NEW ORLEANS _ If you're searching for hope that the Mavericks have a bright future in front of them, don't look in the direction of the New Orleans Pelicans.
Once you get past the beads, beer and bawdiness of Bourbon Street, you realize that the basketball team that inhabits these parts is positioned much more smartly for the future than the Mavericks are.
At least on paper.
These teams came into Wednesday's meeting with the same number of wins this season, 31. The Mavericks officially fell behind the Pelicans in the standings when New Orleans plucked off a 121-118 victory, the Mavericks' third loss in a row and seventh in their last 10 games.
If these Pelicans are a team the Mavericks are going to have to get ahead of to rise in the West next season and beyond, then the Mavericks are in for a daunting challenge.
When the Pelicans made the trade for DeMarcus Cousins last month, many people assumed they would take charge in the race for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
That hasn't happened. The Pelicans are just 6-8 since the trade when Cousins and Anthony Davis start together. However, they do have wins over Memphis and Portland in that span.
And when you have two bona fide superstars anchoring your roster, it tends to be a little easier to build around them.
"My hunch is that the majority of games they've played together have been against better teams, which probably accounts for their record not being great," Mavericks' coach Rick Carlisle said. "But if those two guys stay together long enough, they're going to figure it out and it's going to be murder to deal with.
"I'd rather see one of them instead of two, or none instead of one."
Carlisle probably didn't think that Cousins and Davis would "figure it out" quite like they did against the Mavericks. They combined for 30 points and 18 rebounds in the first half, including a Cousins' 3-pointer at the second-quarter buzzer that put the Pelicans up 63-51.
Cousins routinely blistered the Mavericks when he was in Sacramento. And they have never had much luck containing Davis.
It was that way again on Wednesday.
Cousins has a history of being a ticking time bomb on the court. But he actually wasn't involved in the emotion-filled second quarter, when the Mavericks lost Devin Harris for the remainder of the game.
Harris typically is mild-mannered. But when he got knocked to the floor three times early in the second quarter, then last when he was called for a foul against Jordan Crawford, Harris reached the boiling point.
He jawed with referee Ben Taylor, who quickly gave Harris a technical foul. That set him off and teammates had to restrain Harris, who earned a second tech and the automatic ejection that comes with it with 9:08 left in the half.
Coach Rick Carlisle and assistant Melvin Hunt also received technical fouls as Harris was escorted to the locker room.
The Mavericks basically were fighting from behind all night but eventually nosed in front, 100-99, after making their first six shots from the field in the fourth quarter.
At that point, both sides looked like what they are _ lottery-bound teams with little interest in playing solid defense.
The Mavericks were down 115-110 with three minutes left after Davis hit two free throws.
They got no closer than the final score, and Wesley Matthews' 3-pointer at the buzzer that could have forced overtime was off the mark.
