Art Garcia | Mavs.com

Posted: April 27, 2008

A season’s worth of inconsistency reared its head Sunday night when the Mavericks could least afford to see it. Needing another complete effort to forge a series tie, it just wasn’t there and it left their playoff lives one loss from extinction.

New Orleans took a 3-1 lead with their 97-84 victory before 20,644 stunned fans at American Airlines Center and can close out the first round Tuesday on its homecourt. The Hornets won the first two games of the series at New Orleans Arena.

“I thought we were primed for a really good win,” a surprised Avery Johnson said. “I thought we were going to come out and just play aggressive from start to finish. I thought our third quarter would be one of our better third quarters and it wasn’t. And then we just started pressing.

“We didn’t make shots. We didn’t drive enough. You could tell by the free throws, we go from shooting 38 to 16. You can’t shoot 16 free throws in a playoff game and shoot 36 percent from the field. Again, we weren’t as aggressive as we should have been and we are going to have to be aggressive from start to finish in New Orleans.”

No margin of error remains for the Mavs, who have no choice but to win three straight, including two on the road. The odds definitely aren’t in their favor. It’s only been done eight times in league history and just twice when the two wins were needed on the road.

If anything, the Mavs can find solace in the fact that it has been done before. What else can they look to?

“Our backs are against the wall,” said Josh Howard, a 26-percent shooter (15 of 58) in the series. “We have nothing to lose.”

Johnson’s team found itself in a do-or-die despite a promising start to Game 4. The Mavs were the aggressors early, just as they were in Game 3, and controlled the first quarter. But as the evening wore on, the upstart Hornets began to assert their will with a balanced effort across the board.

Chris Paul, David West and Peja Stojakovic did their thing, combining for 59 points. The Hornets also received timely contributions from unsung role players such as Morris Peterson, Julian Wright and Jannero Pargo. The Mavs were basically a two-man outfit – Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry. Josh Howard and Jason Kidd, who was ejected, had virtually no impact.

The game began to slip away in the second quarter and continued into the third, as the Mavs abandoned their attacking ways and began settling for jumpers. The reluctance to go inside cut off the free-throw edge, which was huge in Game 3. The Mavs simply weren’t the same team they were in Game 3 and through the first quarter of Game 4.

“We settled for jump shots and we got impatient,” Howard said. “That’s what happened.”

The Hornets moved out to a 64-51 lead midway through the third before the home team began to mount a charge. Naturally, trips to the line and into the paint played a large part in the comeback. Playing like a man possessed or at least one who knew what a loss meant, Nowitzki drained a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 68-63.

The Mavs didn’t do themselves any favors finishing out the period. They continued to get to the stripe, but missed several free throws down the stretch and went into the fourth trailing 76-66. Dallas didn’t challenge in the fourth quarter, which included Kidd’s takedown of Pargo with 7:16 left. Paul began immediately campaigning for an ejection, which followed a huddle by the officials.

The Flagrant 2 foul and Kidd’s status for Game 5 will be reviewed by the league office. Kidd maintained after the game, as he did on the court, that he wasn’t trying to hurt Pargo.

“I just tried to foul Pargo,” Kidd said. “Wasn’t trying to hurt him and they called a Flagrant 2.”

First-Round Schedule: New Orleans leads 2-1

Game 1, New Orleans 104, Dallas 92

Game 2, New Orleans 127, Dallas 103

Game 3, Dallas 97, New Orleans 87

Game 4, New Orleans 97, Dallas 84

Game 5, Tue, April 29, Dallas at New Orleans, 6 pm, TXA

Game 6*, Thu, May 1, New Orleans at Dallas, TBD, TXA

Game 7*, Sat, May 3, Dallas at New Orleans, TBD , TNT

(All times CT)

* If necessary