Mavericks at Pelicans
Kristaps Porzingis was finally back on the court for a regular season game after missing about 20 months with a knee injury and looked like he never left, scoring 23 points in his debut with the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday. Porzingis, the former fourth-overall pick in the 2015 draft by New York, will try to match that performance when the Mavericks visit the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night.
“It’s finally here,” the 7-3 Porzingis told reporters after draining three 3-pointers and grabbing four rebounds in 29 minutes of the 108-100 victory over Washington in the opener. “I just want to enjoy the moment. I don’t want to put too much pressure on myself when I’m out here. Most importantly I’m here to win. I’m not here to chase something individually.” Second-year NBA pro Luka Doncic poured in 34 points and recorded nine rebounds to lead the way Wednesday for Dallas, which has missed the playoffs three straight seasons while averaging 30 victories. New Orleans, which is without 2019 first-overall pick Zion Williamson for about six weeks due to a knee injury, took reigning NBA champion Toronto to overtime Tuesday before falling 130-122 on the road as newcomer Brandon Ingram scored a team-best 22 points. “We played hard, but we’ve also got to play smart,” Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry told reporters. “We didn’t play smart down the stretch there.”
TV: 8 p.m. ET, ESPN, FS Southwest (Dallas), FS New Orleans
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (1-0): Tim Hardaway Jr. was held to 2-of-7 shooting and missed all five of his 3-point tries in the opener off the bench, but the ankle sprain he suffered in the second quarter does not appear serious after he returned later in the game. Dallas received at least nine points from four different players off the bench Wednesday, including Justin Jackson and Dorian Finney-Smith (eight rebounds) with 10 each. Power forward Dwight Powell (hamstring) is expected to miss his second straight contest and third-year pro Maxi Kleber started the opener, grabbing eight rebounds without scoring in 24 minutes.
ABOUT THE PELICANS (0-1): The three players acquired from the Los Angeles Lakers in the Anthony Davis trade combined for 45 points in the opener as Josh Hart scored 15 off the bench and Lonzo Ball contributed eight to support Ingram’s performance. Newcomer J.J. Redick connected on 4-of-6 from 3-point range and Italian rookie Nicolo Melli made 4-of-5 from behind the arc in his NBA debut Wednesday as New Orleans drained 19-of-45 from long range. Rookie guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who scored in double figures in all five preseason games, struggled to a 1-for-10 shooting performance in the opener.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. New Orleans F Derrick Favors, who spent the last eight-plus seasons with Utah, had six points and seven rebounds in his debut with the team.
2. Dallas’ starting Gs Delon Wright and Courtney Lee combined for just nine points in the season opener.
3. The Pelicans won three of the four meetings last season and have been victorious in five of the past six.