Charles Barkley, who hasn't recognized the Hornets as a good NBA team in his comments on TNT, continues to get the Bees fans hot with comments like the following:
"A win Friday in Game 3 would change things dramatically. I don't think you panic when you lose two on the road. You’re not going to come back from three games down, so you've got to make sure you win Game 3. Then you say we've got to win Game 4, and then the pressure switches back to New Orleans. You can't panic, you've got to keep your confidence up."
Hornets coach Byron Scott hopes his players aren't sitting around and mulling the fact that nobody on their roster was in the NBA the last time the Hornets won In Dallas.
In the past decade, the Hornets have three cities home and played more than 800 NBA games.
None of these have ended with a win in Dallas.
Whether they were the Charlotte, Oklahoma City or New Orleans version of the Hornets, they haven't won on the Mavericks' home floor in 13 trips.
The Mavs are using those stats for a confidence builder for the next two games in Big D.
"We're back home, where we're loved away from all that voodoo down there in New Orleans," the Mavs' Jason Terry wanted it known. "More importantly, we have another opportunity to change the momentum of this series with a win. That's our focus."
Entering Game 3, Hornets center Tyson Chandler said he's very satisfied with the way his team has performed, very satisfied with the way they stepped up to the challenge as a team, and satisfied with his individual play.
"I feel like we're in a good place right now," said Chandler. "We secured home and now we gotta head to Dallas and get Game 3."
Here's Chandler take on Game 2: "It was kind of a pride thing with Mo Pete and the rest of the guards. The Mavs were saying they were going to take CP out of the game, and that would be the way to beat us. I think some of the guys took that personally.
"Mo came out very aggressive. It may have been the first time this year. I've seen him get the ball, dribble the full length of the court, pull up for a shot and knock it down. He also dribbled full court and made some plays for us. It was really great to see, because it really takes a lot of pressure off of CP trying to handle the ball or having to set up a play. When anybody can get the ball and push the fast break, that's dangerous, because then you got all five guys out there running."
Dallas coach Avery Johnson is not concerned about the mood of his Mavs.
"They are not happy with the way they've played," said Johnson. "Where we are right now is nobody's fault but ours. It's not the referees. We can't complain when we don't get calls. We just have to be tough-minded and physical.
"We don't want to give up on anything we've done yet. I know a lot of people are counting us out. The same people who picked us to win the series, by the way. I just hope that make up their minds.
"When we were down in New Orleans, the president was in town, and they blocked off a lot of streets. We've got to block off some of those streets."
Chandler noted that the Hornets had lost 13 straight games in Dallas, and said, "This year, we stopped a whole lot of trends."
