The Dallas Mavericks were supposed to win easily on Tuesday against the New Orleans Pelicans. With Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram both out, Luka Doncic and co. shouldn't have any problem against their Western Conference rivals. However, the Mavs ended up losing 113-111 to the shock of many.

Doncic, however, wasn't surprised that they lost. He pinned the blame on their bad start and relaxed attitude for the defeat, noting that trailing by as much as 16 points in the first two quarterrs really held them back despite being able to take the lead in the second half.

“We started bad. We started relaxed, and that’s wasn’t good for us,” Doncic said of the loss to the Pelicans, per Callie Caplan of the Dallas Morning News.

True enough, the Mavs might have underestimated the Pelicans too much when they learned Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram were not playing. In contrast to their big start against the Memphis Grizzlies last Saturday, Luka Doncic and the rest of the team lacked the aggressiveness and urgency on Tuesday night.

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Sure they were able to erase the Pelicans' lead, but not after they have given their opponents some momentum and the confidence that they can win the game.

It also didn't help that Dallas was an atrocious 12-of-39 from the 3-point line, with Doncic himself going just 2-of-13.

The Mavs should have already learned their lesson after blowing their season opener against the Phoenix Suns. They need to stay aggressive and avoid being complacent from start to finish, but once again, they didn't.

If Dallas wants to replicate their success from the 2021-22 season, they will have to start stringing wins together sooner rather than later.