Final: Mavs 96, Pelicans 83
Box Score | Highlights
Behind the Box Score
Dirk Nowitzki finished the night with 18 points, leaving him just 67 points shy of 30,000 for his career. He’ll become only the sixth player ever to reach that milestone.
Dorian Finney-Smith was a team-high +18 for the Mavericks.
Seth Curry finished with 13 points, eight assists, seven rebounds, and three steals. He’s the first Maverick to stuff the box score to that degree since Jason Kidd did so in 2011. It was Curry’s 10th game this season with at least three steals
Notebook
Nerlens Noel made his Mavs debut, and for the most part he looked terrific. Noel is already a very good defender, even for a 22-year-old. He can change the game with his quick hands, which he used to strip guys multiple times tonight, both in isolation and after switching on pick-and-rolls. He has rare athleticism for a big man, which allows him to switch to defend guards, or even trap or blitz them, disrupting the offense in the process. The sky’s the limit for him defensively. The Mavs kept it relatively simple tonight for him on the other end of the floor, because he basically had one meeting’s worth of time to review the playbook before the game with Rick Carlisle. As he spends more time around the team in the coming days, he’ll become more familiar with the gameplan, and that could take his productivity up even higher. All in all, Noel had a very solid debut.
Even though he was unfamiliar with most of the ins and outs of Carlisle’s complex offense, Noel still had a positive effect on one teammate in particular: Dirk Nowitzki. Dallas ran pick-and-roll through Noel more than Nowitzki when the two shared the floor tonight, which allowed Dirk to spot up on the floor instead of endure the physical demand of setting endless ball screens the way he had been when he was playing most of his minutes at center. Dirk still started at the 5 tonight, but he and Noel played plenty together. He’s going to be able to conserve so much energy playing next to Noel, and that could reflect in his shooting percentages. Tonight, for example, he finished with 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting.
This was our first glimpse at the Anthony Davis/DeMarcus Cousins Pelicans. They’ve only played two games together, counting this one, so clearly New Orleans has some initiating of their own to do, much like Dallas does with Noel. Even still, you could see the potential those two have together. They are both very, very good, and they can push the defense to the limit every possession. But those guys both post up a lot, and occasionally the Pels’ offense slowed down a bit and other players weren’t able to get many shots up, aside from Jrue Holiday. The Pelicans will eventually establish a pecking order, no pun intended. These two teams do play each other one more time down the road this season, and by then New Orleans could look like a completely different team.
The Mavs admitted Dorian Finney-Smith hit the dreaded rookie wall earlier this month, but the All-Star break appears to have helped him. He had one of his best games in a long time tonight, finishing with 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting and two blocks. He was electric defensively, especially in partnership with the long Noel. Finney-Smith figures to receive more consistent playing time after Justin Anderson was traded to Philadelphia, so he’s got the opportunity to develop a steady rhythm and hopefully capitalize on the opportunity. He could be a key player for this team down the stretch this season, and into the future as well.
What’s Next
The Mavs (23-35) will play the Miami Heat (26-32) on Monday at American Airlines Center at 7:30 p.m. Central.
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