Irving, Hardaway each go for 40-plus in win over Pelicans

Kyrie Irving was the biggest weapon for the Mavericks, as he displayed his exceptional ball-handling skills while scoring a game-high 42 points during Monday’s 125-120 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans. But even Irving had to yield the floor to teammate Tim Hardaway Jr., who was absolutely on fire from downtown.

Hardaway poured in season-high 41 points – one off his career high – as he threw darts at the Pelicans while producing one of his best games ever. The 11-year veteran was a remarkable 9-of-15 from beyond the three-point line as the Mavs finished this season-high seven-game home stand in impressive style by rallying to defeat the Pelicans.

It was the fifth 30-point game this season for Hardaway, and gives him 97 points over the past three games.

“He’s having an incredible stretch right now,” said Irving, who was 13-of-28 from the field. “He is making a lot of the right reads. He is taking some tough shots for sure.

“I think he is right in his wheelhouse of allowing the work to translate into success on the court. You are watching him make a lot of opportunities for himself and be highly efficient at it. I’m happy for him.”

The Mavs, who reached the halfway point of the season with a 24-17 record, are also happy about the return of center Dereck Lively II. The rookie from Duke missed the previous five games with a sprained left ankle and made a strong impression against a high-level New Orleans squad by contributing a game-high 12 rebounds while muddying up things near the basket with his activity.

“I mean, he means so much to this team and this organization,” Hardaway said. “He does an amazing job of clogging up the paint, talking on defense, blocking shots.

“He is a really great anchor for us down there on the defensive end. He helps us tremendously.”

Lively was able to corral seven offensive rebounds – just one less than the entire New Orleans team. He appeared to be everywhere at once, and created havoc that had the Pelicans stumbling back on their toes.

“That’s my job, do the dirty work and clean it up,” said Lively, who played 26 workmanlike minutes. “I know my team missed me, so my first game back that was definitely a star on my head – bring second chance opportunities or just try to find the open shot.

“I felt like we did a great job of moving the ball around and did a great job of bringing physicality and bringing energy.”

Bringing energy and physicality were the focal points coach Jason Kidd knew his team needed in order to send the Pelicans home with a 24-17 record. And Lively was the torch-lighter in that department.

An offensive rebound by Lively led to a three-pointer by Hardaway to get the Mavs within 111-109. Another offensive rebound by Lively led to another three-pointer by Hardaway that put the Mavs ahead for good at 112-111 with 4:16 left.

“His offensive rebounds, to give us second opportunities, and then his defensive rebounds were huge for us,” Kidd said. “I thought late in the game he came up with some great opportunities for us to get second or third opportunities at the basket, which we needed.

“But just his presence on the floor. The guys trust him. For his first game back for a while, I thought he did great, and we missed him and we’re happy that he’s back.”

And then there was Irving, who put on another masterpiece in a game where the Pelicans tried to blanket him by sending multiple players his way on numerous occasions. But somehow, Irving slithered through the defense and either scored or found an open teammate.

In addition to his scoring, Irving also dished out seven assists and grabbed seven rebounds.

Meanwhile, the twin 40-plus point games by Irving and Hardaway marked just the second time in Mavs’ franchise history that two of their players scored at least 40 points in the same game. The other time was March 2, 2023, against Philadelphia when Luka Doncic scored 42 points and Irving had 40.

And even while starters Doncic (right ankle sprain), Derrick Jones Jr. (calf contusion) and Dante Exum (right plantar sprain) were unable to play, the Mavs were able to chase down and defeat one of the best teams in the Western Conference. The Mavs finished this season-high seven-game road trip with a 5-2 worksheet.

“Timmy was huge for us,” Kidd said. “He kept us in there. He made some big shots, but Kai was steady the whole afternoon.

“He just took what they gave him. Again, he’s been doing this on this home stand. He’s leading us and guys are following, and he puts us in a position to win.”

Zion Williamson paced the Pelicans with 30 points and CJ McCollum scored 23 points. High-scoring Brandon Ingram was held to 12 points. Williamson had a chance to tie the game after he was intentionally fouled by Maxi Kleber, but he missed one of two free throws with 17.7 seconds left, leaving the Mavs clinging to a 121-120 lead.

“(Intentionally fouling Williamson) was the plan,” Kidd said. “One, if you let him get going it’s hard to foul him where he (can’t) get a continuation. Maxi did the right thing and fouled him.

“We believed if he made both (free throws) we’ll still have the ball with 15 seconds left to win. It was play the percentages here a little bit. He missed one and then the goal was if he did miss both we have to come up with that rebound.”

Irving nailed a pair of free throws for a 123-120 advantage with 14.3 seconds to go. Ingram then misfired on a potential game-tying three-pointer, and Kleber grabbed the rebound and drained a part of free throws for the game’s final points.

The Mavs came out like gangbusters, storming to a 33-17 lead after the first quarter. The energy was there on both ends of the floor for the Mavs, and they held New Orleans to just 3-of-17 from the field shooting in the first quarter.

In fact, the only thing that kept the Pelicans in the game at that juncture was their 11-of-12 shooting from the free throw line in the opening quarter.

However, New Orleans wasted little time getting back in the game as they opened the second quarter on a quick 19-2 run to assume a 36-35 lead. Williamson was the main culprit in the comeback for the Pelicans as he scored 15 of his points in the first half.

In piercing the Mavs’ defense, the Pelicans scored 42 points in the second quarter – the game was tied at 59 at halftime — and another 40 in the third quarter. With Williams attacking the basket, New Orleans eventually bolted out to 99-89 lead after Hawkins got a friendly bounce on a three-point shot with 35 seconds left in the third quarter.

But the Mavs found another gear when they needed it, and sent the sellout crowd home with a huge smile on their face.

“It was a hell of a homestand – 5 and 2,” Kidd said. “That’s a positive. That’s big no matter who you beat or who you lose to. When you protect home like that, that’s a good sign — especially with the health that we have.

“It’s whoever can play. As much as we can talk about games and the past, we can only learn from those. We can’t change the win-loss column. But to protect home the way we did; we’ve got to be proud of that.”

X: @DwainPrice