DALLAS — Dirk Nowitzki came right out and said it: The Dallas Mavericks did not want to open the playoffs against the Los Angeles Lakers.
They’d much rather take their chances against the New Orleans Hornets — especially after the way things went Wednesday night.
Jason Kidd and Jason Terry outplayed Hornets star Chris Paul, with Kidd racking up his 100th triple-double (27 points, 10 assists, 10 rebounds) and Terry scoring 13 of his 30 points during a 32-8 stretch that took Dallas from down by 11 to leading by 13. The Mavericks wound up winning 111-98 to set up a first-round series between the two teams.
“This was definitely a win we wanted to get,” Nowitzki said. “The Lakers are probably the hottest team in the West. We definitely didn’t want to face them in the first round.”
So the Mavericks, who are 3-1 against the Lakers this season, left that dubious task to the Nuggets, who went 0-3 against Los Angeles, including 28- and 17-point losses.
After taking a 50-48 lead at halftime, the Hornets stretched the advantage to 70-59. But Kidd and Terry began scoring or setting up easy shots every time on offense. A few minutes into the fourth quarter, the Mavericks were comfortably ahead 91-78.
