Davis leads Pelicans past Mavs
NEW ORLEANS -- Anthony Davis scored 28 points, including nine in the final six minutes, to lift the New Orleans Pelicans to a 111-104 victory over the Dallas Mavericks Monday night at the Smoothie King Center.
Davis also grabbed 16 rebounds, while Langston Galloway made all five of his 3-point attempts and scored 17 points for New Orleans (12-21).
In winning for the third time in four games, the Pelicans made 12 of 25 3-pointers and placed six players in double figures. E'Twaun Moore finished with 16 points, Buddy Hield 14, Dante Cunningham 11 and Solomon Hill 10.
The Mavericks (9-22) saw their modest two-game winning streak end. Guard Deron Williams scored 24 points and handed out nine assists to top Dallas.
Galloway's fourth 3-pointer of the game put the Pelicans on top 88-77 early in the fourth quarter, but Williams hit back-to-back 3-pointers to draw Dallas within 95-94 with 4:35 left.
The Pelicans widened their lead to 85-77 with a 30-point third quarter, highlighted by making 5 of 8 from behind the arc. Galloway led the way with a pair of 3-pointers, and Hill, Hield and Moore had one each.
Davis scored 15 points and grabbed five rebounds in leading the Pelicans to a 55-53 first-half lead. The Pelicans shot 57 percent from the floor (21 of 37), but the Mavericks weren't far behind at 56 percent (20 of 36).
Williams scored 11 first-half points, including one basket that went in when he was throwing a lob pass toward center Salah Mejri, which gave Dallas a 41-40 lead.
For the game, New Orleans outshot Dallas from the floor 52.9 percent to 49.3 percent.
On his second game back from a strained right Achilles, Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki played 17 minutes in the first half and scored 10 points and had four assists. Nowitzki, who had missed 14 games with the Achilles injury, stayed in the locker room at halftime to do cardio work and didn't appear in the second half.
NOTES: Pelicans F Terrence Jones returned after missing Friday's 91-87 victory over Miami with stomach problems. He scored five points. ... New Orleans coach Alvin Gentry said his team needs to make a move during its current five-game homestand. "I'm not going to shy away from that at all," Gentry said. "It's very important that we find ways to win games. There's no getting around it at all. We got off to a bad start ... and we have an opportunity playing at home to make up a little ground." ... Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said Pelicans F Anthony Davis continues to impress him with the advancement in his game. "Big problems on both ends," Carlisle said. "(The Pelicans) are second in the league in blocks, which is in large part because of him." Davis blocked two shots Monday.