Lost trip, New Orleans tip at 6

The Mavs had a day off after flying back from Seattle this morning. The team resumes practice tomorrow with the regular season coming to a close Wednesday with potential first-round opponent New Orleans coming to town.

Make note that the game time has been moved up to 6 p.m. to accommodate ESPN. The Mavs-Hornets are the first half of a nationally-televised doubleheader that ends with San Antonio-Utah.

The trip through the Pacific Northwest didn’t go well. The seventh seed would have been locked up with a win in either Portland or Seattle. Instead, losses to a pair of lottery-bound teams make the No. 8 a possibility.

“We played like we were just happy to be in the playoffs, not like we were trying to secure something,” Avery Johnson said last night. “We’re disappointed, but [the Sonics] deserved it.”

A night after the Blazers nearly shot 60 percent, the Sonics dominated inside despite not having an intimidating low-post presence. Seattle outscored the Mavs 48-24 in the paint and racked up seven 3-point play opportunities.

“We’ve got to get better defensively,” Jason Kidd said. “We gave up too many points in the paint and a lot of 3-point plays.”