The first quarter was a pretty evenly matched period where both teams were clicking on offense. Luka Doncic had the offense rolling and Dorian Finney-Smith scored 8 points in the first 7 minutes of the game. The Pelicans led the Mavericks by only a point, 32-31, after the opening 12 minutes of the game.
The story of the game is all in the 2nd quarter where the New Orleans Pelicans outscored the Dallas Mavericks 37-22. The Mavericks found themselves with a lid on the basket as they missed jumper after jumper. The starters struggled to build any chemistry together and the Mavericks super-bench did not look so super.