Pelicans off the mark with Mavs win

The New Orleans Pelicans snapped a six-game losing start to the season with a 120-105 victory over Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday, but celebrations for a first win of the campaign were muted in the wake of an injury to Andrew Davis.

Star forward Davis suffered a right hip contusion at the conclusion of the first half and did not return. He was not on the bench during the second half nor in the locker room after the game. X-rays came back negative.

“He got hit with a knee,” Pelican coach Alvin Gentry told reporters, adding he was not sure if Davis would make the trip to Atlanta for Wednesday’s game against Hawks.

“Such is life,” he added with a wry smile.

Ryan Anderson recorded his first double-double of the season, scoring 25 points and grabbing 11 rebounds off the bench to lead New Orleans.

Davis, Eric Gordon, Ish Smith and Toney Douglas scored 17 apiece for Pelicans, while Jrue Holiday added 10 points in a little more than 15 minutes.

“Obviously, when [Davis] goes out, guys have to step up,” Anderson said. “We did that. I mean you go down the line, guys really just played their hearts out.”

Dirk Nowitzki scored 18 points to lead Mavericks, who have lost three of their past four games.

Charlie Villaneuva added 15 points, Zaza Pachulia 12, Justin Anderson 11 and Dwight Powell and J.J. Barea 10 apiece for Dallas, who trailed 58-40 after two quarters and by as many as 28 in the second half.

Nowitzki played a little more than five minutes in the second half, all coming early in the third quarter when he scored nine points, but Dallas was still unable to pose a threat.

“Overall, just not good enough tonight,” Nowitzki said. “We had some great looks. We finished the [first] half brutal. We had to put some stops together, and we did not do that.”

The Mavericks, who missed numerous uncontested shots throughout the game, were 5-of-20 in three-point attempts and shot 44 per cent from the field.

Testimony to their hustle and sense of urgency, Pelicans out-scored Dallas 23-9 in fast break points.

“We have to do a [heck] of a lot better,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. “We missed some open shots. Their level of force was higher without question.”

Dallas got off to perhaps it worst start of the season and never recovered and even with Davis sidelined, Pelicans out-scored Dallas 36-35 in the third quarter to enter the final period with a 19-point lead.

“That is very important in every game, to get that fast start and create that tempo,” Gordon said. “We wanted to play fast.”