Fears leads Pelicans past Mavericks 101-97 in Dallas on his 20th birthday
Jeremiah Fears scored 16 points with five assists on his 20th birthday, Karlo Matkovic added 11 and New Orleans survived a 34 point Dallas fourth quarter to win 101-97 and move to 2-1 in the preseason.
NEW ORLEANS: The Pelicans held off the Dallas Mavericks 101-97 in Dallas on Wednesday night, Oct. 14, improving to 2-1 in preseason play behind a team high 16 points from Jeremiah Fears on his 20th birthday.
Fears added five assists, three rebounds and three steals, and shot 6 of 11 from the field and 2 of 3 from three point range in about 20 minutes, according to the game accounts in Pelican Debrief and The Who Dat Daily. Sportsnet also led its highlights package with Fears and his 16 points and five assists.
New Orleans led 56-45 at halftime and 75-63 after three quarters, both accounts reported. Dallas scored 34 points in the fourth quarter and cut the margin to 100-97 in the final seconds before New Orleans closed out the win.
A different starting five, and help off the bench
Head coach Jamahl Mosley used a third different starting lineup in three preseason games, starting Fears, Bennedict Mathurin, Saddiq Bey, Karlo Matkovic and Yves Missi, with Zion Williamson and Trey Murphy III coming off the bench, Pelican Debrief reported. The Sportradar roster listing for the game also showed the same five Pelicans starters.
Matkovic scored 11 points and made 3 of 4 three point attempts, and Missi finished with six points, nine rebounds and four blocks. Williamson added 10 points on 5 of 5 shooting, Jaron Pierre Jr. also scored 10, and Derik Queen grabbed 11 rebounds to go with six points, according to the box score published by The Who Dat Daily.
Dejounte Murray did not play for New Orleans. Dallas played without Cooper Flagg and Kyrie Irving, and Sports Illustrated listed several other Mavericks rotation players as out as well. Tobi Lawal scored 16 points for Dallas, making all eight of his free throws, Mavs Moneyball reported.
The Pelicans finish the preseason at home on Friday, Oct. 16, against Washington, then open the regular season at home against Indiana on Oct. 21, according to the schedules published by The Who Dat Daily and Sportradar.
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