New Orleans @ Dallas preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 29, 2017 ) Dallas 118, New Orleans 121

The New Orleans Pelicans' recent homestand had such promise, but it ended with a whimper. The Pelicans will look to right the ship on the road when they begin four straight away from home against the Dallas Mavericks on Friday.

After knocking off the Cleveland Cavaliers by 22 points to begin the three-game homestand, the Pelicans suffered back-to-back defeats to Orlando and Minnesota, with a late rally falling short in Wednesday's 104-98 loss to the Timberwolves. "We're still a team figuring each other out and figuring out what's best for us and what's the best spots to put guys in," forward DeMarcus Cousins told reporters. "But I'm extremely confident in this team." New Orleans will have an opportunity to get back in the win column against a Mavericks squad that owns an NBA-worst 1-8 mark and dropped four in a row after a 119-98 loss at the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday. Six players hit double figures in the loss, led by rookie Dennis Smith Jr.'s 18.

TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, FS New Orleans, FS Southwest (Dallas)

ABOUT THE PELICANS (3-5): Turnovers continue to plague New Orleans, which entered Thursday with the sixth-highest average (16.8) in the NBA and with Cousins giving it away a league-leading 5.5 times per game. He had six of his eight turnovers against Minnesota in the first half, which helped the Timberwolves build an 11-point lead at the break. Cousins hit 5-of-10 3-pointers in the loss while his teammates combined to go 3-for-21 from beyond the arc, with guard Jrue Holiday missing all five of his attempts to fall to 28.1 percent on the season.

ABOUT THE MAVERICKS (1-8): Coach Rick Carlisle inserted veteran guard Devin Harris into the starting lineup Wednesday in the hopes that a shakeup might spur something, but the second unit was blitzed in the second quarter and Dallas never recovered. "Everything is an attempt to try and get out of this rut," Harris told reporters. "We have to get back to playing simple basketball." J.J. Barea missed all nine of his shot attempts and fellow reserve Yogi Ferrell was 4-for-12 as the Mavericks' bench combined to shoot 26.3 percent.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. New Orleans entered Thursday fourth in the Western Conference in shooting (46.4 percent), while Dallas was last (41.8).

2. Pelicans F Anthony Davis has three straight double-doubles while averaging 31 points and 11.3 rebounds.

3. The teams split four meetings each of the last two seasons.

PREDICTION: Pelicans 108, Mavericks 102