West Notes: Mavs, Kyrie Irving, Rockets, Jalen Green, Pelicans

Mavericks

Coach Jason Kidd wasn’t thrilled the Mavs blew a 20-point lead against the Lakers on Wednesday, but he was happy that they walked away with the win. Barely. But he’ll take it.

“Why would you be upset? You won,” Kidd told reporters. “The game is over, and now we move on to get ready for Thanksgiving. There’s no one upset. It’s a great game against a very talented team.”

• Kyrie Irving hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 22 seconds left, scoring 28 for the game. It came off a pass from Luka Doncic, who finished with 30 points. “When you have quarterbacks like Luka and Ky, trust is high,” Kidd said. “A lot of times they’re going to get double-teamed, but Luka makes a heck of a pass, and Ky does what he does. No panic, and he makes a big shot to win.”

Rockets

Jalen Green scored 26 of his season-high 34 points in Wednesday’s win over the Rockets in the second half — and credited a halftime pep talk from fellow guard Fred VanVleet.

“He was just telling me my energy was bad and that they need me out there,” Green told reporters. “So I made a quick little change up because I did have some bad energy… just hearing that made me just step up into another gear.”

• Green added that he’s thankful to have VanVleet and other vets in his ear. “They obviously want to win the game just as bad as I do and want me to be as good as I can be,” Green said. “The last two years it would have just been that nobody would have said nothing and we would have just kept playing through that bad energy.”

Pelicans

Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram have been putting in extra work together, practicing late-game scenarios. It seemed to pay off in the Pelicans’ win over the Kings on Wednesday.

“Both of those guys have been working diligently with the coaching staff,” coach Willie Green told reporters. “Just working on chemistry together in the middle of the floor for moments like that.”

• The Pelicans made just seven of 30 attempts from beyond the arc, but made up for it by outscoring Sacramento by a 62-28 count in the paint. “It says a lot about this team that they can continue to win games when they don’t shoot the ball well from 3,” Green said.