Earl K. Sneed, Mavs.com
Mavs leave New Orleans stung and stunned
Dallas Mavericks 99 at New Orleans Hornets 115
Despite dropping two of their last three games at home, the Dallas Mavericks entered New Orleans Arena with plenty of confidence before their fourth and final matchup with the Hornets. That confidence may be wavering now.
The Mavericks came into Monday night's contest with the Hornets on a five-game road winning streak, while also owning the Western Conference's best road record. Dallas also held a 2-1 lead in the season series against New Orleans. But the Hornets had a surprise up their sleeves, as the team announced just before the tip that All-Star point guard Chris Paul would return to the starting lineup after missing 25 games following arthroscopic knee surgery.
(Photo by Layne Murdoch/NBAE via Getty Images)
Though Paul played just under 21 minutes, No. 3's return definitely inspired his team, to the Mavericks' dismay. In a game that seemed so promising for the squad from Big D early on, turnovers and lackluster defense translated into a 37-point turnaround and eventually a 115-99 Mavs' loss in the first game of a back-to-back.
"It's disappointing," Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said. "(The players) clearly have a focus problem that we must look at and fix before the postseason. And we have the ability to do it."
Paul's impact was limited early, as the Mavericks turned defensive stops into transition offense. With Jason Kidd's hot hand and Dirk Nowitzki moving past David Robinson for 29th on the NBA's all-time scoring list, the Mavericks quickly jumped out to a double-digit advantage in the first quarter. Dallas didn't take its foot off the gas in the first 12 minutes of play, raining in an array of shots from behind the arch including Jason Terry's 1,500th career three. Terry, who was playing in his third game since returning from facial surgery on March 5, took the court for the first time without wearing his protective mask. After the Dallas lead reached as much as 16, the period came to an end with the Mavs ahead 32-19.
Dallas connected on 14-of-21 shots, while New Orleans struggled to just 7-of-22 shooting in the quarter.
"In the first quarter, we were extremely aggressive and were guarding them well. Our undoing was clearly the second and third quarter," the coach said.
Hornets rookie Marcus Thornton aggressively took charge early in the second period, helping New Orleans cut its deficit to single digits. But after an 11-2 Hornets' run cut the Dallas lead to six, Terry rained in a timely 3-pointer followed by a transition feed to Nowitzki to keep New Orleans at bay. Still, with Paul on the bench, first-year pro Darren Collison and the Hornets continued to come head on, capitalizing off of Dallas' turnovers and sprinting to a 15-0 run to end the first half up 52-45.
"You have to give the Hornets credit. They went out and took that first blow when we were up 16, and they turned it around and went up 7," Kidd said of the first half.
Despite being outscored 33-13 in the second quarter, the Mavericks still out-shot the Hornets 51 percent to 47 percent in the first half. The Mavs' 11 turnovers were what gave New Orleans life, leading to 14 Hornets' points at the other end. Morris Peterson led all scorers at the midway point with 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting, while Terry kept the Mavs afloat with his 13 points.
The Mavericks' miscues continued to come and the Hornets' lead continued to grow early in the third quarter. New Orleans came out of the intermission scoring the first eight points of the period. But after falling behind by as much as 15, the Mavericks began to attack the rim with a fiery anger. With Brendan Haywood becoming a force inside, the Mavericks began their comeback attempt. The 7-footer got plenty of help from Terry, including seven straight Dallas points from No. 31, but the Mavericks still found themselves down 82-70 entering the fourth.After going scoreless through the first three quarters, Paul looked to both assert himself and put the Mavericks out of their misery in the final period. Behind their lead guard's direction, the Hornets built up a 21-point lead. With his team down 18 and 3:17 remaining, Carlisle emptied his bench in preparation for the second game in as many days.
"We got up 16 points and then basically called it quits," forward Shawn Marion said. "I think we just took it on the chin. We stopped everything we were doing. We got relaxed, and they got aggressive and started getting comfortable and making shots. That was basically it."
The loss gave the Mavericks their sixth straight defeat in New Orleans. Since their 13-game win streak, the Mavs have dropped three of their last four games.
"I think the big thing is we're being inconsistent. Maybe a little bit too relaxed. We understand how important these games are. We only have 13 left. For the last four games, we've played one quarter each game -- we've won games because of that and lost games because of that. It's something we have to look at," Kidd said.
It's not often that the Mavericks lose a game in which they shot 52 percent and connected on 8-of-16 from behind the arch. But Monday night's contest wasn't most games.
In addition to the Hornets' 54 percent shooting, New Orleans hit on 12-of-24 shots from 3-point range. Yet that wasn't the most important stat of the night. The Hornets scored 35 points off of Dallas' 20 total team turnovers.
"When you turn it over 20 times for 35 points, it's going to be hard to win a game," Carlisle said. "The Hornets took advantage of the forced turnovers they created. I just have to give credit to a good team. They dropped five in a row and came here tonight ready to play."
Albeit in a loss, Terry scored 24 points off the bench on 9-of-16 from the floor. Nowitzki (16), Marion (14), Caron Butler (12) and Haywood (10) all scored in double figures.
Thornton finished with a game-high 28 points on 12-of-22 shooting. Meanwhile, David West feasted on the Dallas defense, scoring 25 points, dishing out 10 assists and grabbing six rebounds. In his return, Paul scored 11 points on 4-of-9 from the field.
Now the Mavericks return to the American Airlines Center on Tuesday night to host the Los Angeles Clippers. Back on Oct. 31, the Mavs captured a 93-84 win in L.A. in the first of three meetings between the teams. That game will air locally on Fox Sports Southwest at 7:30 p.m. CT. Tickets are still available and can be purchased by calling (214) 747-MAVS.
"We have a quick turnaround, and everyone has to bounce back. The Clippers are a very talented and healthy team. We are going to have to do a lot better than we did tonight," the coach concluded.
For up to the minute news on the Dallas Mavericks, visit Mavs.com. Follow Earl K. Sneed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/EarlKSneed.
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