The New Orleans Pelicans (31-34, 20-11 Home) host the Dallas Mavericks (34-32, 12-19 Away) Wednesday at Smoothie King Center. Dallas is playing on back-to-back days after beating the Utah Jazz 120-116 at American Airlines Center yesterday.
Kyrie Irving led the way with 33 points, eight assists, and six rebounds. The Mavericks are the seventh seed in the Western Conference. New Orleans fell short on Monday at Golden 1 Center, falling to the Sacramento Kings 123-108.
Brandon Ingram led the team in scoring in the losing effort with 24 points. With 19 points, 12 rebounds, and three assists, Jonas Valanciunas also played a part.
The Pelicans are 12th in the Western Conference. It’s the last meeting of the season between the teams. New Orleans will be looking to even the season series after winning only one of the three prior matchups.
Dallas won the last showdown 111-106 at American Airlines Center on February 2. Luka Doncic led the Mavericks with 31 points and eight rebounds. Ingram had 26 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists in the loss.Doncic is averaging 33.3 points per game, second-highest in the league, to lead the Mavs in scoring this season.
Doncic also is contributing 8.0 assists, sixth-most in the NBA, and 8.7 rebounds per game. CJ McCollum’s 21.0 points per game have powered the Pels on offense. McCollum also has doled out 5.8 assists per game. Valanciunas has averaged 9.7 rebounds per game. The teams have split their last 10 meetings at Smoothie King Center (5-5).
Meanwhile, the Mavericks are 2-8 when playing two days in a row this season and 2-5 in such games against rested opponents. The Pelicans are 4-2 with a rest advantage. Dallas is 4-6 in the last 10 games with an average margin of +1.9 (123.1-121.2).
For the season, the Mavericks are averaging 114.1 points per game, compared to 113.2 for opponents. New Orleans has gone 3-7 over the last 10, allowing 113.0 points per game on average while scoring only 106.5 (-6.5 margin). The Pelicans are averaging 114.1 ppg for the full season while allowing 113.6.
MAVERICKS HOT/COLD
(Last Five | Season Average | Differential)
Points + Rebounds + Assists:
Christian Wood: 17.6 | 26.5 | -8.9
Points per game:
Christian Wood: 12.0 | 17.2 | -5.2
Rebounds per game:
Christian Wood: 5.0 | 7.7 | -2.7
Assists per game:
Kyrie Irving: 7.0 | 5.5 | +1.5
PELICANS HOT/COLD
(Last Five | Season Average | Differential)
Points + Rebounds + Assists:
Larry Nance Jr.: 1.0 | 15.5 | -14.5
Rebounds per game:
Willy Hernangomez: 7.0 | 5.2 | +1.8
Larry Nance Jr.: 1.0 | 5.9 | -4.9
SportsTips’ NBA Pick:
Dallas Mavs (-140)
Want up to a $1K risk free bet for this pick?
Claim with 
today!
If you need more news, information and predictions, head over to our NBA hub page for all your basketball needs!
*Odds correct at time of publication, courtesy of BetMGM.
