The New Orleans Pelicans and Dallas Mavericks are tied for first place in the Southwest Division.
That tie will be broken when they face each other Saturday night in the first of two head-to-head matchups in three nights in Dallas.
The tie arose after the Pelicans lost Friday night at Denver, 125-113, which was only New Orleans’ second defeat in eight games and ended a seven-game road winning streak.
The Pelicans began their five-game trip with lopsided victories at Sacramento (133-100) on Sunday and Golden State (141-105) on Wednesday before the Nuggets scored their 12-point win.
The first game against the Mavericks will start less than 24 hours after the end of the game against the Nuggets.
The Mavericks are 4-1 on a homestand that will conclude with the two games against the Pelicans. Dallas is coming off one of its most impressive performances of the season, a 128-124 victory over the New York Knicks on Thursday.
That snapped the Knicks’ five-game winning streak, two nights after the Mavericks endured a 17-point loss to the undermanned Memphis Grizzlies.
The Mavericks played without three starters — Luka Doncic (ankle) and Dante Exum (foot), both of whom have been ruled out of Saturday’s game, and Dereck Lively II, who is questionable (ankle).
Dallas saw a 20-point fourth-quarter lead shrink to one point against the Knicks in the final minute. The Mavericks got three offensive rebounds on one possession, which ended with Josh Green’s 3-pointer with 27 seconds left.
The Pelicans and Mavericks split two games in New Orleans on Nov. 12 and 14, with Dallas winning the first game, 136-124, and New Orleans winning the second, 131-110.
Irving scored 35 and Doncic had 30 in the Mavericks’ victory, but Irving had 17 and Doncic 16 in their loss. Brandon Ingram and rookie Jordan Hawkins led the Pelicans with 25 points each in their victory.
