The Mavericks season ended last night despite a strong effort and it cost Avery Johnson his coaching job. Dirk Nowitzki led the way for the Mavericks with 22 points, 13 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 blocked shots. Jason Kidd had a decent game on offense with 14 points, 4 rebounds and 9 assists but he had problems guarding Chris Paul again. Jason Terry only shot 4 of 11 from the floor but he finished with 13 points and 9 assists. The Mavericks lost this series 4-1.

The Mavericks didn’t play any offense or defense on Sunday Night! The Hornets shot 50% from the floor and the Mavericks only shot 36% from the floor in this game. Dirk Nowitzki led the way for the Mavericks in this game with 22 points, 13 rebounds and 3 assists. Jason Terry only shot 6 of 16 from the floor but he still finished with 20 points and 3 assists. Brandon Bass was solid off the bench with 12 points and 9 rebounds in only 25 minutes. The Mavericks are down 3-1 in this series.

The Mavericks turned up the defense as they held the Hornets to 37.9% shooting from the floor and they outrebounded the Hornets 52-43 which helps explain the win. Dirk Nowitzki was on fire last night as he finished up with 32 points, 19 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 blocked shots. Jason Terry started and scored 22 points, grabbed 3 rebounds and dished out 6 assists. Josh Howard pitched in with 18 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists. The Mavericks are now down 2-1 to the Hornets in this series.

The Mavericks must be having flashbacks of last year’s playoffs when the Warriors kept running them out of the gym. The Mavericks played no defense last night as the Hornets shot 60.8% from the floor! Dirk Nowitzki had another solid game to lead the way for the Mavericks with 27 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. Brandon Bass was outstanding off the bench with 19 points and 8 rebounds in only 29 minutes. Jason Terry pitched in with 16 points, 2 rebounds and 4 assists in 31 minutes off the bench. The Mavericks had the same problem as they did in game one as Josh Paul torched Jason Kidd for 32 points, 5 rebounds, 17 assists and 3 steals. The Mavericks are now down 2-0 to the Hornets in this series.

It seems as if Dirk Nowitzki’s words fired the Hornets up and they stung the Mavericks on Saturday. The Mavericks only shot 33.3% from the floor and they were outscored 64-40 in the 2nd half which explains the loss. Dirk Nowitzki backed up his talk with 31 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocked shots. Josh Howard was only 4 of 16 from the floor and he finished with 17 points and 8 rebounds. Jason Kidd finished with 11 points, 9 rebounds, 9 assists and 2 steals, but, he didn’t play any defense as Chris Paul finished with 35 points, 3 rebounds, 10 assists and 4 steals. Paul also shot 15 of 23 from the floor and if Kidd doesn’t man up on defense against Paul this could be a very short series.