NBA teams must be resilient over the course of the long 82-game regular season, bouncing back from bad nights and tough losses. Sometimes they also need to do the same within a game.
New Orleans shook off an ugly offensive start Friday and a one-sided home loss to Dallas two nights earlier, beating the same Mavericks on their home floor behind a second-half surge. The Pelicans began Friday’s game shooting just 2/20 from the field, including 2/14 in the paint, but kept battling and seized momentum with a 35-20 third-quarter edge.
New Orleans outscored Dallas 63-43 in the second half, after trailing 19-14 through a quarter and 48-44 at halftime.