NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Kyrie Irving made 7 of 10 3-pointers and scored 35 points, Luka Doncic had 15 of his 30 points in a 42-point third quarter and the Dallas Mavericks beat the short-handed New Orleans Pelicans 136-124 on Sunday night.
In the first of two straight games between the teams in New Orleans, the Mavericks shot 20 of 53 from long range. Dallas iced it in the third quarter, making 8 of 13 3-pointers and outscoring the Pelicans 42-31.
Doncic was 11 of 18 from the field and made 4 of 9 from long range.
Brandon Ingram led New Orleans with 20 points and Zion Williamson had 18. The Pelicans, without the injured CJ McCollum, Herb Jones and Trey Murphy, have lost five straight.
For the second consecutive game, Irving sizzled from the outset, scoring 22 first-half points on 8-of-13 shooting to help the Mavericks take a 67-54 lead. Irving beat the halftime buzzer with a 3-pointer from the right corner.
In a 144-126 home victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday night, Irving had 20 points in the first half and finished with 27.
Dallas took its biggest lead of the half, 56-40, with 5:28 left in the half on the strength of back-to-back 3-pointers by Irving and another by Doncic.
UP NEXT
The teams will meet again Tuesday night in the NBA In-Season Tournament.
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
