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Posted on Sun, Apr. 20, 2008

Paul blows up, Mavs implode in second half

By RANDY GALLOWAY

Star-Telegram staff writer

NEW ORLEANS -- A year ago, the Dallas Mavericks' first-round nightmare was a muscular veteran with a weird beard. Baron Davis became heavily responsible for disgrace and humiliation descending upon Mark Cuban's basketball house.

But based on what was observed here Saturday night, Davis' dismantling of the Mavs may become almost tame in comparison.

The New Orleans point guard with the baby face, the shortest player on the floor... yes, him.

Chris Paul, the kid who took the NBA by storm this season, stormed all over the Mavericks in this first-round opener.

Afterward, a grizzled 35-year old veteran, who even following a long shower still wore Paul skid marks, was asked an obvious question.

So, Jason Kidd, exactly what is the answer for this Chris Paul?

Pausing, Kidd gave a slight grin, then softly replied, "Hope he misses."

The humor is appreciated, but that also just about describes the Mavericks' second-half defensive plan on the 22-year old Paul.

Game 1 of the series went to the Hornets 104-92 because the second half was totally owned by Paul, who had a docile 11 points at intermission but ended up with a sensational 35.

By the way, it was the first postseason contest of his NBA life.

"[Paul] has been doing this all season," said Kidd, who has the main defensive assignment on the regular season's top candidate (my opinion) for league MVP honors, but Jason was also expecting help that never really materialized.

Between now and Game 2 here Tuesday, Avery Johnson must come up with something for Paul, or else. Or else another first-round Mavs exit will happen sooner, not later.

"I assume," said Hornets coach Byron Scott, "they will make adjustments in trying to trap [Paul] more.

Avery's postgame comments centered on the same thing: "We can't let him get out of our traps. We've got to keep the ball out of his hands as much as possible. We tried some of that tonight. But he kept moving and kept the ball."

All this is true. Except, is better defense really the answer for the Mavs now that the first game is in the books?

Rewind what Kidd said about Paul. He has been doing this all season.

Meanwhile, the Mavericks had a nice 12-point lead at halftime, 52-40. They were solid on the boards, fairly solid on defense, but very good at driving the lane and getting to the foul line, particularly Dirk Nowitzki and Josh Howard, who combined for 13 free-throw attempts, making 11.

But as soon as the dancing girls wrapped up at halftime, Paul immediately started his offensive tango. Scott's halftime advice for Paul was "be yourself; go out and create havoc in the lane."

The kid listens well. Paul scored three quick buckets coming out of the break and assisted on another with a feed to the big man, David West, who noted, "as a team we'd been nervous about this first playoff game for a couple of weeks. I thought that showed in the first half. But then Chris got us all going again to start the second half."

But in the end, the Mavericks didn't lose Game 1 because Paul scored 24 second-half points, or because seven second-half assists were just as damaging.

Actually, this was an offensive loss. Forty points in the entire second half is, of course, awful. Forty points, 20 a quarter, was an indictment on everyone except Dirk, who played a manly game and notched a manly 31 points.

But as this contest started slipping away, and as Paul went on a rampage, the Mavericks' answer was (honk if you've heard this before) long-range jump shots.

"At one point we took nine straight jumpers and missed them all," said Kidd, who was obviously counting.

Two starters, Josh Howard and Jerry Stackhouse, combined to go 6-for-25. Josh had his strong first half, driving inside repeatedly, then went 0-for-8 afterward.

Jason Terry, whose instant offense is desperately needed off the bench, was held to seven shots in 24 minutes. Jason normally has seven shots before he gets his warm-up off. (Scott credited backup guard Jannero Pargo for smothering Terry.)

But it was interesting to hear Avery's postgame comments in regard to Kidd. While fielding many questions on how he planned to defend Paul next time, Johnson at least three times noted, "we've got to make him work a lot harder on the defensive end."

Kidd is one strange cat when it comes to his offensive game. As the Mavs were rolling along nicely in the first half, Jason hit every shot he put up. Two field goals (one a 3), and two free throws for seven points. Not much, but something to build on.

But then Kidd played the entire third quarter, and took...

Well, zero shots in 12 minutes. Meanwhile, Paul was running up and down Poydras Avenue, scoring at will, while Kidd was giving him no sweat on the other end.

Josh, Terry, Kidd, Stack. Beating the Hornets and being competitive in this series comes down to those guys providing more offensive production.

Stopping Chris Paul is a chore. But outscoring his team shouldn't be as difficult as the Mavericks made it Saturday night.

Randy Galloway can be heard on Galloway & Co. weekdays 3-6 p.m. on ESPN/103.3 FM.