Mavericks-Hornets: Home Sweet Home for Dallas

The New Orleans Hornets are still winless in Dallas since 1998. Yes, that’s right over ten years and 22 games now. And it couldn’t have come at a better time for the Dallas Mavericks, who returned to Dallas down 2-0 in their first round playoff with the Hornets.

That pesky kid, Chris Paul, who has been in the Maverick’s hair like a, well, like a nasty hornet, finally showed that he was neither a winged insect nor superhuman. He shot a very subpar 4 for18 and ended with a very human 16 points and 10 assists.

His usual sidekick, the 17-foot assassin, David West, was just as human shooting 6 for 20 with 14 points and 9 rebounds. The other prolific scorer, Peja Stojakovic, wasn’t that much better at 4 for 12 with 13 points and 10 rebounds as the Hornets lost to Dallas, 97-87, to let the Mavericks back into the series at 2 games to one.

The American Airlines Arena in Dallas must have be dusted or smudged by a voodoo priest every time New Orleans comes to town. The Hornets go so cold the moment they enter that building that they might think they were in an igloo. And it’s not the air conditioning.

And it might not have been a voodoo priest either. What most likely caused the drop off in temperature for New Orleans was the fact that Avery Johnson decided to have Jason Terry instead of Jason Kidd guard Chris Paul.

As a team, the Hornets shot just 37.9% (33 for 87). It would have been much worse if Jannero Pargo hadn’t put in 30 points off the bench shooting 12 for 20 and 4 for 7 from beyond the arc.

Dirk Novitzki, on the other hand, was a one-man wrecking crew for Dallas putting up 32 points and nabbing 19 rebounds. Jason Terry did his part as well with 22 points, but his most valuable contribution was his ability to cut off Paul and prevent the Hornets point guard from penetrating the lanes.

Josh Howard, unfazed by his marijuana comments prior to the game, had 18 points. Jason Kidd and Brandon Bass each had 8 points. Kidd also picked off 11 rebounds and had 5 assists. Altogether Dallas only committed 16 personal fouls compared to 27 for New Orleans.

It was only the Mavericks third win in their last 13 playoff games. The two teams will face each other again in Game 4 on Sunday night.