A season’s worth of inconsistency reared its head Sunday night when the Mavericks could least afford to see it. Needing another complete effort to forge a series tie, it just wasn’t there and it left their playoff lives one loss from extinction.
New Orleans took a 3-1 lead with their 97-84 victory before 20,644 stunned fans at American Airlines Center and can close out the first round Tuesday on its homecourt. The Hornets won the first two games of the series at New Orleans Arena.
“I thought we were primed for a really good win,” a surprised Avery Johnson said. “I thought we were going to come out and just play aggressive from start to finish. I thought our third quarter would be one of our better third quarters and it wasn’t. And then we just started pressing.
“We didn’t make shots. We didn’t drive enough. You could tell by the free throws, we go from shooting 38 to 16. You can’t shoot 16 free throws in a playoff game and shoot 36 percent from the field. Again, we weren’t as aggressive as we should have been and we are going to have to be aggressive from start to finish in New Orleans.”
No margin of error remains for the Mavs, who have no choice but to win three straight, including two on the road. The odds definitely aren’t in their favor. It’s only been done eight times in league history and just twice when the two wins were needed on the road.
If anything, the Mavs can find solace in the fact that it has been done before. What else can they look to?
“Our backs are against the wall,” said Josh Howard, a 26-percent shooter (15 of 58) in the series. “We have nothing to lose.”
Read the rest of this story at mavs.com.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Mavs face elimination after Game 4
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I'm sick of paying to watch this stupid team. Stupid is the key word. When your down 10 or 12 points and continue to shoot 18-20 foot jumpers you deserve to lose. This whole team needs to go with the exception of Dirk, Terry and Bass. They are the only ones with any heart. Get rid of Kidd..he's a turnover machine and he can't shoot, Howard doesn't apparently care anymore now that his little buddy was shipped off to NJ. Damp has stone hands, how can he miss a friggin dunk with no one on you. Stack is old, Jones is old, Devon George??? There is nothing I can say about a useless player who often hits the side of the backboard from the corner. Avery pulls everyone in the 2nd qtr except Dirk and Dallas had a 7 or 8 point lead? You've got George, Barrea, Stack, Dirk and some other stiff. What a bone head move that was, NO took the lead in a matter of minutes. I'm through , I can't take this frustration any more.
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