Some days the bear eats you

The Mavericks definitely had their way with the Hornets, and there's no other way to describe it: it was a blowout from the first jump. The first quarter started with a 21-3 Dallas run and ended with Dallas up 35-16; the Hornets actually outscored the Mavs in the second, 20-16, but in the third Bobby Jackson drew a foul, questioned the call, drew a technical, questioned the technical, drew a second technical and was sent to the showers, and it took three Bees to get him off the court. (At this writing, it is not clear whether Jackson would be suspended.) At the end of the third, it was 70-53 Dallas.

Things got worse. David West and Peja Stojakovic were already out with injuries; with Jackson ejected and the fourth quarter starting badly — Linton Johnson picked up a T — Byron Scott threw up his hands in despair and put rookie Marcus Vinicius, who had played zero minutes this season, into the game. (Marquinhos got one rebound and three fouls, but did not score.) It didn't even matter that Dallas didn't hit a single field goal for the first half of the quarter, and that the Bees finished with an 8-0 run. The Mavericks let the dance team play, or something, and won it 85-73, their ninth straight win after opening with four losses.

"Dallas," said Sean Kelley, "will want to burn this game tape. The Hornets will find many uses for it." The major use will be "See this? Don't do this." The bench scored 34 points, though this was due mostly to the fecklessness of the starters; of those 34, Jannero Pargo accounted for 19. Bobby Jackson, before The Incident, had scored 10; he'd also missed five of six free throws. Desmond Mason, Hilton Armstrong and Tyson Chandler picked up eight rebounds each. The Mavericks were led as usual by Dirk Nowitzki, who scored 28 and got 9 boards.

There's a definite pattern here: win four, lose three, win four, lose three. If this holds up, the Bees should trounce the Raptors and the Bulls at the Ford Center next week, and then beat the Lakers and the Sonics on the road the following week. I wouldn't risk the mortgage payment on it, though.

Posted at 10:03 PM to Net Proceeds