Back in the Win Column

That is what I'm used to seeing from the Mavs. A solid game, all around, leading to a 97-87 win over New Orleans. Of course the Mavs were playing at home where they were one of the best in the NBA this season but aside from that, I saw so many things during tonight's game that I didn't see in Game 2. For one thing, Dallas did a great job of clamping down on Chris Paul and David West. Combined, they were 10 of 38 for 30 points whereas in game 1, they were 23 of 41 for 58 points and game 2 they were 21 of 33 for 59 points. That is where Dallas beat New Orleans...limiting those two guys. Holding Peja to 13 points (9 of those from the 3 point arc) didn't hurt either. One thing I didn't see from New Orleans was all the laughing and goofing around they were doing on the bench during game 2. Tonight, things were a bit more serious for them.

Another thing that I saw from the Mavs was energy and aggressiveness. In game 2 especially, the Mavs just seemed to wilt and back down. They were not aggressive, didn't go for loose balls or rebounds and basically didn't look like they were interested in playing. Tonight, with the crowd behind them, they looked like a totally different team. They played confidently and just seemed to play like they had a chip on their shoulder.

Dallas still needs to play a bit better with their pick 'n roll defense but that isn't anything new. Janerro Pargo did go for 30 in the game but he was the Hornet's only real offensive threat. And if there is a choice between Pargo going for 30 and Chris Paul going for 30, I'll take my chance with Pargo any day of the week. It not great that a bench player scored that much but oh well. The Mavs got the win and got back in this series.

I'm hoping on Sunday Dallas can continue the home cookin' and roll up another W to tie the series. I'm still sticking to my original prediction that Dallas wins the series in 7 and winning again on Sunday will go a long way toward my prediction coming to fruition. A lot of the media around here were already counting Dallas out of this and have started projecting who the next Mavs coach would be (after Avery gets fired). However, I seem to remember another team 2 years ago in the Finals that was down 0-2 in the series and was down 13 points with 6 minutes to go in game 3. That's when Dwayne Wade took over and willed Miami to four straight wins over the Mavs. If Dallas can remember that, maybe they can turn the tables and do the same thing to New Orleans. How great would it be to push those punky Hornets players out of the playoffs! At this point, that would almost be better than doing the same thing to San Antonio...almost.