A few thoughts from tonight's game:
- Devin Harris did a much better job bottling up Chris Paul tonight than the last time the two met. Paul's final line may have looked decent (22 points on 9-21 shooting), but compared to the way Paul has been playing lately, that's pretty darn good. Perhaps the biggest show of Devin's defense was Chris Paul's lack of assists. He had a season-low 3 on the night and didn't get many opportunities to hit the open man as he usually does. The offense runs through Paul, and when it's forced into someone else's hands to make plays, the Hornets suffer greatly.
- The Hornets were actually fully stocked on players tonight despite the questionable statuses of Peja Stojakovic and Morris Peterson. The Mavs did a good job of adjusting to the presence of the two outside shooters and limited them to a combined 5 of 17 shooting on the night.
- You keep thinking Dirk is going to bust out of this early-season funk, and then he has games like this. He rebounded OK and had a high assist total with 6, but he got pushed around every time he tried to get into the paint and finished with 7 points on 2-8 shooting.
-Scooter Hendon, Hoops Nerd
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