The Dallas Mavericks won their last game as they bounced back from a disappointing performance.
The New Orleans Pelicans will try to bounce back from a 0-3 road trip when they host the Mavericks on Sunday night.
Dallas coach Jason Kidd told his players they were “soft” in a 127-116 home loss to Toronto on Wednesday. They responded by routing the visiting Los Angeles Clippers 144-126 on Friday.
The Mavericks outscored the Clippers 47-18 in the second quarter to take a 77-51 halftime lead. Irving scored 20 of his points in the first half and Luka Doncic had 27 of his 44.
Kidd said his team was much more physical against the Clippers than it was against the Raptors.
Dallas is beginning a four-game road trip with two games against New Orleans in three days. The Mavericks hope to perform better on the road than the Pelicans did in losing to the Nuggets, Timberwolves and Rockets in a span of five days.
New Orleans took a nine-point lead into the fourth quarter against the host Houston Rockets before falling 104-101 on Friday.
The Pelicans took a five-point lead with 1:56 remaining, but Houston finished the game with a 9-1 run.
Fred VanVleet made consecutive 3-pointers to give the Rockets the lead and he added two free throws as New Orleans didn’t make a field goal in the final 2:54.
New Orleans played without three injured starters — CJ McCollum (lung), Herbert Jones (bruised fibula) and Trey Murphy III (knee) — but all five players that started Friday scored in double figures.
Rookie guard Jordan Hawkins scored all 14 of his points in the third quarter as the Pelicans outscored the Rockets 31-16. Second-year guard Dyson Daniels finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
The Rockets bench outscored the Pelicans bench 19-7, and New Orleans turned the ball over 18 times while Houston had just nine.
