Kyrie Irving, Tim Hardaway Jr. Score Combined 83 Points, Lead Mavs Victory vs. Pelicans

The Mavs received 83 points combined from Kyrie Irving and Tim Hardaway Jr. in the team's victory over the Pelicans without Luka Doncic.

DALLAS — The Dallas Mavericks (24-17) took care of business against the New Orleans Pelicans (24-17) on Monday afternoon by achieving a 125-120 victory. With Luka Doncic sidelined due to a left ankle sprain, Kyrie Irving and Tim Hardaway Jr. set the tone, combining to score 83 points. Irving accounted for 42 points, while Hardaway scored a season-high 41. 

It was the second time in Mavs history multiple players scored 40 or more points in the same game, which was achieved by Irving and Doncic last season in a 133-126 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on March 3 — Doncic scored 42 points, while Irving had 40. Hardaway's 41 points came one point shy of tying his career high for points in a game while coming one made 3-pointer away from doing the same. 

"It's the second time in franchise history that two guys scored 40 points. Last year, Kai (Kyrie Irving) and Luka did it," Mavs coach Jason Kidd said. "This afternoon, Timmy (Tim Hardaway Jr.) was huge for us — he kept us in there, he made some big shots. But Kai was steady the whole afternoon; he just took what they gave him. He's been doing this on this homestand. He's leading us, and guys are following. He puts us in a position to win."

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With Dereck Lively II back in the Mavs' lineup, along with no shortage of Pelicans key players back from injury, including Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram, C.J. McCollum, and Trey Murphy III, Dallas opted to deploy a bigger lineup with Maxi Kleber and Lively in the frontcourt with Derrick Jones Jr. ruled out due to a right calf contusion. 

"We didn't run him into the ground this afternoon. But his offensive rebounds — they gave us second opportunities — and then his defensive rebounds were huge for us, which we missed in that first game," Kidd said of Lively. "I thought late in the game, he came up with some great opportunities for us to get second or third opportunities at the basket, which we needed. Just his presence on the floor_ the guys trust him. For his first game back for a while, I thought he did great. We missed him and we're happy that he's back."

The Pelicans started doubling Irving midway through the period, but he countered on a momentum-boosting play by giving up the ball, spacing on the weak side, and then letting it fly quickly on a catch-and-shoot look. His make from deep put the Mavs up 19-7 and forced a timeout with 4:07 left in the period. 

Hardaway had a solid start to help set the tone, scoring 10 points in the first quarter, including a momentum-boosting 3-pointer to push the Mavs' lead to 33-17 before the end of the first quarter. It was a strong start for Dallas that did not last, with New Orleans scoring a game-high 42 points in the second quarter compared to just 26 for the Mavs, setting up the Pelicans to manage the game. 

The Pelicans answered quickly with Irving on the sideline early in the second period, cutting the Mavs' lead to 35-26 with 10:10 left before Irving returned to the lineup. New Orleans' momentum continued, taking a 36-35 lead at the 8:55 mark of the second quarter after pulling off a massive 19-2 run to start the period. Dallas went from leading by as many as 16 points to having it wiped away in about three minutes.

New Orleans was aggressive with hedging against small-small screens and double screening actions to make it harder for Irving to create an advantage. The Pelicans also deployed late doubles after switching. The goal was to mix it up throughout the game. Hardaway's shooting was instrumental, but the rest of the unit could not make a consistent impact to alleviate pressure. 

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Irving began to find a rhythm late in the half, hitting a tough pull-up in the paint over Dyson Daniels, then playing out of triple threat with the jab for a corner 3-pointer. The sequence brought the Mavs within one point (52-51) with 3:24 left in the half. 

After an offensive rebound, A.J. Lawson converted from beyond the arc to give the Mavs a 57-55 lead late in the second quarter. The score ended up being tied 59-59 at the break, with Hardaway (24 points) and Irving (18 points) combining for 42 of Dallas' points, with none of their teammates reaching the five-point threshold.

“He’s having an incredible stretch right now. He is making a lot of right reads. He is taking some tough shots for sure," Irving said of Hardaway. "I think he is right in his wheelhouse of allowing the work to translate into success on the court. You are watching him make a lot of opportunities for himself and be highly efficient at it. I’m happy for him.”

Irving was fouled on a 3-point attempt and made all three free throws, pushing the Mavs back into the lead. He continued to make plays, converting a step-back 3-pointer, but the Pelicans had an answer for each of the Mavs' scoring plays. New Orleans led 90-82 after a breakaway dunk in transition, prompting Dallas to call a timeout with 3:58 remaining in the third quarter. 

