Dallas, TX

Mavericks vs. Pelicans Final Score: Dallas loses to New Orleans, 119-113

Published

2 weeks ago

December 23, 2025

Mavericks vs. Pelicans Final Score: Dallas loses to New Orleans, 119-113

The Dallas Mavericks lost to the New Orleans Pelicans 119-113 Monday night in New Orleans, the second-straight loss for the Mavericks after falling to Philadelphia on Saturday.

It was also a second-straight clutch loss for Dallas, as the Mavericks once again couldn’t find any answers during the high-leverage possessions during the fourth quarter. Anthony Davis led all scorers with 35 points, while Zion Williamson led the Pelicans with 24 points off the bench.

It was a really frantic game from the opening tip, with both teams pushing the paints and attacking the rim. Dallas trailed by double-digits midway through the first quarter, but eventually took a lead in the second quarter and into the locker room thanks to a throwback first-half from Klay Thompson. Thompson scored 20 points in the first half, nailing threes and doing some decent work inside the three point line as well. Davis’ half was a little uneven, even though his numbers were great, but he rebounded and scored the ball well to stabilize the Mavericks after a poor start to the game.

It looked like Dallas was going to blow things open in the third, as the Pelicans went ice cold from three, the Mavericks kept pounding the paint, and Davis continued to look like his All-NBA self. In the fourth quarter, the Mavericks let their own double-digit lead slip away, as the Pelicans finally made some threes, and then Williamson just roasted the Mavericks defense. The Pelicans went to Williamson almost every time down the floor after a three point from Jordan Poole tied the game at 98-98 midway through the quarter. Williamson either scored at the rim or got fouled. Dallas had no answer, whether that was Davis or PJ Washington.

The Mavericks couldn’t match the Pelicans intensity and they lost. A brutal loss to a bad team, one the Mavericks can’t afford if they’re serious about making a play-in run.

Here’s one major thought from the game.

Maybe the Mavericks aren’t that good

For a few weeks now I’ve had a column stewing in our content management system here at Mavs Moneyball. The title was “The Mavericks might be a good team, so what does that mean?” I’ve been wanting to write it for a while now, as the Mavericks steadied their play since the middle of November behind Davis’ return from injury, Ryan Nembhard’s surprising play at point guard, and Cooper Flagg’s continued ascension. It made sense, and even if the Mavericks weren’t truly a good team, they at least proven to be a competitive one that should make the West’s play-in bracket.

It might be time to tap the brakes on that idea, at least for now. Dallas has lost three out of its last four games, with two of them being to Utah and New Orleans, both teams looking toward the lottery than a playoff push. The Mavericks are now 11-19 and two games back of 10th place. While there’s still plenty of time for the Mavericks to make a push, the schedule is only getting harder: the Mavericks play six of their next nine games on the road, with the schedule evening out after the Mavericks were gifted so many home games to start the season. Dallas is dreadful on the road, only 3-9.

Some of that magic from a few weeks ago feels like it’s wearing off. Davis has still been good, but his defensive effort waxes and wanes as he’s relied on to be the team’s primary scorer. Nembhard has cooled off considerably, and the Mavericks are once again mixing and matching point guards every night to try and find a combo coach Jason Kidd likes as Brandon Williams has gone AWOL from the three point line. Flagg is still awesome, but he’s 19. Daniel Gafford and PJ Washington haven’t made sustained impact, with both dealing with some nagging injuries. The Mavericks are still playing hard as hell, but they don’t seem to have something else to rely on. It’s great to play harder than the other team most nights, but you have to be better at more than that to consistently win games. This is the NBA — playing hard should be the bare minimum, not a bonus. Other teams will play hard, like the Pelicans did in the fourth quarter, and once a team matches the Mavericks effort level, they have shockingly little counters past that. Kidd even went back to the double-big lineup in the fourth with Davis and Gafford together, and the Pelicans predictably roasted that grouping. But it feels like Kidd is at times just shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic.

Perhaps the Mavericks will hit another good shooting stretch, or Flagg will level up his game once more. But the Mavericks aren’t guarding well, they aren’t shooting well, and they are running into teams that are playing just as hard as they are. It’s a tough combination, and even if the Mavericks can find a way to regain some of that edge they had before this losing stretch, 11-19 is an awfully big hole to climb out of, especially with Dallas’ schedule being so road heavy to close the season.

Make one thing clear: the Mavericks aren’t tanking. They’re still playing hard. But it’s easier than ever to imagine some veteran trades getting done as we inch closer to February’s deadline.

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Dallas, TX

Anti-ICE protest outside Dallas City Hall follows deadly shooting in Minneapolis

Published

5 hours ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

Anti-ICE protest outside Dallas City Hall follows deadly shooting in Minneapolis – CBS Texas

Watch CBS News

This protest was organized by the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression.

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Dallas, TX

Dallas Weather: Changes on the way for North Texas

Published

17 hours ago

January 8, 2026

Press Room

Dallas Weather: Changes on the way for North Texas

DALLAS – The warm and muggy weather will give way to much cooler temperatures in the Dallas-Fort Worth area over the next few days.

Thursday Forecast

According to the FOX 4 Weather team, rain chances return on Thursday as a disturbance moves through the Plains.

The best chance for showers and storms will be north of Interstate 20. There’s a marginal risk for severe storms for the areas northwest of DFW and along the Red River.

