Upon hearing that coach Rick Carlisle compared his defense to that of Hall of Famer Jason Kidd, Mavericks guard Delon Wright didn’t try to feign nonchalance.

“I appreciate that. He’s one of the greatest bigger guards in our history,” Wright said. "I try to take a little of everybody’s skillset and he did a lot.”

Of course, few players in NBA history possessed all of Kidd’s abilities, but perhaps now, eight years after his final season here, Dallas has something resembling a Kidd-composite backcourt.

Luka Doncic is a better scorer than Kidd ever was. Though he isn’t as athletic as was Kidd in his prime, Doncic, like Kidd, is a deft and intuitive passer.

Doncic’s 25-point, 10-rebound, 10 assist triple-double in Friday night’s victory at New Orleans was the ninth of his still fledgling career.

Doncic, 20, already broke Kidd’s franchise record for triple-doubles by a rookie. Just 74 games into his career, he is fast closing on Kidd’s franchise career triple-doubles record (21) in 500 games as a Maverick.

Thirteen of Kidd’s triple-doubles came during his first stint as a Maverick (1994-97), the rest after he returned in 2008.

No one will mistake Doncic’s defensive abilities with Kidd’s, but the Mavericks acquired Wright, 27, from Memphis in July in large part because of his length (at 6-foot-5) and ability to slow opposing guards, big and small.

Friday was only Wright’s second game as a Maverick, but Carlisle certainly did not lightly offer this assessment of Wright’s 20-point, 7-rebound, 3-assist, 5-steal performance:

“Delon Wright’s game tonight, we haven’t seen defense like that since Jason Kidd was here. The play at the end where he stole the ball on the rebound really was a microcosm of the night that he had.”

The play to which Carlisle was referring happened with Dallas holding a 120-116 lead. The Mavericks’ Dorian Finney-Smith missed a 3-pointer with 20 seconds left. Pelicans swingman Josh Hart rebounded the miss, but Wright stole the ball from Hart to seal Dallas’ first road-opening win in four seasons.

The Mavericks entered Friday’s game with a 30-93 road record over the past three seasons, and Carlisle spoke of one key factor to winning on the road.

“The value of the ball is just something that in an NBA game you can’t put a price on. So many games come down to one possession.”

The Mavericks had several key late contributors against the Pelicans. Seth Curry scored all 8 of his points in the fourth quarter. Six of Maxi Kleber’s 10 rebounds came in the final period.

And Wright had two other fourth-quarter steals that gave Dallas extra possessions. The first came with 11:12 in the game, when Wright intercepted a pass and fed Finney-Smith for a dunk and a 100-93 lead.

Forty-nine seconds later, Wright stole another pass, leading to a Curry 3-pointer that pushed the lead to 10. Wright came off the bench Friday, after starting the season opener against Washington, and his steals Friday highlighted a defensive turnaround by the entire Mavericks team.

“Even when I did come in, we were still giving up some things,” Wright said. “I was able to settle down and settle in to the game and kind of was able to make my mark on the game.”

A sore hamstring caused Wright to miss the first week of training camp, and he shot only 38-percent in preseason games while playing sporadically (19 minutes per game).

Again, it was just one game, but the Mavericks and their fans on Friday saw why Dallas made their pursuit of Wright an offseason priority.

“Preseason was a little tough,” Wright said. “This was like, ‘Finally, I feel like myself.’ ”

POWELL OUT

The Mavericks’ media notes previewing Sunday night’s home game against Portland list center Dwight Powell as “out” for the game.

Powell, who strained his left hamstring on Oct. 5, has yet to play in a game this season, pre- or regular-season, but Carlisle on Friday said Powell has improved to “day-to-day” status.