The numbers are flat-out ugly.

Josh Howard has hit seven of 26 shots in the first-round playoff series, a 26.9 percent rate. He has four turnovers and no steals. He's averaging 13.5 points, more than six below his regular-season mark.

The truth is the Mavericks can't survive with their supposed second-best player playing like this.

"For Josh, we've got to get him some easy looks, some easy baskets, to get him going, because we're going to need him if we're going to win this series," Jason Kidd said. "We've got to get him being him and being able to slash and knock down the open shots."

It's been more than two weeks since he's had a Howard-like game. He had 24 points and nine rebounds in a win at Phoenix on April 6.

After that, he suffered a right knee bruise, and his shooting touch has deserted him since.

This is a stark departure from last season, when Howard was one of the few players who produced in the first-round flameout against Golden State. He averaged 21.3 points and 9.8 rebounds in six games.

Rethinking the strategy: Avery Johnson probably is losing a lot of sleep trying to figure out how to slow down Chris Paul.

The aggressive double-teams may not have been the answer, judging from Paul's 32 points and 17 assists in Game 2.

"Probably trapped him maybe a little too much," Johnson said. "Without giving you a scouting report, I just think we've got to know when to trap and when not to trap. With our basketball team, everybody has to do their job. We all haven't done a good enough job in the first two games."

A morsel of momentum? The Mavericks never got within 16 in the fourth quarter of Game 2. But the way they played late in the game was enough to give Jerry Stackhouse a feeling that the team is ready to play better.

"In the fourth quarter there for a minute, it started to feel like we were playing with a little bit of bravado that we hadn't been playing with," he said. "So hopefully that's something that can carry over."

Briefly: Johnson said that, while he takes full responsibility for the 0-2 hole, he also wants the players to be accountable. "That's my job," he said. "But at the same time, if we have a game plan, we've got to have a high level of concentration and a high level of physicality, which I haven't seen yet. We'll get there. We'll keep prodding them and cheering them on and challenging and doing all that we do to try to get the team ready to play." ... The Mavericks hope to create a "Blue Zone" in Game 3. They are asking fans to wear blue to the game. The official 2008 playoff T-shirt is blue and is being sold two-for-one at fan shops.