3 Studs, 2 duds in Mavericks' 136-124 victory over Pelicans

2. Dud - Derrick Jones Jr.

Derrick Jones Jr. has turned into a really good fit in Dallas. The 26-year-old wing has played amazing defense to start the year for the most part, and his ability to get put-backs and serve as an active cutter is extremely amplified with the spacing and passing provided by Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving in the Mavs' starting lineup.

Jones Jr. is shooting 36.6 percent from distance right now, which would clock in as the best percentage of his career by a pretty wide margin if he keeps it up. Jones Jr. has looked extremely confident stepping into his attempts, but during the first half of last night's game Jones Jr. missed four pretty rough 3-point attempts before canning two in during the second half.

Jones Jr. also looked like a shell of himself defensively last night, as the Pelicans' length and size proved to be pretty tough for him in one-on-one scenarios. Jones Jr. doesn't have the most stout frame, and he suffered at the hands of Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram quite a few times when they switched onto him.

Jones Jr. has been a great help defender in Dallas so far and has done a great job of always making the extra defensive rotation. However, he'll need to continue to at least be a serviceable one-on-one defender when guarding more quick-footed and lengthier wings like Ingram. He'll inevitably get scored on when matched up with bigger opponents sometimes, but Mavericks fans shouldn't have much doubt that Jones Jr. can rekindle his versatility on both sides of the ball since he's barely had any off nights thus far, and it was a great team win.