NBA Playoff 2008 新奧爾良黃蜂 VS 達拉斯小牛 (Game3) ( 第1,2節)

Dirk Nowitzki put up the big numbers, but you could make a case for Jason Terry as the Player of the Game tonight. Terry finished with 22 points (on 8-of-18) and six assists, but his most important contibrution came on the other end of the floor.

Terry was given the assignment of guarding Chris Paul, and even though that task takes five, Terry kept his teammates from having to leave their men too open by sticking with Paul as well as anyone could possibly do.

This can't be confirmed, but I think that at the end of the game, Terry looked at Avery Johnson and said, "It was Dentyne."

Who can tell me what in the world I'm talking about in the above paragraph?

Now, the Hornets' shooting struggles weren't just because Dallas played great D. New Orleans, specifically David West, missed a ton of open shots. This just wasn't their night. Or maybe, this just isn't their arena. They're now 0-12 in the American Airlines Center.

The Mavs will try to make them 0-13 and even the series on Sunday (9:30 ET, TNT).


Final: Mavs 97, Hornets 87

Paul didn't have much room to operate tonight.
Layne Murdoch/NBAE/Getty Images

We will have a Game 5, Tuesday in New Orleans. The play of the quarter was a Dirk and-one that gave the Mavs a 15-point lead with 6:45 to go. He pump faked David West at the foul line, got bumped, got off a shot as he was falling down, and the ball rolled around the rim and in.

I thought that was the ball game right there, but the Hornets cut the lead down to seven with two minutes to go. Then came the final dagger: A Jason Terry three off a Josh Howard drive-and-kick.

Things got chippy again when Chris Paul drove with less than 30 seconds to go. Erick Dampier picked him up and seemed to lose his balance, but he basically shoved Paul out of bounds. After the whistle, Tyson Chandler got in Damp's face. It was a flagrant on Dampier and double-Ts on Dampier and Chandler. That gives our blogger a tech in every game of the series so far.

Dirk's final line: 32 points, 19 rebounds, six assists, two blocks, 11-20 FG, 9-10 FT. Not too shabby.

Josh Howard's struggles from the field continue. He shot 5-for-16, but he got to the line 10 times and finished with 18 points.

CP finished with 16 points and 10 assists, but shot just 4-of-18 from the field. David West was 6-of-20 and had 14 points and nine boards.

The lone bright spot for the Hornets was Pargo, who finished with a season-high 30 points on 12-of-20 shooting. He was a +14, which means that the Hornets were -24 while he was on the bench.

As a team, the Hornets shot just .379 from the field, though they were 8-for-16 from downtown. More to come...


End of Third Quarter: Mavs 74, Hornets 63
The Mavs shot 22 free throws in that quarter. The Hornets picked up their fifth foul with 8:43 on the clock, and they didn't stop fouling after that. The Mavs are being very aggressive.

We've talked in the past about Jason Kidd's performance in Game 3 against Cleveland last year. His will and fire is similar tonight. He has only taken four shots, but he is looking to punish Chris Paul offensively and has eight points, six boards and four dimes. He had a terrific play early in the third when he snuck in to grab Erick Dampier free throw miss and found Dirk on the other side for an open jumper.

One Hornet player remembered to pack his offense. Jannero Pargo is 8-for-11 for 21 points. And he's a +13.

Jason Terry is doing a terrific job guarding Chris Paul.

Paul and West are a combined 6-for-29. West has missed several wide open jumpers.


Halftime: Mavs 47, Hornets 40

Kidd looked to force the tempo.
Layne Murdoch/NBAE/Getty Images
The Hornets scored on their first five possessions of the second quarter and seven of the first eight to take a 32-29 lead. The first four possessions were Bonzi Wells post-ups that resulted in baskets for himself, Peja or Pargo. The fifth was a Wells iso where he airballed a J and Julian Wright provided the highlight of the half by grabbing the board and throwing down a one-hander on Jerry Stackhouse's head.

After the 6-of-7 run, the Hornets then scored on only four of their final 14 possessions of the half.

The Hornets are -14 with Chris Paul in the game and +7 with him on the bench. He's 2-for-9. Six points, five dimes.

The Mavs scored on seven of their last nine possessions of the half. On their final possession, Dirk hit a near-impossible fadeaway from just above the foul line.

Dirk leads all scorers with 13 points and is a rebound away from a double-double.

I said it at halftime of Game 1, and I'll say it again here: The Hornets need more from Chris Paul.


End of First Quarter: Mavs 23, Hornets 16
We're gonna be a little delayed on the not-so-live blog tonight. I'm about 1/2 hour behind on the TiVo. Don't tell me who won!

The Hornets left their offensive efficiency back in New Orleans. Chris Paul and David West are a combined 1-for-11 from the field. New Orleans scored on just one of their first 10 possessions, and on the 11th, it took a Morris Peterson offensive board and jumper to end the drought.

A couple of threes from Peja Stojakovic and Jannero Pargo kept it from being a really ugly quarter.

Jason Kidd is looking to push the ball.

Tyson Chandler picked up his second foul and was replaced by Hilton Armstrong a little bit more than three minutes into the game.

The Mavs started with Jason Terry on Chris Paul.

Terry got in Paul's face after Paul knocked Dirk down when trying to break up a long pass on the break.

Dirk continues to play well. He leads all scorers with nine points on 4-of-7.

-- Edited by John Schuhmann at 04/25/2008 11:38 PM