Sports
Pelicans hold off a late Mavericks push to win 101-97 in Dallas
New Orleans beat Dallas 101-97 as the Mavericks sat Cooper Flagg and Kyrie Irving. A late rally by the Dallas reserves fell three points short.
Dallas fans got their first home look at the new season Wednesday night. They did not get to see Cooper Flagg or Kyrie Irving.
With both stars sitting the New Orleans Pelicans beat the Mavericks 101-97 at American Airlines Center. New Orleans is 2-1 in the preseason and Dallas fell to 1-2.
A strong close to the half
The Mavericks also held out rookie Morez Johnson Jr. and center Daniel Gafford. P.J. Washington and Naji Marshall played under 20 minutes each and scored eight points combined. Dallas pulled within three late in the second quarter before New Orleans closed the half on a 9-1 run. Bennedict Mathurin scored through contact with one second left for a 56-45 lead.
Jeremiah Fears, Zion Williamson and Yves Missi pushed the lead back to double digits in the third. The Pelicans took a 75-63 edge into the fourth.
The bench almost steals it
The Dallas reserves made it interesting. Trailing 95-86 with about three minutes left they cut the gap to 98-95 on a Tarik Biberovic three, four straight Seth Lundy free throws and a Lundy steal and dunk. John Poulakidas hit a pull-up jumper with nine seconds left to make it 100-97 but time ran out.
Tobi Lawal led the Mavericks with 16 points on just six shots and went 8-of-8 at the line. Rookie Sergio de Larrea had 10 points, six assists and four rebounds in 30 minutes. Dallas made only 10 of its 49 three-point tries.
The Mavericks play Atlanta on Friday and open the regular season Oct. 21 in Houston.
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