A slew of injuries hasn’t slowed down the Dallas Mavericks.
Dallas was getting contributions from nearly everyone before it went into the All-Star break. The Mavericks will try to harness that momentum again when they face the visiting New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night.
Playing without Anthony Davis (adductor), Kyrie Irving (shoulder), Klay Thompson (foot), P.J. Washington (ankle), Daniel Gafford (knee) and Dereck Lively II (ankle), among others, Dallas closed the first half of the season with a 118-113 win over the Miami Heat on Feb. 13.
Dante Exum led the way with 27 points, while Max Christie added 19, Spencer Dinwiddie supplied 18 and Kessler Edwards paired 15 with nine rebounds in just his sixth start of the season.
The Mavericks said Thursday that Davis, Lively and Gafford each will miss two more weeks and be re-evaluated March 6.
Despite being depleted, the Miami game marked the fourth victory in five games for the Mavericks. Dallas coach Jason Kidd hopes that his team’s winning ways continue following the hiatus.
“The bumps and bruises go away faster,” Kidd said ahead of the break. “As I told the guys, get some rest, enjoy the break, be safe and, when we come back, it’s time to push forward and find a way to get as high a seed as we can and win as many games as we can.
“Sometimes you want the break. We do need the break, but we are starting to play pretty good basketball.”
New Orleans can’t say the same.
The Pelicans did leave off on a high note — beating the Sacramento Kings 140-133 in overtime on Feb. 13 — but they dropped their previous 10 games. CJ McCollum prevented that skid from running to 11 by pouring in 43 points with Trey Murphy III and Jose Alvarado each netting 18. Murphy also had nine boards and 11 assists.
Even though New Orleans finds itself limping to the finish line, McCollum continues to serve as a beacon of hope for a team that has dropped 42 of 55 games this season.
“CJ is incredible,” Pelicans coach Willie Green said. “He’s one of our guys that’s literally holding things together in the locker room with these young guys. He’s been through so much throughout the course of his career. He’s a staple for us.
“We see it week in and week out that he comes out and gives it everything he has every night. (Against the Kings) he carried us when we needed him to.”
One of those young guys, Murphy, has been blossoming. The 24-year-old has averaged 27.3 points, 5.6 rebounds and 6.0 assists over his past eight games. His No. 1 mentor on the team? McCollum.
“He’s probably the person I’ve learned from the most,” Murphy said of McCollum. “He’s been super professional here at this age of his career. For me, I try to figure out reasons why people are in my life, and I feel like CJ has been a mentor and taught me how to really handle business of being a pro.”
With a win on Friday, New Orleans would split the four-game season series with the Mavericks.
–Field Level Media
