Deron Williams had 16 of his 19 points in the second half and Dirk Nowitzki scored nine of his 18 in the fourth quarter as the Dallas Mavericks kept the New Orleans Pelicans winless with a 107-98 win Saturday night.
The Mavericks won their first game at home in three tries and dropped the Pelicans, who dressed only nine players, to 0-6.
Wesley Matthews snapped a 72-all tie with two free throws to key a 7-0 run that he finished with a three-point play. Nowitzki answered a Toney Douglas 3-pointer with one of his own and then dipped underneath Dante Cunningham on a post-up move to put the Mavericks up 84-75.
Dallas built its lead to as many as 16 points in the quarter, before the Pelicans cut the deficit to 100-94 on Eric Gordon's 3-pointer with 2:04 left. But New Orleans got no closer as Williams scored the game's next six points.
Anthony Davis had 25 points for New Orleans while Eric Gordon and Ryan Anderson added 21 each.
New Orleans was short-handed because of injuries, and Davis had two scares of his own in the first half. He appeared to turn his ankle midway through the first quarter when jumping out to block Powell's shot. He limped to the bench during a subsequent timeout but stayed in the game.
Then in the second quarter, he collided with the Mavs' Devin Harris while scrambling for a loose ball and hit the floor hard. Davis stayed in the game again.
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Second-year center Dwight Powell had a career-high 15 points for Dallas. Powell scored the Mavericks' last seven points of the first quarter.
But Dallas failed to make a field goal in the last 6:40 of the first half as the Pelicans closed the half on a 17-4 run to lead 48-42 at the break. Anderson had 10 points in the quarter.
The Mavericks rebounded in the third quarter, as consecutive 3-pointers by Matthews and Williams ended an 8-0 run that gave Dallas a 54-53 lead. Williams had 10 of his 13 points in the second half.
