Twenty in a row

Standard operating procedure for the Dallas Mavericks is to blow the other team out of the arena in the first quarter and then hold serve the rest of the way. And that's the way it started tonight, with the Mavs jumping out to a 12-point lead. But the Hornets fought back with a 12-4 run to pull within four, and actually took the lead briefly, so Dallas had to blow them out of the arena in the second quarter, and the dreaded Third-Quarter Drought™, which was actually no worse than the second-quarter drought, pretty much finished the Bees, as the Mavs had done in their previous 19 regular-season meetings. The final was 94-80.

Upside: Marc Jackson scores 22 points, including 10 of 10 from the charity stripe; Devin Brown gets 10 points and 10 rebounds; the Hornets actually out-rebounded Dallas, 43-37.

Downside: Fifteen turnovers, only one blocked shot.

And Dallas was, well, Dallas, and they acted like it. Jason Terry led all scorers with 25; Dirk Nowitzki had an off night and still got 17.

The Hornets are now 12-18. The January schedule is marginally less arduous, but the infirmary has yet to return any of the wounded Bees to action.

Posted at 10:00 PM to Net Proceeds