The Mavs played without top two scorers Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving as well as usual starting center Dereck Lively.
NEW ORLEANS — Dejounte Murray scored 30 points, Trey Murphy III blocked Spencer Dinwiddie’s layup for the lead with 4 seconds left and the New Orleans Pelicans outlasted the injury-depleted Dallas Mavericks 119-116 on Wednesday night.
Murphy had 24 points and 10 rebounds, capped by game-sealing free throws with 2 seconds remaining, and Javonte Green added 13 points to help New Orleans (10-32) take its third victory in four games after winning just five of its first 34 contests.
Daniel Gafford scored a career-high 27 points on 12-of-13 shooting and also grabbed 12 rebounds for Dallas, which played without top two scorers Luka Doncic (left calf) and Kyrie Irving (back), as well as usual starting center Dereck Lively (right ankle).
The Pelicans played without Zion Williamson (left hamstring), who was rested after playing Tuesday night in Chicago.
Jaden Hardy scored 21 points and Dinwiddie finished with 20 points for Dallas (22-19), which has lost three straight and eight of 10.
Takeaways
Mavericks: Trailing by as many as 10 in the third quarter, Dallas closed the period on a 20-6 run to take a 91-87 lead. Klay Thompson scored seven of his 12 points in the final minutes — including a 3 as the shot clock expired — to give the Mavs a 114-111 lead before they were outscored 8-2 in the last two minutes.
Pelicans: Rookie Yves Missi and Jordan Hawkins each scored 12 to help New Orleans win for the fifth time in nine games. … The Pelicans expect Williamson back for their next two games, both against struggling Utah.
Key moment
Green hit his second 3 in the last six minutes to put New Orleans up 116-114 with 43.9 seconds left. Soon after, CJ McCollum, who scored 11 points, caused Klay Thompson to loose the ball out of bounds with 33.3 seconds left.
Key stat
New Orleans scored 24 points off of 17 Dallas turnovers.
Up next
The Mavericks host Oklahoma City on Friday, when New Orleans hosts Utah.