The Mavericks were unable to withstand a huge Hornets third quarter surge, along with a frenetic fourth quarter finish that culminated with a David West steal on the final Mavs possession with New Orleans up by only one point. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)For the second time this season, a turnover in the final seconds of a one point contest cost the Dallas Mavericks (7-3) a chance at a win.
The New Orleans Hornets (9-1) ramped up their defensive intensity late in the game, and Hornets' power forward David West came up with a huge steal on a Dirk Nowitzki drive to the basket with 2 seconds left in regulation. This made sure New Orleans would hold serve on their home court after losing in Dallas Monday night and handed the Mavs their first road loss of the season.
"We knew this was a big game for us in terms of just being able to respond to what happened at their place and we want to keep the momentum that we built, especially here at home," West said.
Dallas had three separate leads of 10 points in the first half, jumping out to a 12-2 lead early in the game, as they became the first team to lead by double digits against the Hornets in any game this season.
After shooting under 40 percent from the field and trailing 52-42 at halftime, the Hornets came out on fire in the third quarter. New Orleans made 11 of their first 13 shots to start the quarter and became the first team all season to score more than 30 points in a single quarter against Dallas. The Hornets dropped 33 and held the Mavs to only 17 points, taking a double-digit lead of their own in the quarter, to go into the final frame with a 75-69 lead.
Hornets' All-Star point guard Chris Paul scored 13 of his team-high 20 points in the third quarter, and dished out five of his game-high 11 assists.
"They really came out and put it to us to start the game, so we had to come out and be more aggressive in the third quarter," Paul said. "That's my responsibility. I can't let us come out flat, and I did that tonight."
With Nowitzki in foul trouble throughout the second half, Dallas was forced to pick and choose when to play their most explosive offensive player. However, when he was on the court, Nowitzki almost single-handedly kept the Mavericks in the game - scoring 18 of his game-high 29 points in the second half, including 10 in the fourth quarter alone.
The Final 13 Seconds
New Orleans led for the majority of the fourth quarter, but Dallas kept it close as the Hornets had no lead greater than six points in the final frame. As far as I'm concerned, this game came down to a frenzied final 13 seconds at the end of regulation.
After Peja Stojakovic missed a second free throw with 13 seconds left in regulation that would have put the Hornets up by two possessions and sealed the game, Nowitzki drove to the basket and hit a lay-up with 8 seconds left to make it a one point game at 98-97. Then Jason Kidd showed why (in spurts) he can still make a stellar play with the game on the line.
Kidd reached in front of Trevor Ariza to tip away the Hornets' in-bounds pass and then dove into the scorers table, hanging in the air for just enough time to toss the ball into the outstretched hands of J.J. Barea - giving the Mavericks one more chance with six seconds left.
After the Mavs used their final timeout, Kidd in-bounded to Nowitzki, who caught the ball at just above the three-point line at the top of the key due to some aggressive defense from West. Nowitzki tried to dribble behind his back to get by West, but the Hornets' power forward saw it coming and poked the ball away.
"I was just trying to crowd him and felt like I wasn't going to give him any space," West said. "If he was going to make a shot, he was going to have to shoot a tough turnaround jump shot."
Dallas fouled West, who made the first and intentionally missed the second, but had no timeouts and a desperation down court pass was intercepted by (who else) West to seal the game for the Hornets.
"The last play is on me, I'll take the blame," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. "I put Dirk in a bad situation."
West finished with 17 points, six rebounds and three steals, but none bigger than his strip on the Mavs final possession. Even if your a Mavs' fan, this was a great game of basketball this evening that any basketball fan would have thoroughly enjoyed.
It was a chippy game throughout, with technical fouls called and words exchanged at various points in a heated second contest in three days. If New Orleans can stay healthy, and that's a big if given the history of their All-NBA point guard, this might be the makings of a great rivalry and some quality basketball between these two teams down the road.
NBA.com Box Score
What's Next
Dallas travels back home for a Friday night game against Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls. Rose is fifth in the NBA in scoring (24.7) and seventh in assists to lead Chicago to a 6-3 record to start the season.
Tip-off is scheduled for 8:30 p.m.
News and Notes:
- A disturbing trend for the Mavericks: Dallas has committed a total of 30 turnovers in the previous two games. Wednesday night, the Mavs had 15 and the Hornets scored a whopping 23 points off Dallas miscues.
- Caron Butler returned to the lineup Wednesday night and seemed to be pressing it from the start, jacking up four shots halfway through the first quarter and missing every one of them. Butler finished with five points on 2 of 7 shooting as his field goal percentage for the season has now dipped to 39 percent. Ouch!
(Portions of this article were taken from The Associated Press)
No comments:
Post a Comment