New Orleans Pelicans at Dallas Mavericks

"Everyone was like, boo. I'm like, bro, it's not that bad of a dunk. It's decent." New Orleans' Yves Missi on the windmill he tried after a steal, graded 7 out of 10. Missi, who had 4 blocks, said in Jamahl Mosley's system "just being able to get a stop is the main thing."

Tobi Lawal said the Mavericks want him as an aggressive defender beside Cooper Flagg, Kyrie Irving, P.J. Washington and Naji Marshall, "interchangeable in any spot," and getting into the offense off screens. On sitting with five fouls he hadn't noticed: "Apparently I'm a hack."

Sergio de Larrea logged the most minutes for Dallas and left any bigger role to the coach: "If I play more, if I play less, my job is to help the team to win." He said the Mavericks want "to play fast, to shoot 3s," and called most of their heavy 3-point volume good shots.

From New Orleans's postgame: the locker-room talk after a win was end-of-game decisions and communication, from understanding the huddle to leaving it on the same page. "Yes, we did win the game, but there are so many things that we can clean up."

New Orleans' Jeremiah Fears played on his birthday, Oct. 14, and said he is "very" different from the player in last year's birthday game, crediting teammates for bringing him along every day: "Just a great feeling being able to step on the court and play the game I love."

Dejounte Murray is out for New Orleans on Oct. 14; Jamahl Mosley gave no reason before the game. He is also changing the starting lineup, citing 31 different lineups last year: "guys that originally started need to know what it's like to come off the bench."