MyDallasMavs: Mavs Fall Yet Again in the Last Minutes of Game Play

The Mavs were going into this game with a shaken up mind-set after a heart-breaking loss by a buzzer beater loss to Memphis and just a 3 point win over Minnesota; but the outcome was not what they expected vs a CP3less Hornets, as they lost 93-92.

Tyson Chandler is back in the starting line-up after he's been sitting out with a sprained right ankle. Now Peja sat out tonight's game with a sore back and Marion started in his place.

It was a very defensive low scoring first quarter. The Mavs started the first with a great lead, 11-4. In the beginning of the quarter, Hornets were shooting just 17%; but it didn't take long for them to catch up. They're baskets started falling in, and they were soon only down 12-8. They managed to tie the game up at 16 at the half. The Mavs shot 30% in the first half while the Hornets shot 36%. Roddy had a great first quarter, racking up 7 points. Jason Kidd was in a slump, as he was 0-5 from the field and 0-3 from 3-point range with just 1 point.

In the second quarter, Tyson was a rebounding beast, grabbing what was basically a rebound per minute; he had 7 rebounds in just 7 minutes. Barea hit back-to-back 3-pointers to put the Mavs up by 9 with just under 2 minutes left. The Mavs were up 96-90 but Belinelli hit a buzzer beater 3 from beyond half court to only trail 96-93 at the half. By halftime, the Mavs shot 43.9% and the Hornets shot 45.2%. Dirk started to take the heavy load of carrying the team like usual; he had 14 points at the half.

In the third, from 9 minutes to 4:42 left, the Mavs went on a 10-1 run. With just under 4 seconds left in the quarter, Jason Terry banked in a 3-pointer. Right after, Green hit what seemed to be a buzzer beater 3-pointer but the refs disallowed it, saying that it didn't leave his fingertips in time. The Mavs led at the end of the third 70-60.

In the fourth, Mavs held onto the lead. With just under 5 minutes left, Dirk hit another great and-1 that fouled Landry out of the game. The Hornets were in major foul trouble at this point. Okafor also had 5 fouls and Jack and Gray both had 4 fouls. With under 3 minutes to go, Cardinal hit an important 3-pointer to put the Mavs up 89-81. With 17 seconds left, the Mavs were up 92-90 with Chandler at the line to put the win on lock, but he missed both free throws. With 8 seconds left, the Hornets were fouled on a 3, and Jack got to attempt 3 free throws, hitting all of them and took the lead 93-92. Dirk missed the game-winner with 8 seconds to go and took the 93-92 loss.

Dirk led the Mavs with 26 points. Chandler got his 17th double-double of the season with 16 points and 13 rebounds. JJ had 12 points, Terry had 10, and Roddy had 9. Kidd had a bad game offensively going 0-7 from the field and 0-5 from the 3-point line, with just 3 points from free-throws.

For the Hornets, Belinelli and Jack both had 21 points. West had 16 and Landry had 15.

Next, the Mavs will travel back home to Dallas to play the New York Knicks Thursday night at the AAC.