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WHO: Dallas Mavericks at New Orleans Pelicans
WHAT: A Zion-less national TV game
WHERE: Smoothie King Center, New Orleans, LA
WHEN: 7:00 p.m. CT
HOW: ESPN
THE STORY: When the NBA scheduling gods picked this game to be on national TV, I imagine a lot of the marketing was “Reigning Rookie of the Year against probable Rookie of the Year!” With Zion Williamson out for 6-8 weeks, now, it’s just Luka and the Mavs against the Jrue Holiday-led Pels. Make no mistake: the Pelicans are still a very good team! They have a lot of young new players who are mostly pretty good, thanks to the Anthony Davis trade with the Lakers. And J.J. Redick, who is fun! And Jrue Holiday, who is also fun!
These two teams will be a good test for each other early in the season, and should provide a far more realistic test than the Wizards at home. Let’s go Mavs!