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Mavericks look to rebound from poor offensive showing

Dec 14, 2007 - 3:24 PM New Orleans (14-8) at Dallas (14-9) 8:30 pm EST

DALLAS (Ticker) - The Dallas Mavericks are a team coming off their worst offensive performance of the season, and they will be trying to get their edge back against one of the league's best defenses.

The Mavericks look to recapture their offensive prowess on Friday when they host their Southwest Division rival, the New Orleans Hornets.

After handing the New York Knicks a loss on Monday, Dallas found itself getting blown out by the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday, 92-76. For the Mavericks, it was the lowest point total since scoring just 71 points in a loss to the Denver Nuggets on April 6.

Finding more offense against the Hornets could be a problem, however, as the Hornets own the seventh-best scoring defense in the league at 94.6 points per game.

Perhaps just as troubling for Dallas was its first loss to the Hornets on December 1 - a 110-106 setback in overtime - since the two teams were placed in the newly-formed division following NBA realignment before the 2004-05 season. The Mavericks had won all 12 games before the loss.

New Orleans, one of the league's best road teams with an 8-3 record away from home, will look to recover from a 105-99 setback against the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday. The Hornets will be aiming to end an 11-game road skid against the Mavericks.