A scuffling New Orleans Hornets team will attempt to right
the ship Wednesday when they play host to the Dallas Mavericks.
The Hornets came up empty during a two-game road trip and fell to 1-3 on the
young season Monday in New York when David Lee made 13-of-17 shots, on his way
to 28 points, as the New York Knicks won their first game of the season with a
117-111 victory over New Orleans at Madison Square Garden.
Chris Paul had 32 points and 13 assists for the Hornets, who were coming off a
loss to the Celtics on Sunday. Emeka Okafor tallied 24 points and 10 rebounds,
while David West chipped in 21 points in defeat.
"They just do a good job of moving you around, spreading you out, and keeping
you on your heels," West said. "They do a good job of feeding Lee when he's
open around the basket."
The Mavericks, meanwhile, improved to 3-1 Wednesday when Dirk Nowitzki put
together a virtuoso performance in the fourth quarter, erupting for a team-
record 29 points in the final stanza to single-handedly carry Dallas to a
96-85 come-from-behind win over the Utah Jazz in "Big D."
Mark Aguirre held the Mavs' previous franchise record for points in a quarter
with 24 against Denver on March 24, 1984.
Dallas trailed by 16 points in the fourth before mounting the miraculous
comeback on the shoulders of the German sharp-shooter. Nowitzki finished with
40 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and five blocks for the victors. He made
all 14 of his foul shots in the last quarter and missed just one of his eight
field goal tries during the stanza.
"My mentality in the fourth was to go out there and make things happen,"
Nowitzki said. "I think what really helped was we got to the bonus real quick
in the fourth by being aggressive and driving to the basket and we were
shooting free throws the rest of the way and that helped us get back into the
game."
Jason Kidd contributed 19 points and six assists for the Mavericks, who have
won three straight since a season-opening loss to Washington.
Since an ugly 21-game skid against the Mavericks from February of 2000 through
March of 2007, New Orleans has won five of the last eight games in the series,
including four straight in the Big Easy.
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