Pelicans at Mavericks
The New Orleans debut of All-Star center DeMarcus Cousins was a tremendous disappointment and the Pelicans hope for a much better showing when they visit the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday. New Orleans acquired Cousins from the Sacramento Kings on Sunday to team with All-Star Game MVP Anthony Davis and the Pelicans were drubbed 129-99 by the Houston Rockets on Thursday in the duo's first game together.
Davis (29) and Cousins (27) combined for 56 points on Thursday and Cousins said the expectations regarding his debut were highly unrealistic. "For some reason, I guess people expected a championship," Cousins told reporters afterward. "I know the reality of it. We've had one practice and a shootaround. This isn't something that is just going to happen overnight. Do we look good on paper? Yes. But being good on paper doesn't win games." Dallas has dropped three straight games and five of its last seven after suffering a 97-84 road loss against Minnesota on Friday. Mavericks guard Seth Curry put on a show his famous brother Stephen could appreciate by scoring a career-best 31 points on 13-of-17 shooting.
TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, FSN New Orleans, FSN Southwest (Dallas)
ABOUT THE PELICANS (23-35): New Orleans gave up three guards -- Buddy Hield, Tyreke Evans and Langston Galloway -- in the deal for Cousins and the lack of backcourt players contributed to 20 turnovers against the Rockets. Coach Alvin Gentry was dismayed over the high amount of miscues and expects to see them decrease in back-to-back road games against Dallas and the Oklahoma City Thunder. "We had so many glaring turnovers that, to me, were unforced," Gentry told reporters. "There's a difference between when somebody makes a good defensive play and you turn the ball over and when we put ourselves in harm's way. I thought we put ourselves in harm's way quite a bit."
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (22-35): Dallas acquired center Nerlens Noel from the Philadelphia 76ers prior to Thursday's trading deadline and the expectation is that he will be available for Saturday's contest. The Mavericks expect Noel to be the starting center in the very near future, which would allow veteran Dirk Nowitzki to move back to his natural position of power forward. "Nerlens Noel gives us something we desperately need - a young big who is a high-level rim protector and lob threat and has a high basketball IQ," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle told reporters. "We look forward to getting him to Dallas and integrated with our team as soon as possible."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Pelicans posted a 111-104 win over the Mavericks on Dec. 26 after dropping 11 of the previous 14 meetings.
2. Nowitzki scored eight points on 4-of-14 shooting against Minnesota after averaging 20.2 over the previous five games.
3. New Orleans signed veteran G Jarrett Jack and F Reggie Williams to 10-day contracts and released F Omri Casspi (broken thumb in team debut on Thursday).