Come out strong & Lue out

Taking the fight to the Hornets is the focus tonight. The Mavs lost their aggressiveness in the second half of Game 1.

“You can’t ever play on your heels,” Avery Johnson said. “You can’t play 22 minutes of a 48-minute playoff game. It’s not going to cut it.

“Now we understand what we need to do and it’s still not going to be an easy task. New Orleans is the No. 2 seed for a reason, so we have to come out and play really well to have a chance to win.”

A win means the homecourt edge and the Hornets have not won in Dallas in a decade.

“You can’t just depend on what historically we’ve done at home,” Johnson said. “That’s all in the past. This game is a very winnable game if we play right and play longer than we did the first game. If we can do that then we’ll have a shot at winning. Whatever happens, win or win, we’ll have a shot at the next one.”

Johnson won’t have Tyronn Lue tonight. The backup point guard is out with lower back tightness. He’ll join Jamaal Magloire and JJ Barea on the inactive list.