Winning makes everything better. The Dallas Mavericks notched another victory Sunday night, knocking off the New Orleans Pelicans in the Big Easy, 136-124, bringing their record to 8-2. Kyrie Irving scored 35 points, and Luka Doncic poured in 30 to pace Dallas’ potent offense.

In a departure from previous seasons, the Mavericks are playing faster. They are getting out in transition, knocking down outside shots and leaning on their two superstars to create for themselves and others. It has translated into Dallas being one of the best offenses in the NBA.

“Everyone’s being unselfish,” Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd told the media Sunday. “When you look at Luka and Kai … I thought our two leaders set the tone, just unselfish, playing with the pass. And then our pace is different from what we’re used to. The guys have really bought into it and trusted that we can play faster and also play with the pass.”

Kidd pointed to the emphatic wins over the Pelicans and Los Angeles Clippers on Friday as examples of the team executing the offensive game plan well. Dallas blew out New Orleans and Los Angeles by 12 and 18 points, respectively. Doncic and Irving led the way in both games, as they have done all season.

“It’s easy to play that way when you’re not turning the ball over, you’re keeping the other team off the free throw line, you’re getting stops consecutively, and you have spurts of four, five minutes where a play isn’t being called. It’s just constant pace, running, we’re running to our spots,” Irving said after Sunday’s game.

“We’re just remembering the little details that make us a great squad,” he continued. “Individually, we have talent, but as a team collectively, when we’re all hitting on cylinders like that like tonight, you can see a result like that. It felt good.”

In his last two games, Doncic scored a combined 74 points with 10 rebounds and 15 assists. He also only turned the ball over three times. Doncic currently leads the NBA in scoring with 32.6 points per game. He also averages a team-leading 8.4 rebounds and 8.5 assists, ranking him third in the league.

Doncic is also shooting the ball exceptionally well. He’s shooting 52.6% overall, connecting on 62.7% of his two-point attempts and 41.7% of his three-point shots. His 43 made three-pointers rank second in the NBA behind Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors, who has made 63.

As for Irving, he tallied 62 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists against the Pelicans and Clippers. He’s averaging 23 points, 4.4 rebounds and 6.8 assists this season, but he started off shooting poorly from deep, hitting just 24.1% of his three-point shots through his first five games.

“I didn’t start the season off the way I wanted to,” Irving said. “I was quoted as saying it was a healthy challenge for me, which it is. I’m 13 years in. It’s not like I’ve not had seasons where I started off well. It took me a little time to figure out, but now we’re here. I just want to find that consistency and continue to do the things that are working.”

Irving’s slow-for-him start, which included missing consecutive games against the Denver Nuggets and Chicago Bulls, didn’t happen in a vacuum. Kidd believes that multiple overseas trips and soreness in his left groin during preseason contributed to his sluggish start to the season.

“He had a trip over to China for his shoe, and then we, as a group, had a trip. So, he’s done a little traveling,” Kidd said. “I think you can see he’s starting to catch rhythm, which is always good to see. It makes the game easier for everyone.”

What’s also making the game easier, allowing for more ball movement, is the speed at which the Mavericks are playing. Dallas was the third-slowest team in the league in pace last season, averaging 97.21 possessions per game, per NBA.com. This season, the Mavericks have a pace of 101.80 through 10 games, which ranks them ninth overall.

“I think the pace if I’m correct, we’re in the top 10, which we’ve never been mentioned in the top 10 of pace,” Kidd said. “I think if we can continue to be consistent — and there’s going to be nights where we can’t make shots — but if we’re getting wide-open looks and we continue to keep trusting one another, we believe this pace is good for us.”

Pushing the tempo has allowed Dallas’ offense to flourish. Including Doncic and Irving, four players are recording double-digit scoring nightly, with three others averaging at least eight points. The team averages 124.1 points per game with an offensive rating of 121.8. Both marks are second in the league behind the Indiana Pacers.

“I think we’re playing unselfish basketball, just sharing the ball,” Doncic said Sunday night. “We knew they [the Pelicans] were going to have a low man early there, so a lot of corner threes for us. We got them up — 53 [three-point attempts]. I think not all of them, but most of them were really good shots. That’s what we got to do.”

Three-point shooting has been a critical reason the Mavericks’ offense has been so potent. Dallas leads the league in three-point attempts per game with 43.8. They also lead the league in three-point shot-making and frequency — connecting on 39.7% of their shots from deep, with 48.6% of their field goal attempts coming from behind the arc.

As Doncic notes, many of their longball attempts come from the corners. The Mavericks attempt a league-leading 12.6 shots from the corners per game. Dallas also leads the league in three-point shots from the left corner with 6.2 attempts per game, knocking down 37.1%. The Utah Jazz take the top spot with right corner attempts, but the Mavericks are a close second.

The Mavericks entered the season with a retooled roster and a change in offensive philosophy. They cast off their plodding, systematic approach to offense that defined them for the past two seasons and fully embraced speed. So far, the results speak for themselves. Dallas is playing winning basketball and currently sits atop the Western Conference standings.

“When you’re winning, everything is great,” Doncic said. “We’ve got to be the same ones. There’s going to be some tough stretches for sure. It’s a long season. So we got to be the same — keep the same energy. But so far, it’s been great.”