The Dallas Mavericks built a 10-point first-quarter lead before the New Orleans Pelicans rallied for a 129-111 victory Monday night behind Zion Williamson's 27 points.
NEW ORLEANS — Zion Williamson scored 27 points, Jeremiah Fears added 17 off the bench, and the New Orleans Pelicans rallied from 10 points down to beat the Dallas Mavericks 129-111 Monday night.
Dallas led 23-13 midway through the first quarter before New Orleans outscored them 54-28 over the final 16 minutes of the first half and never trailed again.
Naji Marshall led Dallas with 32 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists. Cooper Flagg added 21 points but committed five turnovers that New Orleans converted into scoring opportunities. Washington chipped in 18 points, all coming on six three-pointers. The Mavericks shot 42.3 percent from the field and were outrebounded 57-51.
Washington hit three straight three-pointers early to help Dallas build the lead. Flagg threw down two running dunks to make it 23-13. It didn't last.
Mavericks coach Jason Kidd pointed to the early ball movement as the catalyst for the strong start.
"We were really good there in the first five minutes," Kidd said. "The ball was moving, P.J. was shooting the ball. That was everything. We had good looks that just didn't go down for us after that stretch."
Flagg noticed the same thing, identifying ball stagnation as the turning point once the Pelicans began their run.
"I thought we played with great pace out of the gates early, and the ball had a lot of energy moving around," he said. "Then it got stagnant, and I think that was the biggest challenge for us throughout the game."
Bey scored 11 straight down the stretch of the first quarter. New Orleans led 32-26 after one. Bey finished with 23 points.
In the second quarter, Fears hit a 28-footer, then stole a Nembhard pass and finished in transition 14 seconds later. Just like that it was 41-35. Flagg had turned it over twice in the minutes before, both leading to New Orleans scores.
New Orleans led 67-54 at halftime after Trey Murphy III hit a 27-foot three-pointer with just over two minutes remaining, and Williamson scored four points in the final 45 seconds.
New Orleans pushed it to 20 in the third quarter. Dallas had no answer. Williamson went 11-of-13 from the field. He got wherever he wanted. Jones blocked Flagg at the rim, then hit a three on the other end to make it 76-63. Karlo Matković took it from there, scoring seven straight — the last a hook shot off his own miss — to put New Orleans up 99-84 after three.
Marshall, who guarded Williamson for stretches, said stopping him one-on-one was simply not a realistic option.
"He goes left, and nobody can stop him," Marshall said. "He's like a freight train."
Flagg, who also drew the assignment at times, described just how difficult it was to contain Williamson without putting him on the free-throw line.
"He's really, really good at getting downhill and to his left hand, going through your body and creating contact," Flagg said. "You don't want to foul him, but it is tough to stop when he's coming downhill like that."
The Mavericks got within 13 once in the fourth. That was as close as they got. Dallas finished with 11 turnovers. The Pelicans scored off most of them.
Max Christie came off the bench for 15 points. His two three-pointers in the second quarter gave Dallas a brief window to climb back in. Khris Middleton had nine, both of his three-pointers coming in the third.
Murphy finished with 17 points and seven rebounds for New Orleans, which shot 50.5 percent from the field. Matković had 13 points and 10 rebounds off the bench.
Reflecting on a stretch that saw the Mavericks play nine games in nine cities over 14 days, Kidd acknowledged the physical toll but stopped short of using it as an excuse.
"It's just hard to get stops," he said. "It's hard to play a lot of basketball like that. But the guys did everything they could."
Dallas returns home to begin a three-game homestand Wednesday against the Atlanta Hawks.