NEW ORLEANS – The Mavericks returned to Dallas after Game 1, and if the second half Saturday night was a sign of how they are going to play, they might as well not come back for Game 2.

A pitiful 24 minutes of basketball in which they were outplayed at virtually every position ended with the Mavericks getting slugged, 104-92, by the New Orleans Hornets in the opener of their first-round playoff series.

Chris Paul is the latest star guard to incinerate the Mavericks. Just as Dwyane Wade did in the 2006 NBA Finals and Baron Davis did last year in the first round, Paul blistered the Mavericks for 35 points, 10 assists and four steals. He had 24 points after halftime, when the Mavericks were outscored, 64-40.

A 12-point halftime lead was worthless for the Mavericks.

"I think it's one that got away," Josh Howard said.

In best-of-7 series, the Game 1 winner takes the series nearly 80 percent of the time. When it's the home team that wins, the number goes up to a whopping 86 percent. Game 2 is Tuesday, also at New Orleans Arena.

The Mavericks were clearly outplayed in the second half after putting themselves in position to steal the opener. Paul was dominant, slicing through the Mavericks for mid-range floaters as the Hornets scored 36 points in the paint to just 16 for the Mavericks.

"If this was single elimination, we'd really be disappointed," coach Avery Johnson said. "We know this is going to be a tough, long, grind-it-out series. Fortunately, there is a Game 2."

And 3 and 4. But if the Mavericks repeat their Saturday second half, there won't be much beyond that.

The Mavericks were outscored, 16-3, over a four-minute stretch in the third quarter to fall behind 72-68. They would not recover.

It was their seventh consecutive playoff loss on the road, dating to the '06 Finals.

"In the first half, we got to the basket and knocked shots down," Jason Kidd said. "In the second half, we got a little jump-shot happy. We didn't knock those down, and they came back on the other end and capitalized. We were back on our heels."

"We shot nine jump shots in a row. If you make 'em, it's good. If you don't, you're putting a lot of pressure on your defense. At that point, we've got to find a way to get the ball to the basket."

Dealing with Paul was something the Mavericks did reasonably well in the first half. But he scored the Hornets' first six points of the third quarter and worked his magic off of pick-and-roll situations for which the Mavericks had no answer.

It could be argued that the Mavericks lost every individual matchup with the exception of Dirk Nowitzki's face-off with David West at power forward. And that one was very close to a draw.

It will be hard for the Mavericks to win any games, much less the series, if that continues.

Howard was 4-of-16 from the field. Erick Dampier was dominated by Tyson Chandler, and Peja Stojakovic fought off foul trouble to contribute 14 points. Jason Terry got just seven shots in 24 minutes after pounding the Hornets for 30 points in the regular-season finale Wednesday.

"They were really trying to get the ball out of his hands on the pick and roll," Nowitzki said. "We've got two days to sit on this and hopefully find a way to slow down Paul a little bit. The team that loses has to go back and adjust and find ways to get it done the next game."

Erasing all memory of Saturday's second half would be a good start.