"One thing I've learned is you have to be aggressive," said Hornets point guard Chris Paul. Hornets coach Byron Scott told Paul that at halftime in Game 1 and those instructions helped the Bees take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-7 series lead over the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday night before another sellout crowd at the Arena.
The Hornets spent the last few minutes of a 127-103 victory clowning with the Mavs and attempting dunks usually reserved for practice.
Paul's just keeps on rolling. The Mavs tried to trap him on the first 10 Hornets possessions, but the Bees scored on 7 of them and it would have been 8 had Tyson Chandler not missed a layup. If ever the tone was set for a blowout, those first few minutes did it.
Paul's final line was absolutely wicked: 32 points, 17 assists, 5 rebounds, 3 steals and one cheering crowd chanting "MVP, MVP" throughout the game.
The Hornets didn't appear to change much from Game 1. It's just everything they did seemed to work better in Game 2. Paul had open teammates and shot well. Not all their shots were open looks, but they still made 61 per cent from the field.
The series isn't over, it just seems that way. Any basketball expert will tell you the series doesn't start until the home team loses, especially since Dallas has won both of its home games against the Bees this season.
"Chris Paul is the head of the snake for the Hornets," said Dallas veteran Jerry Stackhouse. "He's playing like it. We just got to do some things to take away his confidence, but it's not uncharted territory. We've played against teams that have had players who have been hot during a series and still been able to win the series. We just need to get home and get some home-cooking."
The Hornets face ugly history in Dallas. The Mavs have a 13-game home winning streak against the Hornets. Paul is aware of that.
"I'm sure Muggsey Bogues was probably running the point the last time we won in Dallas," laughed Paul. "We understand that we have a great opportunity to go in there and go up 3-0. We accept the challenge."
Actually, Corey Beck was the Charlotte Hornets' starting point guard in their 94-92 victory in Dallas on Jan 24, 1998.
With the Mavs intent on not allowing the Bees to push them around in Game 2, there were concerns that things could get out of hand.
"It won't get too rough with Joey Crawford reffing," said Scott.
Crawford is is regarded as the league's best referee, and Scott admitted that, while his team did not want to get caught up in any extracurricular activities, he also didn't want his team to change what it does best.
"Keep you cool," he tell his players. Keep playing a physical brand of basketball. We're not going to back down from anybody anyway, but hopefully it doesn't get out of hand." There were no significant incidents.
Scott said that there is no question about some of the elbows the Hornets claim Dirk Nowitzki is flinging.
"I got a chance to look at the video," said the coach. "There was nothing inadvertent about it. He felt that he was getting kind of pushed around and he took a pretty good swing with the elbow.
"I think Chandler pushed him a little bit. He definitely pushed him. but he didn't push him where he shoved him almost into the photo guys."
David West acquired a fat lip from Nowitzki in Game 1 that resulted in a conversation between the two. The area radio media believed there could be some rough play between the two in Game 2. There wasn't.
"We don't play a lot of emotion," said Dirk. "Collectively, we have to fine more fire. We have to get after them more. We have to let it loose."
Dallas coach Avery Johnson is on the hotseat with owner Mark Cuban and if the Mavs are sick of the New Orleans product, they just need to continue playing the way they have in the first two games of the series.
