Mavericks at Pelicans
The New Orleans Pelicans are losers of three straight since Ryan Anderson went down with a herniated disc in his neck and are having trouble making up for Anderson’s scoring. The Pelicans will attempt to end the slide when they open up a home-and-home set by hosting the Dallas Mavericks on Friday. New Orleans is averaging 88 points in three games without Anderson and had a four-game home winning streak come to an end with a 102-96 loss to Washington on Wednesday.
The Mavericks are stumbling along with losses in three of their last four games and had a four-game road winning streak halted in a 112-90 loss at San Antonio on Wednesday. Dirk Nowitzki posted a season-low eight points on 3-of-14 shooting in the setback and missed both of his 3-point attempts. “It was ugly from the get-go,” Nowitzki said. “Offensively, we couldn’t get any bounces and couldn’t get anything to go but kind of hung in there, surprisingly.”
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FSN Southwest (Dallas), FSN New Orleans
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (20-16): Dallas is missing forward Shawn Marion due to a bruised right shoulder and ribs and missed his presence on defense and on the glass against the Spurs. “You know, at this point we’re getting into mid-January and there’s going to be games missed all across the league,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “We’ve got to have other guys ready to step forward.” The Mavericks pushed Wayne Ellington into Marion’s starting spot and gave plenty of time to Jae Crowder against San Antonio and will go with a combination of the two again on Friday.
ABOUT THE PELICANS (15-19): Marion likely would have chased Anderson around the perimeter had the two been available. Instead, New Orleans will again lean on big man Anthony Davis while hoping for more out of the backcourt duo of Eric Gordon and Jrue Holiday. Gordon put up 23 points in the 102-96 loss to the Wizards but Holiday was held to eight points on 3-of-11 shooting - his fourth straight game failing to score in double figures.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Mavericks have taken four straight in the series, including a 100-97 win at the Pelicans on Dec. 4.
2. New Orleans G Tyreke Evans went 0-for-5 in the last game and is shooting 28 percent over the last three contests.
3. Dallas G Vince Carter is 5-for-9 from 3-point range in the last two games.