Ten years is a long time to do anything. Or not do anything.

Consider that, in the last decade, the New Orleans Hornets have called three cities home and played more than 800 NBA games.

Not one of those games ended with a win in Dallas.

Whether they were the Charlotte, Oklahoma City or New Orleans version of the Hornets, they haven't won on the Mavericks' home floor in 13 trips.

So the Mavericks got back home Wednesday and made a grab for that kernel of confidence.

"We're back home, where we're loved, away from all that voodoo down there in New Orleans," Jason Terry said. "More importantly, we have another opportunity to change the momentum of this series with a win. That's our sole focus."

Down 2-0, the Mavericks are trying their best to remain calm. Home cooking is what they need and, in their defense, that 34-7 home record was tied for second-best in the Western Conference this season.

That may be the only reason for them to remain confident, but it is nevertheless a reason. Asked if the team was suffering from self-doubt, Terry said, "Not at all. Not knowing this is a building where we have great success. I think we got a lot of fight left in us."

Avery Johnson got the Mavericks back on the practice court Wednesday and saw a focused group. The workout was light. A tougher session is scheduled for today. But the mood was enough to ease Johnson's concerns about his team.

"The guys are not happy with the way they've played," he said. "They came in, and I saw some angry looks. But I hope we take that disappointment and control the anger into practice tomorrow and then take it out on our opponents.

"Where we are right now is nobody's fault but ours. It's not the referees. We can't complain when we don't get calls. We just have to be tough-minded and physical."

Johnson has ears and eyes. That means he's heard and read the speculation that his job is on the line if the Mavericks don't dig out of this hole.

That doesn't faze Johnson, who has a 22-22 playoff record.

"It all starts with me," he said. "Whenever something goes wrong, if we're not making free throws, if we're not making layups, it's not the players. It's me.

"We don't want to give up on anything we've done yet. I know a lot of people are counting us out. The same people who picked us to win the series, by the way. I just hope they make up their minds.

"When we were down there in New Orleans, the president was in town, and they blocked off a lot of streets. We've got to block off some of their streets."

The Mavericks actually had a voice from afar telling them that this series hasn't even started yet. A win Friday in Game 3 would change things dramatically, said TNT analyst Charles Barkley.

"I don't think you panic when you lose the first two on the road," Barkley said. "You're not going to come back from [three games down], so you've got to make sure you win Game 3. Then you say we've got to win Game 4, and then the pressure switches back to New Orleans. You can't panic, you've go to keep your confidence up."

Meanwhile, you let the Hornets sit around for a couple of days and mull the fact that nobody on their roster was in the league the last time the franchise won in Dallas.

To which, Tyson Chandler has one thing to say: "This year, we stopped a whole lot of trends."