Pelicans (11-22), Mavericks (19-15)
DALLAS – In one fell swoop Saturday, New Orleans posted its finest road victory of the season, ended a two-game losing streak, registered its first divisional win away from home and began the 2016 calendar year in excellent fashion. After struggling throughout the first two-plus months of 2015-16 on the road, the Pelicans notched a victory for the first time in the building of a team with a winning record (the previous Ws were against below-.500 clubs Utah, Denver and Phoenix). New Orleans built a 12-point lead early in the fourth quarter, watched Dallas erase that entire deficit, but then came up with more big plays late to prevail.