NEW ORLEANS – One of the things Dallas Mavericks coach Jason Kidd doesn’t want his team to do is to go into games relying heavily on theirKyrie superstar backcourt of Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving to be the ones who consistently guide them to a victory.

Kidd believes some of that thought process may have occurred during Tuesday’s 118-99 loss to the Denver Nuggets when Irving returned to the lineup after missing five games with a lumbar back sprain.

“I think the big message is we got healthy, and I think we just took a step back with Kai coming back,” Kidd said following the loss to the Nuggets. “We watched Kai play. It happens.

“When you get someone of his caliber to come back, you expect him to carry the load. It’s something that we have to talk about as we get healthy bringing guys back.”

The Mavs still are without Dončić, who hasn’t played since suffering a left calf strain on Dec. 25 against Minnesota. Also, guard Dante Exum (right wrist surgery) hasn’t played since being injured in training camp.

In addition, centLukaer Dereck Lively II added to the unfortunate medical issues the Mavs are dealing with when he sustained a right ankle sprain in the first quarter of Tuesday’s contest against the Nuggets and did not return.

“Unfortunately, we’re still going to be with injuries with D-Live probably being out,” Kidd said. “Just understanding when someone like that comes back, we can learn from it and we’ll be able to use this game (against Denver) as we get healthy that we cannot just rely on Kai or Luka or Dante or D-Live.

“You have to do your part. And (Tuesday) we just as a whole didn’t do our part.”

Kidd wasn’t fond of the lack of physicality the Mavs played with against the Nuggets, but is very hopeful that’ll change in Wednesday’s road game against the New Orleans Pelicans.

“We got guys that are not shooting the ball well right now,” he said. “It’s not just one guy, it’s not just two guys. We’ve got quite a few guys that we’ve got to get the ball going straight.

“We’ll talk about that (Wednesday) and try to put those guys in position to make a couple of easy ones to get their confidence back. And then the energy. AnytimeLively that ball goes in the hoop the energy kind of rises on the defensive end.”

The Mavs blew out the Pelicans, 132-91, on Nov. 19 in Dallas. But that was back when Dončić and Lively were healthy, and back when New Orleans didn’t have Zion Williamson.

As far as Wednesday’s game is concerned, Dončić, Irving, Lively and Williamson will not play.

“We play (Wednesday) in New Orleans, and we’ll talk about it pre-game about what we need to do for New Orleans,” Kidd said. “This game (against Denver) is over. There’s nothing we can do.

“We can just learn from it as we get healthy. The big thing is we cannot rely on Kai or Luka to carry the load. We have to play as a team. That’s what we’ve been doing with those guys out, and (Tuesday) we just didn’t do that.”

 

Here are some other nuggets surrounding Wednesday’s game between the Mavs and Pelicans.

 

Mavs*On Wednesday, the Mavs will be playing their second game in two days and their third game in four days. The Mavs are coming off back-to-back losses at home to the Denver Nuggets. Denver defeated the Mavs on Sunday (112-101) and again on Tuesday (118-99). After Wednesday’s game, the Mavs return home to host the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday.

*The Pelicans will start a four-game home stand with Wednesday’s game against the Mavs. The home stand continues with a pair of games against the Utah Jazz on Friday and Monday before the Pelicans wrap up things in New Orleans on Jan. 22 against the Milwaukee Bucks.

*Mavs guard Kyrie Irving returned and played in Tuesday’s game against Denver after missing five games with a lumbar back sprain. Irving finished with 11 points, four rebounds, two assists and a season-high tying four steals in 30 minutes, and was 4-of-18 from the fiP. J.eld.

*Trey Murphy III collected 32 points, six rebounds and three steals in leading the Pelicans to a 119-113 road win over the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday. Also for the Pelicans, Zion Williamson contributed 21 points, seven rebounds and nine assists in 24 minutes, and Dejounte Murray added 15 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. It was just the third game for Williamson since he was recovering from a strained left hamstring and a one-game suspension.

*The Mavs will again be without point guard Luka Dončić (left calf strain) on Wednesday. Dončić suffered the injury in the Christmas day game against Minnesota and is scheduled to be re-evaluated on Jan. 27. Dončić averages 28.1 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 7.8 apg and 2.0 spg. Kyrie Irving averages 24.3 ppg and is shooting a healthy 44.1 percent from behind the three-point line. Klay Thompson is averaginGaffordg 14.2 ppg and is shooting 38.5 percent from downtown. P. J. Washington averages 13.2 ppg and 7.6 rpg and has converted 38.1 percent of his three-pointers. Also for the Mavs, Daniel Gafford is averaging 11.3 ppg and 5.9 rpg, Naji Marshall averages 11.1 ppg, and Quentin Grimes is averaging 10.3 ppg.

*CJ McCollum leads the Pelicans in scoring with 22.4 ppg, and Brandon Ingram averages 22.2 points, 5.6 rpg and 5.2 apg. Because of injuries – and a one-game suspension — Zion Williamson has played in only eight games this season. But he’s averaging 21.8 ppg, 7.6 rpg and 4.9 apg in 30.3 mpg. Trey Murphy III (21 ppg), Dejounte Murray (16.7 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 7.7 apg, 2.3 spg), and Brandon Boston (10.8 ppg) have been solid this season for New Orleans. In addition, Jordan Hawkins (10.6 ppg), Herbert Jones (10.3) and Jose Alvarado (10 ppg) have given the Pelicans some solid support. Jones, however, is out indefinitely with a posterior labrum tear in his right shoulder that occurred in the Jan. 8 game against Portland.

*The Mavs have a few heavy hitters coming up real soon on their schedule. They play host to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday. OKC has the best record in theKyrie Western Conference. Then, after playing at Charlotte on Monday, on Jan. 22 the Mavs will host the Minnesota Timberwolves, who they defeated in last season’s Western Conference Finals. From there, the Mavs have a back-to-back at OKC on Jan. 23. That will be followed by a rematch of last year’s NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics on Jan. 25 at American Airlines Center.

*Although they have the worst record in the Western Conference at 9-32, the Pelicans have won four of their last seven games. In addition to Tuesday’s win in Chicago, New Orleans emerged victorious at home on Jan. 3 against the Washington Wizards (132-120), then beat the Wizards in Washington on Jan. 5 (110-98). The other win for the Pelicans during this latest surge came last Friday at Philadelphia (123-115). Also, the Pelicans had a road win at the defending world champion Boston Celtics within their hands on Sunday. However, CJ McCollum missed a contested layup as time expired, and the Celtics escaped with a 120-119 victory.

 

DALLAS MAVERICKS (22-18) at NEW ORLEANS PELICANS (9-32)

When: 7 p.m., Wednesday

Where: Smoothie King Center, New Orleans

TV: KFAA-29, MavsTV Stream

Radio: KEGL 97.1 FM The Eagle, 99.1 FM Zona MX (Spanish)

X: @DwainPrice

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