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Mavs face tough task in Big Easy

Dec 4, 2013 - 3:19 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Dallas Mavericks halted a two-game slide and will try to keep the momentum going Wednesday night when they visit the New Orleans Pelicans.

The Mavs used a big fourth quarter Tuesday night to fend off the Charlotte Bobcats, 89-82. Dallas had dropped four of its last five.

The Mavericks were down as many as 12 in the second half, but outscored the Bobcats, 29-15 over the final 12 minutes. Dirk Nowitzki (25) and Monta Ellis (22) scored the team's last 19 points.

"My team, obviously, wants me to keep attacking, and I finally got some to go down," Nowitzki said. "And then Monta was great down the stretch. You know, the pick-and-roll is really our bread and butter, and Monta really attacked well off of it and made some shots. They went under some, and he rose up behind the screen and really put it away for us in the fourth."

Jose Calderon returned to the lineup Tuesday after missing a game with an ankle issue. He finished with 12 points and Vince Carter added 10 off the bench.

The Mavericks head on the road for four straight and open with a streaking Pelicans squad.

The Pelicans are coming off a thrilling triple-overtime win at Chicago Monday in the finale of a three-game road trip. Jrue Holiday's 3-point play with 2.6 seconds remaining in the third OT session was enough to lift New Orleans to its third straight win and sixth in eight tries.

"I really just wanted the game to be over, to be honest," Holiday said on NBA.com. "I felt we had some calls that didn't go our way, but in the third overtime, we had a chance to finally close it out."

Playing their first game without leading scorer, rebounder and shot blocker Anthony Davis, who fractured his left hand Sunday in New York, the Pelicans received a career-high 36 points from Ryan Anderson and 23 out of Eric Gordon. Holiday finished with 19 points and 12 assists. Anderson made 7-of-11 from downtown and finished 12-of-20 shooting. He is averaging a career-high and team-leading 22.6 points per game.

New Orleans has shot 52.7 percent from the floor in the second halves of its last three games.

The Pelicans, who have scored 100 or more points in four straight games, will start a four-game homestand Wednesday versus Dallas, Oklahoma City, Detroit and Memphis, and are 5-3 in the Big Easy.

New Orleans and Dallas will play the first of four matchups this season and the Mavs were 3-1 in the 2012-13 campaign. The Mavericks have won six of eight encounters with New Orleans, which is 9-3 in the past 12 meetings as the host.