NEW ORLEANS, United States // Dirk Nowitzki was not happy with his play or Dallas’ defence for most of Wednesday night. He still found a way to end the New Orleans Pelicans’ three-game winning streak.
Nowitzki scored 11 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter and had the last of his season-high four blocked shots on a crucial possession in the final minute as the Mavericks beat the Pelicans 100-97 at the start of a four-game road trip.
Nowitzki gave Dallas the lead with a free throw to make the score 98-97 with 32.3 seconds left. He then got a piece of Eric Gordon’s driving floater, grabbed the rebound and hit two more free throws with 8 seconds left.
“It could have gone either way,” Nowitzki said. “Finally, we were on the other end one time in execution and getting some stops and getting some big rebounds. It was definitely a good one to get against a very good team.”
Nowitzki ran off a long list of negatives that could have cost the Mavericks the game. The Pelicans outrebounded them 58-38. He felt he forced some bad shots in the first half when he was double-teamed, connecting on only 2-of-7 instead of finding the open man. He even missed two free throws after hitting an NBA-best 86-of-91 before Wednesday.
The Mavericks also messed up their final defensive possession, giving New Orleans forward Ryan Anderson a wide-open look to tie the score. Anderson, who entered as the NBA’s second-most-accurate 3-point shooter at 55.6 percent, missed it with 2 seconds left.
“We switched at the end and left him open,” Nowitzki said. “I don’t know what happened. He had a clean look from the top of the key, which he probably makes eight out of 10, so we really dodged a bullet.”
Reserve Vince Carter had 15 points for Dallas and Monta Ellis added 14 points, with the other three starters scoring between 10 and 12.
Jrue Holiday had a season-high 26 points for the Pelicans, who played without injured forward Anthony Davis for the second consecutive game. Al-Farouq Aminu tied his career high with 20 rebounds and added a season-high 16 points. Anderson finished with 18 points and 13 rebounds.
The Mavericks won with balance for three quarters and Nowitzki taking over down the stretch. No play was bigger than his block of Gordon in the lane. He had not blocked more than one shot in any game this year.
“Tell them you’re a shot blocker now,” Carter said jokingly as Nowitzki talked in the locker room.
“We have a lot of guys doing a lot of things to try to take the pressure off of him so he doesn’t feel he has to put up big numbers every quarter,” Carter added. “It can wear him down. Now fourth quarter he can do what he does best.”
The Pelicans, who outscored opponents by 25 points in the second half while going 3-0 on their recently concluded road trip, tried to pull away in the third quarter with an 8-0 run to go up 73-65 late in the quarter. But the Mavericks answered with a 10-2 spurt, getting 3-pointers from Jae Crowder and Carter.
Dallas stayed hot at the start of the fourth. Nowitzki scored on a turnaround to give the Mavericks a 79-77 lead, converted a 3-point play on a tough shot and hit a free throw after the Pelicans were called for a defensive 3-second violation as Dallas went ahead 83-77.
That lead didn’t last long. Holiday sank a 3-pointer to tie the score at 86 with 6:49 left.
Nowitzki hit a face-up midrange shot to give Dallas a 97-94 lead before Holiday sank a long 3-pointer to tie the score at 97, setting up Nowitzki’s finish.
“It’s not very often you win on the road getting pounded on the glass by 20 boards,” Nowitzki said. “But we’ll definitely take it.”
OTHER WEDNESDAY RESULTS
Pacers 95, Jazz 86
The Indiana Pacers dominated the fourth quarter by using their stifling defence to pick up a road victory over the Utah Jazz.
The Jazz, who led by as many as 11 points in the first half, only scored nine points in the first 8 1/2 minutes of the final period while the Pacers built a double-digit lead.
Swingman Paul George struggled from the field, shooting just 7-for-20 and 1-for-8 from three-point range, but scored 19 points as Indiana (17-2) bounced back from Monday’s tough road loss to the Portland Trail Blazers.
The Jazz (4-16) saw their season-best, two-game winning streak snapped.
Hawks 107, Clippers 97
Kyle Korver tied an NBA record by making a three-pointer in his 89th consecutive game as the Atlanta Hawks knocked off the visiting Los Angeles Clippers.
