Mavericks-Hornets preview

Posted Tuesday, Nov. 03, 2009 Comments   (0) Print Share Share Reprints
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Mavericks at Hornets

8:30 tonight, New Orleans Arena

TV: ESPN, FSSW. Radio: ESPN/103.3 FM, KFLC/1270 AM (Spanish)

Scouting the Hornets

They have lost two in a row and their only win came at home against a Sacramento team that pushed the Hornets to the limit. … Chris Paul is off to a fabulous start, averaging 27.8 points and 8.5 assists. He typically torments the Mavericks. Last year, he missed a triple-double by one rebound in one meeting and missed a quadruple double by three steals in another. But he has been getting precious little help early in the season. … New center Emeka Okafor doesn’t yet have the lob-pass-for-dunks chemistry that Paul had with Tyson Chandler. … Power forward David West, another longtime nemesis for the Mavericks, has started slowly, averaging 15.5 points and 5.5 rebounds, both well off his averages last season.

Scouting the Mavericks

They have lost four in a row at New Orleans and didn’t stay within 10 points in either setback last season. Hard to believe they once won 21 in a row against this franchise.  … The Mavericks have been strong defensively so far, but have yet to get their offense in gear. Entering Tuesday’s game against the Jazz, they were shooting under 41 percent through three games and had yet to top 95 points. … Three of their top six scorers are reserves, with Jason Terry, J.J. Barea and Kris Humphries combining for an average of nearly 32 points per game. … Jason Kidd shot just 23 percent in four games against the Hornets last season and was just 22.7 percent from 3-point range.

— Eddie Sefko

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