To paraphrase Joel Meyers, the Pelicans imposed their will against the Mavericks tonight, and it resulted in a rare victory within Dallas city limits.
What does that entail, you might ask?
New Orleans dictated the pace of play (102.46 pace factor), the small-ball lineup rebounded well (Pelicans out-rebounded Mavericks by 20 boards), the energy was in their favor (19-12 fast break points and 9-3 offensive rebounds), all the while the team defended well as a whole (4th time in 7 games Pelicans have held the opponent to under 100 points).
This type of recipe will win ball games, and this was Alvin Gentry's promise some 30-odd games ago.