DALLAS _ The Mavericks felt coming into the season that they were overlooked by everybody in the NBA.
After their season reached 10 games, nothing's changed.
"Nobody cared about us before the season," Wesley Matthews said. "They're damn sure not caring about us now."
That certainly looked to be the case as the New Orleans Pelicans flew into American Airlines Center and beat the Mavericks 99-94 Friday night, dropping the Mavericks' league-worst record to 1-9.
DeMarcus Cousins had a huge night for New Orleans, threatening a triple double before finishing with 20 points, 22 rebounds and seven assists. Anthony Davis wasn't bad, either, with 30 points and 13 rebounds. With that duo, it's hard to conceive that the Pelicans are sub-.500 at 4-5.
And then there are the Mavericks, who simply are broke right now with no sign of a quick fix in the offing.
The Mavericks got outworked on their home floor for three quarters. The Pelicans had given up an average of 109 points in their first eight games and at least 101 points in every one of them.
The Mavericks could barely muster 90.
They couldn't chop the gap under 10 points in the fourth quarter until a Dennis Smith Jr. bucket made it 91-83 with 1:50 to go. Their defense has been pretty solid to that point, but they could not put the ball in the basket. Smith had a terrible night shooting until late when he got to the rim a few times as the Mavericks made the final score respectable.
This was the fifth time in the last eight games they have shot below 40 percent. This in spite of 26 points from Harrison Barnes and 13 rebounds by Salah Mejri.
The Mavericks had glimpses in the first half that they were intent on putting things together.
Nerlens Noel picked off an offensive rebound and found a cutting Smith for a one-handed slam on which Cousins could do nothing but move out of the way.
But those moments were few and far between.
Even when the Mavericks got serious in the third quarter, chopping a 17-point deficit to 69-61, they couldn't sustain it. Barnes scored on three consecutive drives to the basket, but when the Pelicans went back to Cousins, they pushed the lead back to 78-63 early in the fourth quarter.
