Who: New Orleans Pelicans at Dallas Mavericks
When: Wednesday, March 4, 9:30 p.m ET
Where: American Airlines Center
How to watch: ESPN
After one of the worst losses of the season, the Pelicans will have little time to digest the result before jumping back into play on Wednesday against the Mavericks. Wednesday also marks arguably the toughest stretch remaining this season.
While much has been made about the easiness of the schedule for the Pelicans after the All-Star break, the next six games for New Orleans will be testing with four games against playoff teams as well as a game against Sacramento, a team also vying for the eighth seed.
Wednesday also marks the first meeting between two young superstars in Zion Williamson and Luka Doncic. After a remarkably strong start to the season, Doncic has cooled from MVP form to simply All-Star form. The second-year guard is averaging 28.5 points, 9.3 rebounds and 8.8 assists on the year.
Behind Doncic, the Mavericks sport the best offense in the league by some margin this season. Their 116.0 offensive rating is first in the league by over two full points. The difference in offensive rating from Dallas in first to Houston is second is slightly smaller than the distance from Houston in second to Portland in tenth.
Dallas, though, is coming off its own frustrating loss after falling to Chicago on Monday on the road, 109-107.