After falling to grab a defensive rebound, the Mavs gave Jordan Hawkins a wide-open look from beyond the arc to put the Pelicans up by double figures late in the third period. Hardaway answered with a 3-pointer before the end of the frame, resulting in Dallas trailing 99-92 to start the fourth quarter. New Orleans managed to score 40 points or more for back-to-back periods. 

Irving and Hardaway provided their best effort to give the Mavs a spark offensively throughout the fourth quarter, combining to score 20 of the team's 33 points. The main push came midway through the period when a series of offensive rebounds from Lively and active player and ball movement created a catch-and-shoot 3-ponter from Hardaway. After knocking the shot down, Dallas trailed 111-109 with 4:52 still to play but solidified prime position to turn the tide.

Another make from Hardaway on a following possession put the Mavs in the lead, created again by an offensive rebound from Lively. Grant Williams continued the run with a made 3-pointer, followed by Irving getting into short-range for a pull-up jumper to answer New Orleans' made basket on the other end. After Irving split a pair of free throws and Lively hauled in a defensive rebound to complete a defensive stop, Green hit a corner 3-pointer on the weak side to push the Mavs' advantage to 121-115 with 1:27 in regulation. 

Williamson managed to pull off an and-one using a floater to put pressure on the Mavs. However, after Ingram's short-range jumper cut it to two points with 43.1 seconds remaining, Dallas intentionally fouled Williamson, who then split a pair of free throws. Irving was intentionally fouled after receiving the inbounds pass, and he made both of his attempts, putting the Mavs up 123-120. 

"Yeah, that was the plan. One, if you let him get going, it's hard to foul him when he can get a continuation," Kidd said of fouling Williamson. "Maxi [Kleber] did the right thing and fouled him. We believed [that] if he made both, we have the ball with 15 seconds left to win. It was playing the percentages here a little bit if he missed one. Then the goal was if he did miss both, we would have to come up with that rebound. I thought the guys did a great job of executing late on both ends, defensively and offensively."

A defensive stop on the other end on an Ingram 3-point attempt, followed by Kleber making two free throws, clinched the victory. Dallas achieved its 14th clutch victory of the season, ranking third in the NBA for total clutch wins while trailing only the Minnesota Timberwolves in clutch winning percentage.

Aside from the Mavs' explosive scoring performances from Irving and Hardaway, the team received a double-figure performance from Josh Green, who totaled 13 points, four rebounds, and three assists overall. Irving had a well-rounded outing, providing seven rebounds and seven assists in addition to his 42 points. Lively racked up six points, 12 rebounds, and one assist overall, with seven of his boards coming on the offensive glass. 

There was a significant disparity in perimeter shooting execution between the two teams. Hardaway personally accounted for made 3-pointers (nine) than the Pelicans (seven), while Dallas had 18 makes from deep on the night. New Orleans shot 30.4 percent from the perimeter, while the Mavs converted at a 41.9 percent clip. 

Not only did the Mavs strongly outperform the Pelicans in the perimeter shooting department, but the disparity in offensive rebounding was a significant factor. Lively personally accounted for seven of Dallas' 13 offensive rebounds, proving to be a driving force in a 17-to-8 edge in second-chance scoring. Both teams had a high volume of free throw attempts, with the Pelicans shooting 31-41 (75.6 percent) and the Mavs going 29-35 (82.9 percent). 

Williamson led the Pelicans with 30 points, while McCollum added another 23. Other double-figure scorers included Muprhy (14 points), Nance (14 points), Ingram (12 points) and Jones (10 points). New Orleans was highly efficient inside the 3-point line, scoring 60 points in the paint. 

After defeating the Pelicans, the Mavs completed a seven-game homestand with a 5-2 record. While the nature of the two losses they had were disappointing since it was against a shorthanded Memphis Grizzlies squad and against the Pelicans without many key players, the team had highly impressive wins along the way. 

"It was a hell of a homestand – 5 and 2. That's a positive. That's big no matter who you beat or who you lose to," Kidd said. "When you protect home like that, that's a good sign — especially with the health that we have. It's whoever can play, next man up. I thought we protected home. As much as we can talk about games and the past, we can only learn from those. We can't change the win-loss column. But to protect home the way we did; we've got to be proud of that."

The Mavs return to action on Wednesday when they face the Los Angeles Lakers in part of a two-game Western Conference road trip.