Nowitzki, Terry, Mavs get back in series with Hornets

Friday, April 25, 2008

Nowitzki, Terry, Mavs get back in series with Hornets
2008 NBA PLAYOFFS SPECIAL COVERAGE- WESTERN CONFERENCE FIRST ROUND GAME
Game played April 25, 2008

DALLAS, Texas- Down 2-0 in their best-of-seven first-round Western Conference playoffs series with New Orleans, the Dallas Mavericks won Game 3 97-87. Dirk Nowitzki scored 32 points to lead all players in that category, and Jason Terry added 22 more for Dallas.

Dallas took a big lead right out of the gate, with a 15-4 run to open play. Nowitzki scored five points, Terry added four and Jason Kidd, Erick Dampier and Josh Howard added two points apiece during the run. At the end of the first quarter, the Mavericks held a 23-16 lead.

In the second quarter, the Hornets showed flashes of the resiliency that made them a two-seed in the playoffs. Trailing 25-16, New Orleans went on a 16-4 run to take its first lead. During the spurt, Peja Stojakovic and Jannero Pargo tallied five points each, with Bonzi Wells scoring four and Julian Wright adding two. The Hornets led 32-29.

The Mavericks went on a 13-4 run, however, to end first-half play and retake the lead for good. Devean George netted five points, Nowitzki scored four and Kidd and Brandon Bass added two points each. At the half, Dallas led, 47-40.

Dallas made another 9-2 run early in the third period. Howard scored six points and Nowitzki added three more to extend the Mavericks’ lead to 58-45.

The Mavs led 74-63 at the end of the third quarter, and the lead swelled to as much as 16 after a Nowitzki 3 early in the fourth. New Orleans did make one last late 7-0 run to cut the gap to 90-83, but could get no closer, falling by 10.

For Dallas, Howard checked in with 18 points. Nowitzki registered 19 rebounds, and Kidd had 11 more.

The Hornets were led offensively by Pargo’s 30 points off the bench. Chris Paul added 16, with 10 assists. David West scored 14 points, and Stojakovic chipped in 13, with 10 boards. Tyson Chandler checked in with 11 rebounds.

New Orleans’ futility in Dallas continued with the loss. The Hornets are 0-12 all-time at the American Airlines Arena and have not won in Dallas since the then-Charlotte Hornets turned the trick Jan. 24, 1998.

With the win, the seventh-seeded Mavericks’ home record this season improved to 35-7.

The series, which the Hornets still lead two games to one, will resume here Sunday night.

Video credit- ESPN