DALLAS, TX—Get your popcorn ready! It’s the Dallas Mavericks (16-7) against the New Orleans Pelicans (10-10) at the American Airlines Center tonight at 7:00 PM on ESPN. (Note: First 5,000 get a Tyson Chandler bobblehead) Last night, our beloved Mavs lost to the Memphis Grizzlies 114-105, falling to 6-4 in their past 10 games. Anthony “Unibrow” Davis and the Pelicans are currently riding a two-game win streakafter beating the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday night and the New York Knicks on Sunday night.

 

	Mavericks Projected Starters	Pelicans Projected Starters
PG	Jameer Nelson 7.2 PPG, 4.4 APG, 2.6 RPG	Jrue Holiday 15.1 PPG, 6.6 APG, 3.5 RPG
SG	Monta Ellis 21.2 PPG, 4.6 APG, 2.6 RPG	Tyreke Evans 15.8 PPG, 5.9 APG, 5.6 RPG
SF	Chandler Parsons 15.5 PPG, 2.3 APG, 5.1 RPG	Luke Babbitt 3.7 PPG, 0.5 APG, 1.9 RPG
PF	Dirk Nowitzki 19.2 PPG, 2.3 APG, 5.6 RPG	Anthony Davis 24.8 PPG, 10.6 RPG, 2.9 BPG
C	Tyson Chandler 11.3 PPG, 11.9 RPG, 1.5 BPG	Omer Asik 8.4 PPG, 10.7 RPG, 0.9 BPG

 

Defending Anthony Davis

Last month, ESPN wrote an article detailing how Davis is poised to surpass Lebron James as the next “King” of the NBA due to inevitable decline of Lebron’s athleticism at age 30 and Davis’ unique size and skill set. While no one is quite ready to dethrone the “King” (except for maybe the United Kingdom), at 21-years-old Anthony Davis has us all raising our eyebrow(s). This season, the Kentucky product is leading the NBA with a point efficiency rating of 32.78, while scoring 24.8 points, grabbing 10.6 rebounds and a league-leading 2.9 blocks per game.  At 6’10,” 230 pounds Davis has a wingspan of nearly seven and a half feet. This offseason Davis added nearly 10 pounds of muscle to his wiry frame and has vastly improved his mid-range jump shot. So how do the Mavs defend him? The answer is they can’t. They can only hope to contain him. And that’s all they’ll need to do because the Pelicans have Davis and not much else. The next best player on the roster, shooting guard Eric Gordon, is out with torn labrum in his shoulder. Then there’s Tyreke Evans, a former lottery pick who’s been converted from a point guard to a small forward. The Pelicans also roll out Jrue Holiday, Ryan Anderson and Omer Asik who are all solid NBA players, but you have to like your chances against them if you’re the Mavs.

 

Long Term Plan

Tonight’s match up presents yet another opportunity for the Mavs to run the table against a bottom-feeding team. While another win will be a great for the team’s overall record, it’s time for the Rick Carlisle and the Mavs to initiate plans to build a healthier long-term identity. The Mavs live and die by the three point shot, averaging the second most three-point attempts per game in the NBA (27.7 for 34.9%). While that’s great for now, the championship formula built on jacking up threes (See: 2007 Golden State Warriors) simply does not work in the playoffs.

 

Last night, the Mavs shot 59% on threes in the first half. Then, the dreaded third quarter came and the Mavs did what most shooting teams eventually do, they went completely cold. The three-point shooting offense the Mavs have created works wonders in the regular season because it’s the perfect bail out shot that supplies a high reward while keeping precious energy at bay for the grind of an 82-game season. This high-risk high-reward offense seems to translate to the defensive end for the Mavs as well. Currently, they are last in the entire league at defending the three, allowing opponents to shot 40.2%. Even, the 2-18 Philadelphia 76ers (34.1%) defend the three better than the Mavs. The Philadelphia 76ers!

 

With a quarter of the season in the bag, it’s time the Mavs start to refine their team into an efficient half-court offense that grinds out efficient, high percentage shots.

 

Injuries

Mavs: Raymond Felton (ankle sprain) is questionable. Rick Carlisle says Felton is close and should be ready to go any day now.

Monta Ellis is dealing with a sore right elbow issue that clearly contributed to his poor shooting performance last night, but don’t expect him to miss any games.

Pelicans: Eric Gordon (torn left labrum) is out.

 

All-Time Series

The Mavericks lead the all-time series, 34-15 (49 games).  The Mavs won the first meeting between the two teams this in New Orleans, 109-104 and swept the season series, 4-0, last year.

 

Outlook

Last night, Monta Ellis and Dirk Nowitzki combined to shoot 5 for 28 (17.8%) from the field for 13 points. That’s not happening tonight and hopefully will never happen again. Expect them both to bounce back with big games in a match up that the Mavs should coast in.

 

Team Comparison	Mavericks	Pelicans
Points	110.4 (1st)	100.6 (17th)
Rebounds	42.0 (16th)	43.4 (13th)
Assists	23.8 (7th)	22.1 (12th)
Points Allowed	103.0 (24th)	99.9 (15th)

 

Next Up:

The Golden State Warriors visit the American Airlines Center on Saturday, December 13 at 1:00 PM on Fox Sports South West.

 

Photo Credit: Danny Bollinger/Mavs.com; Derick E. Hingle/USA TODAY Sports