
Luka ‘Magic’ strikes again. The young superstar led the Mavericks to victory against the Pelicans with 49 points, 15 rebounds, and 8 assists game. With the win, the Mavs get closer to catching up to the 4th seed Utah Jazz. Luka was amazing as usual but he also had help from his teammates Dorian Finney-Smith (14 points), Jalen Brunson (23 points and 6 assists), and Maxi Kleber (20 points). While the game was close throughout, the Mavericks never trailed in the game.
The Pelicans played very well and were led by the 38 point performance from CJ McCollum. The Pelicans had 5 other players in double digits – Brandon Ingram (12 points and 8 assists), Jaxson Hayes (18 points), Jonas Valanciunas (16 points and 18 rebounds), Tony Snell (11 points), and Devonte Graham ( 12 points and 5 rebounds). CJ had 25 points in the second half but despite a good team performance it wasn’t enough to offset Luka’s 49 points.
The Pelicans are currently in the 12th position in the west and have struggled throughout the season. A major issue the organization and team face is the absence of their young star Zion Williamson. Zion was drafted by the Pelicans as the first pick in the 2019 draft and came into the league with a lot of hype. His insane athleticism at his size was amazing and he was said to be a combination of Hall of Famers Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal. Zion was supposed to be the face of the league once LeBron retired but he has missed more games than he has played in his career and it doesn’t look like the Pelicans will get him back any time soon.
With the win, the Mavs have established themselves as a top 6 team in the western conference. The Mavericks are playing some great basketball under the lead of Head coach Jason Kidd this season and are going to be a tough team to beat in the playoffs. The team has built well around Luka but will need a second superstar to be in contention for a championship. In the league today every major contender has at least one superstar and if the Mavericks are this good with just a single superstar, their ceiling is unimaginable if they can pair Luka up with another star that can compliment his game.