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Mavericks aim to break through vs. Hornets

Apr 25, 2008 - 2:28 PM New Orleans at Dallas 8:00 pm EDT Western Conference first round Hornets lead, 2-0

DALLAS (Ticker) - The Dallas Mavericks hope some home cooking can get things back in order.

The seventh-seed Mavericks look to finally break through against the New Orleans Hornets on Friday in Game Three of their Western Conference first-round series.

Despite getting 27 points from Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas still came out on the short end of the stick again with Tuesday's 127-103 blowout loss to the Hornets in Game Two.

"We'll take a look at some things, but we've got to have a better effort," Dallas coach Avery Johnson said. "We've got to go home and get some home cooking. They protected their home court; we have a chance to go home and do the same thing."

The Mavs returns home where they have 11 consecutive times in the series with their last loss coming on January 24, 1998 back when the Hornets were located in Charlotte.

But if Dallas hopes to continue its winning streak Johnson will need to find solution for slowing down Hornets guard Chris Paul, who had 32 points and 17 assists in Game Two.

Paul's efforts made him just the eighth player in NBA history to collect at least 30 points and eight assists in back-to-back playoff games.

"Sitting there watching Chris really develop into the best point guard in this league, it's amazing to watch how he's really risen his game to another level," Hornets coach Byron Scott said. "But that's what great players do. He's definitely one of the best on this league right now."

A serious MVP candidate this season, Paul has dominated his 1-on-1 battle against Mavs guard Jason Kidd, who was acquired from the New Jersey Nets in February just for the postseason.

David West poured in 27 points and Peja Stojakovic chipped in 22 for New Orleans, which dropped a 111-98 decision here in the regular-season finale.