It’s officially March Madness season, and the New Orleans Pelicans kicked off their playoff run on Wednesday, March 8 with a win over the Dallas Mavericks, 113-106.

It was the C.J. McCollum and Herb Jones show as the two kept the team afloat until surging to an 18-point lead at the end of the third quarter. McCollum finished with 32 points, making six three-pointers, scoring 16 of his total points in the fourth quarter.

Jones’ defense was a huge factor as he was all over the court using his length to deflect passes as well as holding Luka Doncic to 4-of-14 shooting. Jones also scored 14 points in the game to add to his solid defensive presence.

Doncic did leave the game in the third quarter with a left thigh injury, but not before he received a technical foul for what he said to a referee in the first quarter of the game. It was his 16^th technical of the season so he will be suspended for a future game this season.

Although the game was a great victory for the Pelicans, Brandon Ingram did leave the game right before halftime and did not return with a sprained ankle. There was no update after the game, but Ingram did not leave with a boot on, which is possibly a good sign.

The Pelicans are currently in 10^th place in the Western Conference standings. A reminder on how the play-in tournament works: No. 7 plays No. 8 and No. 9 plays No. 10. The winner of the 7-8 game gets the No. 7 seed, while the loser plays the winner of the 9-10 game for the No. 8 seed.

The Pelicans have 16 games left in the season and play their next contest on Saturday at home against the Thunder at 7:30 pm.

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