of the season in Dallas' win at Oklahoma City on Sunday due to a knee injury, shot 10 of 16 overall and 3 for 8 from 3-point distance. He hit a pair of step-back 3-pointers midway through the fourth quarter giving Dallas a 111-75 lead.

Trey Murphy III, playing his fourth game this season because of hamstring issues, scored a season-high 19 points to lead the Pelicans. New Orleans was missing five of its rotation players. Two-time All-Star Zion Williamson missed his sixth consecutive game and is out indefinitely.

The Mavericks won their third straight, finishing with their highest point total of the season and largest margin of victory.

The Pelicans have lost 11 of their last 13 games.

Takeaways Pelicans: Rookie Yves Missi had a game-high nine rebounds, all in the first half.

Mavericks: In the second year of the NBA Cup, the Mavericks used a special tournament court at home for the first time. Their court last year wasn’t used for either home group-play games for what the team called manufacturing issues.

Key moment The Pelicans cut Dallas’ lead to 81-65 late in the third period before Irving followed a 25-foot 3-pointer with another seconds later, pulling up from 29 feet.

Key stat The Mavericks outscored the Pelicans 66-34 in the paint, their largest margin this season.

Up next The Pelicans will complete a road back-to-back on Wednesday, visiting the Cleveland Cavaliers, who had their season-opening 15-game winning streak stopped in Boston on Tuesday. The Mavericks begin a three-game trip on Friday at Denver, where they lost to the Nuggets 122-120 on Nov. 10.

Regular Season Series

DAL leads series 1-0

Matchup Prediction