In today’s high-paced, high-scoring NBA, few teams expect to be able to regularly hold opponents under 100 points, but New Orleans (40-30) would love to carry over its defensive performance from Sunday vs. Boston into the final three weeks of the regular season. The Pelicans allowed a season-low 89 points to the Celtics, holding them to just 13 in the fourth quarter, which turned a tight game into a 19-point final margin.
Defense will likely again be critical Tuesday, when the seventh-place Pelicans face Dallas (22-48) for a final time in 2017-18. The Mavericks’ only head-to-head victory came Dec.