P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford had double-doubles, four of their Dallas teammates scored in double figures and the visiting Mavericks defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 137-136 on Wednesday night.
Washington finished with 25 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists, and Gafford had 22 points, 12 rebounds and four blocked shots. Kyrie Irving logged 25 points, nine boards and six assists. Klay Thompson added 20 points, Quentin Grimes had 17 and Spencer Dinwiddie put up 11 as Dallas won for the third time in four games.
Trey Murphy III scored 32, Zion Williamson added 29 points and seven assists, Dejounte Murray scored 27 points, and CJ McCollum amassed 23 points and eight assists for New Orleans, which lost its fourth straight game. Brandon Boston Jr. had 12 points and Jose Alvarado 11.
The Pelicans, down by 10 in the fourth quarter, closed within three with 15.9 seconds left on a 3-pointer from Murray, but Dinwiddie responded by making 1 of 2 free throws. McCollum sank a 3-pointer in the final second for the final margin.
The Mavericks scored nine straight points to take a 66-65 lead early in the third quarter. Baskets by McCollum, Murphy and Boston helped New Orleans open an 84-78 lead.
Grimes scored nine points and Dinwiddie added five as Dallas closed the third quarter with a 19-9 run to take a 97-93 lead.
Murphy and Alvarado each made a 3-pointer as the Pelicans regained the lead at 101-100. Thompson’s 3-pointer put the Mavs back on top, Gafford converted a three-point play, and Washington sandwiched a pair of 3-pointers around another trey by Thompson as Dallas expanded the lead to 115-105.
Murphy made a jumper, a layup and a dunk to cut the gap to six, but Gafford answered with a three-point play for a 120-111 edge with 5:18 to go. New Orleans got within three before Washington and Grimes made consecutive 3-pointers.
The Mavericks took their biggest lead of the first quarter at six points before Alvarado made a 3-pointer to trim the difference to 35-32 at the end of the period.
Dallas took its largest lead of the half at 48-41 when Jaden Hardy made consecutive 3-pointers. The Mavericks led by seven points on another occasion before McCollum and Boston each made a 3-pointer during an 8-0 run that gave the Pelicans a one-point lead.
The score was tied twice before Williamson sank a layup and Murphy made consecutive dunks that gave New Orleans a 63-57 halftime lead.
–Field Level Media