A southwest wind will also keep things very warm throughout the day. Expect highs to climb into the upper 70s to 80s. Wind gusts may reach as high as 25 to 30 mph.

Weekend Forecast

The next cold front swings through on Friday afternoon. Ahead of it, there are rain chances, especially southeast of DFW.

Behind this front, noticeably colder air moves in for the weekend. Expect lows in the 30s and afternoon highs in the 50s.

7-Day Forecast

A slow warm-up is expected heading into early next week.

The Source: The information in this story comes from FOX 4 Weather Meteorologist Ali Turiano’s weather report.

Weather

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Dallas, TX

Live updates: Washington Capitals vs Dallas Stars at Capital One Arena

Published

1 day ago

January 7, 2026

Press Room

Live updates: Washington Capitals vs Dallas Stars at Capital One Arena

Justin Sourdif gave Capitals fans one of the most fun individual efforts of the season, recording five points and scoring his first career hat trick against the Anaheim Ducks on Monday. Sourdif had fantastic chemistry with Connor McMichael and Ryan Leonard in their first game together.

Now the question becomes – Can the Young Guns 2.0 keep it up against a usually-stingy, defensively stout Dallas Stars team?

With Tom Wilson and Aliaksei Protas out again due to injury, Brett Leason will make his season debut with the Capitals. Meanwhile, Dylan McIlrath will remain in the lineup.

The Stars come into on a six-game losing streak. Casey DeSmith will start in goal over Jake Oettinger while the Capitals will counter with Logan Thompson.

Puck drop for today’s game is scheduled for a little after 7:00 pm. The game’s national and on TNT.

I’m dedicating my work tonight to Callie. I love you, my sweet girl. 💔

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More Info

Lines

Washington Capitals

Beauvillier

Strome

Ovechkin

McMichael

Sourdif

Leonard

Dallas Stars

Duchene

Johnston

Rantanen

Tunnel shenanigans

1st Period

Puck is dropped. McMichael-Sourdif-Leonard and Fehervary-Carlson get the start.

Hendrix Lapierre passing directly to a Stars forward in the slot on his first shift of the game is probably not a good sign for his ice time tonight.
— RMNB (@rmnb) January 8, 2026

Ilya Lyubushkin to the box for holding Jakob Chychrun at 2:44.

Stars’ Radek Faska goes 1 on 3 shorthanded and scores after Logan Thompson loses sight of a rebound. WHAT WAS THAT.

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1-0 Dallas Stars

SHG: Radek Faksa (2). Assists: E. Lindell (14). Time: 3:06

Back to the power play and… Justin Sourdif gets tossed from the faceoff dot, starts screaming at the official, Connor McMichael comes in, says something, and he gets an unsportsmanlike doncut penalty, killing the rest of the team’s power play. You can tell Carbery is fuming.

The two teams are now playing four-on-four.

Puck bounces over Dylan Strome’s stick on a wide-open net down low after a great setup by John Carlson.

Stars are outshooting the Capitals 5-0, 5:30 into the first period.

Apparently Beck Malenstyn has returned to the Capitals because one of the commentators said he just made a play. Lmao. No one on the Capitals even wears no. 47.

Sam Steel ailing and holding his left arm after a big hit by Ethen Frank.

At intermission: The Stars lead 1-0. The Caps didn’t really do anything in the first period. They were there. They existed. But that was about it. Shots on goal are 10-8 Dallas.

2nd Period

Puck is dropped.

Ilya Lyubushkin and Brandon Duhaime throwing punches at each other after the play at 1:12. Lyubushkin is going down the tunnel due to a cut on his nose.

John Carlson… just watching a pass through the paint to his man, no stick lift or anything, just chillin.

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2-0 Dallas Stars

Goal: Sam Steel (7). Assists: T. Harley (14), M. Duchene (6). Time: 2:37

Ryan Leonard fakes a dump-in and almost scores with a crazy shot to the far side from center ice.

Brandon Duhaime and Ilya Lyubushkin drop the gloves right off a faceoff at 12:53. Duhaime punches Lyubushkin about 5 times hard in the back of the helmet. Hope his knuckles are doing okay. The Caps crowd is finally into it, though.

Logan Thompson stops Roope Hintz on a two-on-none breakaway after Nic Dowd fails to get the puck deep. Caps look awful.

Mikko Rantanen slashes Justin Sourdif at 15:55. Caps going back to the power play.

At intermission: The Stars lead 2-0. Dallas leads in shots on goal 20 to 13.

3rd Period

Puck is dropped.

Anthony Beauvillier takes it hard to the net, and gets two opportunities but can’t whack the puck through.

Nic Dowd to the box for hooking at 4:57. The Caps look awful. Just listless. Can’t get anything going. A lot of standing around.

4 shots by the Stars on the power play. Thompson keeping the Caps close.

McMichael ices the puck at the end of the kill.

Caps have one shot on goal through the first 7:03 of the third period.

Jason Robertson rips one hard off the post. Thompson is flopping all over the place to keep the puck out.

McMichael and Duchene trade opportunities down the wing off the rush.

Beauvillier sends a horrible pass backwards to Matt Roy in the defensive zone, turnover to the Stars’ Steel, and Wyatt Johnston scores easily in front of the net. YIKES.

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