Schedule and 2008 Results
Regular Season Records: New Orleans 56-26, Dallas 51-31
Game 1 on Saturday, 19 April: Dallas loses at New Orleans, 104-pts-92
Game 2 on Tuesday, 22 April: Dallas loses at New Orleans, 127-pts-103
Game 3 on Friday, 25 April: New Orleans loses at Dallas, 97-pts-87
Game 4 on Sunday, 27 April: New Orleans wins at Dallas, 97-pts-84
Game 5 on Tuesday, 29 April: Dallas loses at New Orleans, 99-pts-94

SERIES NOTES:

After Game 5: The New Orleans Hornets hosted and bested the Dallas Mavericks 99-pts-94 to post a 4-games-1 win in MLB/NBA/NHL best-of-7 playoff series 1043. The series victory is the first best-of-7 NBA playoff series victory for the New Orleans Hornets: Their series record thus improves to 1-2 overall and 1-2 in the NBA Preliminary round. With the series 1043 loss, the series record of the vanquished Dallas Mavericks falls to 7-11 overall and 3-3 in the NBA Preliminary round. The win order for the victorious New Orleans Hornets in series 1043 was WWLWW: Series 1043 thus becomes the eleventh NBA Preliminary-round series, the 44th NBA series (all rounds), and the 90th MLB/NBA/NHL series (all rounds) to follow this win order.

After Game 4: The New Orleans Hornets visited and bested the Dallas Mavericks 97-pts-84 to take a 3-games-1 lead in MLB/NBA/NHL best-of-7 playoff series 1043. When trailing a best-of-7 NBA playoff series 3-games-1, the Dallas Mavericks have a series record of 0-6 and a Game 5 record of 2-4. The Hornets as the New Orleans Hornets are leading a best-of-7 NBA playoff series 3-games-1 for the first time.

After Game 3: With MLB/NBA/NHL best-of-7 playoff series 1043 in Texas for Games 3-4, the host Dallas Mavericks defeated the New Orleans Hornets 97-pts-87 to cut the Hornets series 1043 lead to 2-games-1. The New Orleans Hornets thus lead a best-of-7 NBA playoff series 2-games-1 for the first time. When trailing a best-of-7 NBA playoff series 2-games-1, the Dallas Mavericks have a series record of 2-8 and a Game 4 record of 5-5.

After Game 2: The New Orleans Hornets hosted and defeated the Dallas Mavericks 127-pts-103 to take a 2-games-nil MLB/NBA/NHL best-of-7 playoff series 1043 lead. The Hornets thus lead a best-of-7 NBA playoff series 2-games-nil for the first time as either the Charlotte Hornets or the New Orleans Hornets; they are in uncharted (albeit favorable) waters. When trailing a best-of-7 NBA playoff series 2-games-nil, the Dallas Mavericks have a series record of 1-5 and a Game 3 record of 5-1. New Orleans has thus won Games 1-2 of series 1043 by a combined 36 points: In the history of best-of-7 NBA playoff series from 1947 through 2007, inclusive, teams winning Games 1-2 by a combined 36 points or more have a 37-1 (.974) series record. Providing the sole favorable precedent for the Dallas Mavericks in that context are the Houston Rockets, which lost series 691 Games 1-2 to the Phoenix Suns by a combined 46 points, and yet managed to win their 1995 NBA Quarterfinals series in seven games en route to the 1995 NBA championship.

After Game 1: Rebounding from a dozen-point halftime deficit, the New Orleans Hornets hosted and defeated the Dallas Mavericks 104-pts-92 to take a 1-game-nil MLB/NBA/NHL best-of-7 playoff series 1043 lead. In the history of best-of-7 NBA playoff series from 1947 through 2007, inclusive, teams trailing by 12 points at halftime (such as New Orleans in Game 1) had a game record of only 10-63 (.137), so the New Orleans Game 1 victory represents a comeback of some note. The New Orleans Hornets thus lead a best-of-7 NBA playoff series 1-game-nil for the first time as the New Orleans Hornets; they are in uncharted waters. When trailing a best-of-7 NBA playoff series 1-game-nil, the Dallas Mavericks have a series record of 5-8 and a Game 2 record of 7-6.

Pre-series assessment: In the 2007-08 regular season, New Orleans finished five games ahead of Dallas. From 1947 through the 2007 NBA Finals, when NBA teams led their best-of-7 playoff series opponents by five regular-season games, they have posted a 21-8 (.724) best-of-7 series record in those series against those opponents. MLB/NBA/NHL best-of-7 playoff series 1043 is the 18th best-of-7 NBA playoff series for Dallas, and the third for the Hornets in New Orleans. In best-of-7 NBA playoff series, Dallas has a 7-10 series record, a 3-2 Prelim-round series record, and a 4-13 Game 1 record, while New Orleans has a 0-2 series record, a 0-2 Prelim-round record, and a 0-2 Game 1 record. Series 1043 is the first best-of-7 NBA playoff series meeting between Dallas and the Hornets in New Orleans.