New Orleans Hornets forward David West stewed about his Game 3 plight for two days.

Before Game 4 against the Mavericks at American Airlines Center, New Orleans coach Byron Scott revealed that tidbit with a smile.

"He doesn't talk a whole lot," Scott said of how his 6-9 forward acts when he's frustrated. "When you get to know him, you know that means he's kind of steaming inside because he didn't play the way he was capable of. I look for him to really come out super aggressive."

West made his coach look smart. And he displayed the pride and heart some will say Dallas appeared to be lacking.

West led all scorers with 24 points on 10-of-21 shooting in New Orleans' 97-84 victory that gave the Hornets a heady 3-1 series lead heading home.

West scored 10 of his points on 4-of-4 shooting in the first 3:15 of the third quarter, then had an assist on a Peja Stojakovic 3-pointer – and New Orleans had blasted a four-point halftime lead open to 13 and the beginning of Dallas' demise.

"West just took over in that third quarter," Mavericks coach Avery Johnson said. "He dominated us. He made shots. They were much more aggressive than we were."

West's third-quarter burst almost topped his entire output in the Hornets' loss in Game 3, when he had 14 points on 6-of-20 shooting.

West, who added a team-high nine rebounds, also made up for another ho-hum performance from Chris Paul, who had 16 points on 6-of-14 shooting.

"It was more just being a little disappointed," West said. "It wasn't how I played personally, but how we came out as a team. I thought we could show better than we showed in Game 3.

"We were looking forward to playing this game immediately after Game 3 was over – and we got the result we wanted."

West's rumblings showed early. He earned a technical foul for a frustration foul on Dirk Nowitzki minutes into the game. Still, he had eight points on 3-of-7 shooting in the first quarter and drove to the hole to draw the second foul on the Mavs' Erick Dampier in the first quarter.

Scott said the Hornets want West to face up about 15 feet out and take Dampier one-on-one. West can shoot over Dampier, and he's fast enough to go around him.

Scott said West's performance didn't surprise him.

"We kind of banked on that," Scott said. "He was in an aggressive mind-set from the start of this game, and he came up big time."