Luka Doncic carries offense, but poor defensive start sinks Mavs vs. Zion-less Pelicans

NEW ORLEANS — With a few minutes remaining in the Mavericks’ game against the New Orleans Pelicans Tuesday night, the half-full Smoothie King Center crowd reached peak volume.

They chanted to the Pelicans: “De-fense!” “De-fense!” “De-fense!”

If only the Mavericks had received the same reminder.

Dallas lost 113-111 to the short-handed Pelicans in a game lacking significant starpower and the significant defensive emphasis the Mavericks have cultivated under coach Jason Kidd.

They allowed 40 points in the first quarter to fall behind 16 points in the first 14 minutes and allowed seven Pelicans — in a lineup missing three starters, including superstar Zion Williamson — to reach double-digit scoring.

Another dominant offensive effort from Luka Doncic (37 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists) and Christian Wood (23 points, six rebounds) didn’t mask the Mavericks’ soft interior defense and lapses in clutch time.

Two losses in the first three games.

Two would-be Doncic game-winning clangs from deep on the left wing at the final buzzer.

After Maxi Kleber hit a pair of free throws with 3:08 remaining to cut the Mavericks’ deficit to 109-107, the Mavericks missed their next four shot attempts — two from Doncic and Dinwiddie from three and two from Dorian Finney-Smith and Reggie Bullock at the rim — while New Orleans expanded the lead to five.

Signs of the aggressive offense that helped them overcome a 16-point deficit in the second quarter waned.

Doncic broke the drought with a spin move in the paint to cut the score to 112-109 with 30.8 seconds remaining, and then took the next possession straight to the paint for an easy layup with four seconds remaining.

Devonte Graham appeared to help Dallas’ chances, too.

The Mavericks fouled the reserve Pelicans guard with 3.2 seconds remaining, and Graham made his first free throw and missed the second.

Wood grabbed the rebound with 2.7 seconds left, immediately calling timeout to allow Dallas to advance possession past halfcourt.

Kidd lamented the Mavericks’ spacing after their second-half slide against the Phoenix Suns ended on a long Doncic 3-point heave from his left-wing sweet spot. He’d hoped teammates would allow Doncic better spacing and room to execute in a two-point game.

Little changed six days later.

Doncic got off a shot, but it bounced off the front of the rim.

He walked off the court, straight to the locker room, shaking his head and raising his arms, as if in disbelief.

Few likely expected such a close game in the star-studded matchup that wasn’t.

On the daily injury report Monday, the Pelicans placed All-Star win Brandon Ingram in concussion protocol, ruling him out against the Mavericks, and listed superstar Zion Williamson (hip and back injuries) and standout defender Herb Jones (right knee hyperextension) as questionable.

The Mavericks formed their game plan at practice Monday and during a team meeting at the hotel Tuesday morning as with the assumption Williamson and Jones would be active.

That all changed a couple hours later.

New Orleans downgraded Williamson and Jones to out after their morning shootaround, forcing Dallas to re-distribute their matchup strategy and costing fans of the Mavericks, Pelicans and high-level basketball yet another Luka-Zion clash.

Since his 2019 arrival in the NBA, Williamson has missed nine of 12 games against Dallas. The last that he played (March 27, 2021), Doncic was absent with an illness.

The two superstars haven’t gone head-to-head since Feb. 12, 2021, and won’t have the chance again until, at the earliest, Jan. 7, 2023, in American Airlines Center.

Health-willing.

Dallas is sure to emphasize more consistent defense then.

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