Mavericks at Pelicans
The New Orleans Pelicans won’t have Anthony Davis around for awhile but Ryan Anderson will do his best to fill the void. Anderson will look to follow up a career-high 36-point effort when the Pelicans host the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday. Anderson played 57 of a possible 63 minutes in Monday’s 131-128 triple-overtime victory over the Chicago Bulls and knocked down seven 3-pointers en route to his second straight 30-plus effort.
Anderson took over the starting spot vacated by Davis, who is out 4-to-6 weeks with a broken hand, and helped lead New Orleans to its third straight win. The Mavericks will counter Anderson with Dirk Nowitzki, who put the team on his back down the stretch of an 89-82 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats on Tuesday. The former MVP scored 14 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter as Dallas won for the second time in its last six games.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FSN Southwest (Dallas), FSN New Orleans
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (11-8): Nowitzki went 1-for-10 in the first half on Tuesday only to turn around and hit 9-of-11 after the break to pull Dallas out of its funk. “I don’t know if I was bending my knees enough in the first half,” Nowitzki said. “I thought I had some good looks but something was a little off. … So at halftime I went out a little early and focused myself to really bend the knees and get a little lift on the jumper.” The Mavericks are opening up a four-game road trip with New Orleans that includes stops at Golden State and Portland.
ABOUT THE PELICANS (9-8): Anderson will attempt to match Nowitzki shot for shot while the responsibility for stopping Monta Ellis will likely fall to Jrue Holiday. The point guard is shaking off his rough start and is putting up 16.7 points and 11.3 assists during New Orleans’ three-game winning streak. Holiday knocked down the game-winning jumper with four seconds left in the third overtime on Monday. “To tell you the truth, I just wanted the game to be over,” Holiday said. “I don’t think I’ve ever been that wide open with four seconds left.”
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Mavericks took the final three meetings last season by an average of 11.3 points.
2. Anderson is averaging 11.1 points in 10 career games against the Mavericks.
3. Dallas PG Jose Calderon is 8-for-12 from 3-point range in his last two games.