NBA Playoff 2008 新奧爾良黃蜂 VS 達拉斯小牛 (Game2) ( 第4節)

The story of this game can be told by the quarter-by-quarter scores of the Hornets: 39, 28, 32, 28. Unless you're the Nuggets and you're playing the Warriors (or vice-versa), you're not going to win when your opponent puts up numbers like that.

People will look at Chris Paul's stats, specifically the 32 points and 17 assists, and see that they're just as gaudy (or even more so) as his numbers in Game 1. But Paul's offensive impact wasn't the same in this game. The Mavs were more aggressive with their double-teams, so CP had to rely on his teammates more.

And his teammates came up big. Often, CP gave up the ball early and allowed the other Hornets to make plays, and that's exactly what they did. David West showed great recognition by shooting when he was open and backing his man down when he had a mismatch. If the first guy to get the ball didn't have a shot, they moved it quickly to the open man. Paul's teammates had 13 assists of their own.

Still, CP certainly did some damage himself. It's not like a Dallas double-team could really keep him contained. He split the double a number of occasions to get into the paint and hit one of those floaters he's known for, or drive and dish.

New Orleans' offense was so efficient despite the adjustments made by Dallas, that it makes you wonder what the Mavs are supposed to do now. They could do the same and just hope that the Hornets don't shoot 61 percent from the field, or they could go with Plan C.

I have no idea what that is, though.


Final: Hornets 127, Mavs 103

Once again, the Mavs couldn't keep Paul under wraps.
Layne Murdoch/NBAE/Getty Images

Plenty of garbage time in this one. And plenty of opportunities for TNT to switch over to the Magic & Raptors (and my favorite broadcasting team of Ian Eagle and Bill Raftery) for updates over there.

Chris Paul finished with 32 points, five rebounds, 17 assists and three steals. He was also seen selling popcorn at the refreshment stand and ushering fans to their seats before the game.

There's not an ugly number to be found on the Hornets side of the boxscore. Four of the five starters were +24 or better and only one guy, Ryan Bowen, was a minus. He had a -1 in 3:41 of garbage time.

We'll have more in a bit.


End of Third Quarter: Hornets 99, Mavs 79
More of the same on the offensive end for the Hornets. Doubles on CP result in mismatches or open shots.

Morris Peterson got in on the action with eight straight Hornets points in the middle of the period. The first three came off a great look from Paul when he saw the trap coming at him up top, saw the other defenders rotating, and found Peterson open in the corner before the trap got to him.

Eight points for Peja in the quarter.

Again, the Hornets had one small drought (four possessions), but they were as efficient as can be otherwise.

More big plays from Hilton Armstrong. He ended the aforementioned drought with a back-down, spin and lefty hook move, and then picked up a steal, which led to a Peja three on the break, on the next possession.

Brandon Bass is the only real bright spot for the Mavs. He's busting his butt and has 17 points (on 5-of-5 from the field and 7-of-7 from the line) and eight boards.


Halftime: Hornets 67, Mavs 51
After turning the ball over just once in the first quarter, the Mavs turned it over five times in their first 11 possessions of the second and seven times total in the period.

Chris Paul sat the first 5:41 of the period, and the Hornets extended the lead from 10 to 11 in that time.

There is some good news for the Mavs:
1. Their offense is definitely sharper tonight than it was after the first quarter on Saturday.
2. They're doing a better job of containing Paul.

The bad news for the Mavs is that the Hornets are taking advantage of all of the attention paid to CP3 with great ball movement. They're getting lots of mismatches and lots of open shots. They've got 18 assists on 24 field goals and three other Hornets are already in double-figures.

Paul has 10 of the assists. A double-double (12 points) in the first half.

The Hornets went scoreless on six straight possessions early in the second, but after that, their offense was just as efficient as it was in the first.

Dirk is being aggressive. He's made 10 trips to the line so far and leads the Mavs with 16 points.

This might have gone unnoticed. Hilton Armstrong drew two fouls on the Mavs on the first two possessions of the second quarter. It paid off late in the quarter as the Hornets paraded to the line, going 8-for-8 on their final four possessions.

We've got simultaneous games going on for the first time this postseason, so check out Mike Slane's Magic-Raptors game blog while you're here.


End of First Quarter: Hornets 39, Mavs 29

West had it going early.
Layne Murdoch/NBAE/Getty Images
The Hornets had 24 possessions in that quarter, and they scored on 19 of them. That's good. They're 17-of-24 from the field.

The final one was a runner from Chris Paul at the buzzer. Jerry Stackhouse had hit a three with 1.8 second to go and Jannero Pargo led Paul beautifully. He was able to get inside the arc on the other end for a shot.

The Mavs are trying to trap Chris Paul as much as possible, and David West is benefiting. He's got 12 points on 6-of-9 shooting. As John Jacobson (my co-pilot tonight) notes, it's nice to have a big man who can stick a jumper.

Jannero Pargo was another beneficiary. After a trap on CP, he got it to West, who backed down Stackhouse and found Pargo wide open for a three.

The Mavs have posted Kidd a few times, but they've posted Dirk more. He leads Dallas with nine points.

The play of the quarter was a Tyson Chandler block & alley-oop combo. He rejected Jerry Stackhouse one on end and caught a lob from Paul for a throwdown on the other.

Each team had only one turnover in the quarter.


Pregame:
Two more reads before we get started....

Scouts Inc. has a few tactical solutions to get Dallas' offense going. Defensively, they just need to get tougher.

And Hornets Hype likes their team's bench tonight.

I think this game could very well determine how the rest of the series goes. If the Mavs come back to win, we should have a long series on our hands. But if the Hornets pick up where they left off on Saturday, the series might go five games tops.

And I like what Scouts Inc. had to say about Dallas' defense. This is just as much about the intangibles (aggressiveness and toughness) than it is about the tangibles (trapping Chris Paul and making some shots).

-- Edited by John Schuhmann at 04/22/2008 10:56 PM