Korver, who missed the previous four games with a bruised rib, finished with 23 points and made six three-pointers for the Hawks (10-10).
Dana Barros also connected in 89 consecutive appearances with the Boston Celtics in the late 1990s.
Blake Griffin scored 24 points for Los Angeles (12-7).
Suns 97, Rockets 88
The Phoenix Suns answered a late Houston Rockets rally with a series of clutch jump shots to claim a tough road victory.
Despite trailing most of the game, Houston pulled within 75-74 midway through the fourth quarter but the Suns responded with 15-0 blitz.
Eric Bledsoe led the Suns (10-9) with 20 points and the Rockets (13-7) saw their six-game home winning streak end as they posted a season-low point total.
Cavaliers 98, Nuggets 88
Tristan Thompson scored 17 points and grabbed a career-high 21 rebounds, leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to a victory over the Denver Nuggets.
The Cavaliers (6-12) won back-to-back games for the first time this season, and they snapped the Nuggets’ seven-game winning streak.
The Nuggets (11-7) had four players post double-figure point totals, led by guard Randy Foye, who scored 16 points.
Pistons 105, Milwaukee 98
Andre Drummond scored 24 points and had 19 rebounds as the Detroit Pistons to beat the Milwaukee Bucks.
Point guard Brandon Jennings shot 4-for-16 from the field but finished with 17 points and 11 assists in his first game in Milwaukee since being sent to Detroit (9-10) in a sign-and-trade deal last summer.
Ersan Ilyasova scored a season-high 22 points to lead the Bucks (3-15).
Trail Blazers 111, Thunder 104
LaMarcus Aldridge dominated Oklahoma City (13-4), scoring a game-high 38 points and grabbing 13 rebounds while even pitching five assists to lead Portland (16-3) to victory.
Frenchman Nicolas Batum and Damian Lillard each added 14 points while Robin Lopez recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Kevin Durant couldn’t put the Thunder over the top despite scoring 33 on 11-for-23 shooting. Russell Westbrook also scored 21.
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Defined benefit and defined contribution schemes explained
Defined Benefit Plan (DB)
A defined benefit plan is where the benefit is defined by a formula, typically length of service to and salary at date of leaving.
Defined Contribution Plan (DC)
A defined contribution plan is where the benefit depends on the amount of money put into the plan for an employee, and how much investment return is earned on those contributions.
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
Tips for SMEs to cope
- Adapt your business model. Make changes that are future-proof to the new normal
- Make sure you have an online presence
- Open communication with suppliers, especially if they are international. Look for local suppliers to avoid delivery delays
- Open communication with customers to see how they are coping and be flexible about extending terms, etc
Courtesy: Craig Moore, founder and CEO of Beehive, which provides term finance and working capital finance to SMEs. Only SMEs that have been trading for two years are eligible for funding from Beehive.
Racecard
6pm: Mina Hamriya – Handicap (TB) $75,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
6.35pm: Al Wasl Stakes – Conditions (TB) $60,000 (Turf) 1,200m
7.10pm: UAE Oaks – Group 3 (TB) $150,000 (D) 1,900m
7.45pm: Blue Point Sprint – Group 2 (TB) $180,000 (T) 1,000m
8.20pm: Nad Al Sheba Trophy – Group 3 (TB) $200,000 (T) 2,810m
8.55pm: Mina Rashid – Handicap (TB) $80,000 (T) 1,600m
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COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Blah
Started: 2018
Founder: Aliyah Al Abbar and Hend Al Marri
Based: Dubai
Industry: Technology and talent management
Initial investment: Dh20,000
Investors: Self-funded
Total customers: 40
How to avoid crypto fraud
- Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
- Use an offline private key, a physical device that requires manual activation, whenever you access your wallet.
- Avoid suspicious social media ads promoting fraudulent schemes.
- Only invest in crypto projects that you fully understand.
- Critically assess whether a project’s promises or returns seem too good to be true.
- Only use reputable platforms that have a track record of strong regulatory compliance.
- Store funds in hardware wallets as opposed to online exchanges.
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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