New Orleans Pelicans at Dallas Mavericks - 1/7/23 NBA Picks and Prediction

The Dallas Mavericks play host to the New Orleans Pelicans at the American Airlines Center on Saturday night.

The New Orleans Pelicans have been in fine form as they’ve won six of their last nine games, but they will be hoping to bounce back here after getting beaten by the Nets in a 108-102 home loss last night. CJ McCollum led the way with 28 points and six assists, Naji Marshall added 23 points with nine rebounds while Jose Alverado chipped in with 17 points off the bench. As a team, the Pelicans shot just 39 percent from the field and 12 of 29 from the 3-point line as they poured in 36 points in the second quarter to build a 15-point lead, but they couldn’t maintain that pace and scored just 38 points in the second half to allow the Nets to run them down easily in the end.

Meanwhile, the Dallas Mavericks have been in great shape as they were riding a seven-game win streak before they got stopped in their tracks by the Celtics in a 124-95 home loss on Thursday. Luka Doncic led the team with 23 points, nine rebounds and three assists, Spencer Dinwiddie added 18 points with five assists while Jaden Hardy chipped in with 15 points off the bench. As a team, the Mavericks shot just 37 percent from the field and seven of 32 from the 3-point line as they suffered a slow start and were never in the contest after getting outscored by 64-46 in the first half. Doncic had a rough night as he shot just seven of 23 from the field and zero of six from the 3-point line, while Tim Hardaway Jr. finished with just eight points on two of 11 shooting.