Dallas Mavericks vs New Orleans Pelicans Prediction: Decimated Pels take on the fire of Doncic

NBA midseason is at the helm and there is no doubt that soon trade rumors will swirl around and the player movement will intensify. A lot of teams need a course correction, some may blow up what they have to acquire fresh talent and picks to build in long term while others can search for the fit of a particular position in hopes of making a substantial run in the second half of the season. Anyway, in this game, the Dallas Mavericks are going to host the New Orleans Pelicans.

The Mavericks enter the game after losing to the Celtics 95:124 despite a 23 points performance by Luka Doncic. Dallas had their six-game winning streak broken and they have now registered 22 wins and 17 losses. Although they did win six in a row, all of the teams except for the Knicks were a below 50% winning squad. Any win is tough but they were certainly helped by an easy window and also some heroics from Doncic who scored 50 or more thrice in that window!

The Mavs have been overly reliant upon Doncic and lack scoring depth at times, especially against tough defensive squads. Their defense has been superb for most parts but the lack of scoring at the Forward positions where the shooting has especially been compromised. Spencer Dinwiddie, Christian Wood, and Tim Hardaway Jr are great supporting scorers but the team goes nowhere if Doncic has an off night, which is rare.

The Pelicans come into this game after suffering a 102:108 loss against the Nets despite a 28 points performance by Off-Guard CJ McCollum. New Orleans has lost three of their last four games but still hold an impressive record of 24 wins and 15 losses. The team had a shocker when they learned Zion Williamson can be out till the end of January, and the squad has already missed Brandon Ingram for more than one and a half month but he is expected to return soon.

CJ’s workload has increased in this window and he will need more support from the bench which has above-average depth but isn’t playing like it did in the first half of the season. Without Williamson, the defensive end can be affected too but the team has tried hard on that end nonetheless. Jonas Valanciunas has not been supplying as many points as needed and he may have to increase his average by 5 points or so.

• Pelicans: OUT: Brandon Ingram, Zion Williamson, EJ Liddell;
• Mavericks: OUT: Maxi Kleber, Dorian Finney-Smith, Josh Green. PROBABLE: Luka Doncic.

• Expected Leading Scorers: Luka Doncic(35-42 Points), CJ McCollum(25-31 Points);
• Expected Leading Rebounders: Jonas Valanciunas(11-16 Rebounds), Luka Doncic(9-11 Rebounds);
• Expected Leading Playmakers: Luka Doncic(9-11 Assists), CJ McCollum(5-7 Assists).

The Pelicans played last night against a physical Nets squad so a back-to-back night situation on the road is as gruesome as it gets, and that without their Aces. And then they are running into Luka Doncic who has been perhaps the frontrunner for the MVP award due to his sheer impact on carrying a rather average squad. Thus, I’d back the Mavs to win big. I predict a scoreline of 120:107 in Dallas’ favor.