New Orleans Pelicans @ Dallas Mavericks
Monday, January 15, 2024 at 2:30 PM ET
American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX | Game ID: 22300556
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
DAL 33 26 33 33 125NOP 17 42 40 21 120
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Kyrie Irving scores 42 and Tim Hardaway Jr. has 41 as Mavs rally past Pelicans 125-120
DALLAS -- — Kyrie Irving is the common denominator in the two games with two 40-point scorers in the history of the Dallas Mavericks .
Fellow All-Star Luka Doncic 's injury opened things for a new partner.
Irving scored 42 points, Tim Hardaway Jr . finished one off his career high with 41 and the Mavericks split a two-game home set with New Orleans by beating the Pelicans 125-120 on Monday.
The 40-point pairing came with Doncic missing a third consecutive game with a sprained ankle. Irving and Doncic were the other pair of 40-point scorers in March.
Hardaway set up the repeat — and clinched his second career 40-point game — with a go-ahead 3-pointer in the fourth quarter. He left the game briefly earlier after mildly spraining an ankle.
“Opportunity presented itself,” Hardaway said. “We keep preaching next-man-up mentality. I wish I had a couple of those shots back. But 41 sounds good.”
Zion Williamson scored 30 points but was 6 of 11 on free throws, including a miss with 17 seconds left when he had a chance to get New Orleans even after Dallas fouled him on purpose near midcourt before he could start one of his smooth left-handed moves to the basket.
The Pelicans finished 31 of 41 at the line.
“It's going to impact every game,” coach Willie Green said. “It's something that we're working on, but we've go step up to the line and make our free throws.”
CJ McCollum scored 23 points for the Pelicans, who won the first game 118-110 despite missing their top three scorers in Williamson, McCollum and Brandon Ingram , who scored 12 points on 3-of-14 shooting, including a miss on a potential tying 3 in the final seconds.
The Mavericks, who were down seven midway through the fourth quarter, got within two on a 3-pointer from Hardaway. He hit another one the next time down to clinch his second career 40-point game and give Dallas a 112-111 lead.
Hardaway went 9 of 15 from long range, finishing one off his career in that category also. Irving bounced back from a rough start shooting to go 13 of 28 from the field.
The pair combined to go 23 of 25 on free throws, with Irving having the two misses, as the Mavericks finished 5-2 on a seven-game homestand, the longest of the season.
“Timmy was huge for us. He made some big shots,” Dallas coach Jason Kidd said. “But Kai was steady the whole afternoon. He's been doing this on this homestand. He's leading us, and guys are following.”
The only other double-figure scorer for Dallas was Josh Green , who finished with 13 and a had a 3 for a six-point Dallas lead with 1:27 remaining before the Pelicans scored the next five points.
Dallas rookie Dereck Lively II returned from a five-game absence with 12 rebounds, including seven offensive boards. Three of those were in the fourth quarter on a pair of possessions that ended with Hardaway 3s.
Trey Murphy III and Larry Nance Jr . scored 14 points each for New Orleans.
UP NEXT
Pelicans: A four-game homestand starts Wednesday against Charlotte.
Mavericks: At the Lakers on Wednesday in the first of two on the West Coast.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
DALAL A. Lawson
DL D. Lively II
DP D. Powell
GW G. Williams
JG J. Green
JH J. Hardy
KI K. Irving
MK M. Kleber
SC S. Curry
TH T. Hardaway Jr.
NOPBI B. Ingram
CM C. McCollum
DD D. Daniels
HJ H. Jones
JH J. Hawkins
JV J. Valančiūnas
LN L. Nance Jr.
NM N. Marshall
TM T. Murphy III
VA Valanciunas
ZW Z. Williamson
DAL/NOP the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur