Preview: Mavericks (21-15) at Hornets (8-27)

Preview: Mavericks (21-15) at Hornets (8-27)

Earl K. Sneed reports from New Orleans and previews the Dallas Mavericks' road matchup against the division rival Hornets as the wounded defending champs try to snap a three-game losing streak.

NEW ORLEANS — What was once thought to be their greatest strength nearly turned into the Dallas Mavericks’ biggest fear Wednesday night in Memphis.

Before falling to a 96-85 defeat to the Southwest Division rival Grizzlies, the Mavericks (21-15) and their depth were tested again when they believed they’d be without a third — and easily the most important — of their main contributors for an extended period of time. Already down newcomers Delonte West (fractured right ring finger) and Lamar Odom (family matters), the Mavs lost leading scorer and 11-time All-Star Dirk Nowitzki with 11:09 left in the second quarter of the eventual loss due to lower back tightness suffered before the game during warmups. Although the injury would later be classified as minor, the defending champions struggled to muster up enough offense without their go-to scorer, falling to a third consecutive loss while Nowitzki missed the second half.

Friday night, with Nowitzki’s status uncertain, the Mavs will try to get back on track by defeating the New Orleans Hornets for a third time, looking for a season series sweep of the divisional foe while concluding a two-game road trip. And with both West and Odom still away from the team, Nowitzki says he hopes to return to form after a day of treatment Thursday.

“We’re already down without L.O. and without D-West, we’re on a tough stretch and we need every win, but you don’t want to make things worse,” Nowitzki said after sitting out the second half of Wednesday night’s loss for precautionary reasons. “If I’m out there 50 percent, I’m not helping much anyway. So, it was best to take the night off. … Hopefully I get some good treatment [Thursday] and have a big game Friday. We’ve been struggling and we need a win Friday, so hopefully I’ll be 100 percent.”

“He had a back issue, felt something in warmups, tried to play and then clearly wasn’t moving the way he needed to be moving, so we pulled the plug,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle explained. “And he’ll get treatment and we’ll see where we’re at Friday. … We’re missing some other guys, too, and this is one of the realities of this league. You go with the guys you’ve got.”

Fortunately for the Mavericks, however, they face a Hornets (8-27) team that is just 3-15 at home. Meanwhile, the Mavericks will try to play on with or without their undisputed leader, facing a New Orleans squad that sits at the bottom of the Western Conference standings. And with an opportunity to seize the third matchup in a stretch of nine games in 12 days, the Mavs will step into New Orleans Arena looking for their first win after the All-Star break and fourth straight against the Hornets.

The team will have to bounce back from Wednesday’s disappointing showing first, though, after being outshot by the Grizzlies, 48.8 percent to 44.3 percent, in addition to losing a 42-34 rebounding battle, getting outscored in the paint, 62-52, and outscored 15-8 in second-chance points.

“We’ve got to keep playing. We’ve got enough veteran guys in here that know how to win,” point guard Jason Kidd empathically said while not looking to use the team’s depleted roster as an excuse.

“We’ve got to stick with what works when we’re having success,” reserve guard Jason Terry added, “regardless of who’s on the floor.”

Note: The Mavericks head into New Orleans for a third divisional matchup against the Hornets on Friday night. Dallas looks for the season sweep, leading the series 2-0. The Mavericks-Hornets matchup will conclude a two-game road trip and will air locally at 7 p.m. CT on Fox Sports Southwest.

The Mavs return to the American Airlines Center Saturday night for a third showdown against the Utah Jazz. Dallas leads the season series 2-0. The game will air locally on Fox Sports Southwest at 7:30 p.m. CT. Tickets are still available and can be purchased by calling (214) 747-MAVS.

Single-game tickets are on sale and available at the American Airlines Center North Box Office, online at mavs.com, via phone by calling 214-747-MAVS or 1-800-4NBA-TIX and all Ticketmaster outlets (Fiesta Grocery Stores, Wal-Mart, Simon Mall in Garland and the Shops at Willow Bend in Plano).