NEW ORLEANS – As the final dagger cut out their heart, which some said was beating too faintly to find, the Mavericks at long last answered a question that had dogged them since preseason.

Months ago, everybody wondered which was the fluke, the 2007 first-round playoff embarrassment or the joyous 2006 trip to the NBA Finals?

There is no debate now. One early vacation is a fluke. Two is a trend nobody in the organization wants to accept.

The Mavericks lost Game 5 Tuesday night, 99-94, and the Hornets won the first-round series, 4-1, moving on to face San Antonio in the second round.

Failing to get out of the first round for the second consecutive season is a clear sign of how far the Mavs have fallen.

The team that went to the Finals is long gone, replaced by one that has a 3-12 playoff record since being up 2-0 on Miami two Junes ago. The Mavericks looked no better than a fringe playoff team against the Hornets, working too hard for shots while surrendering easy looks.

Changes are coming. That's a certainty. Owner Mark Cuban did not address coach Avery Johnson's status or divulge his thoughts on the state of the Mavericks. But he's never been an owner to stand by idly when things aren't going well.

"It's tough to think about those things now," Jason Terry said. "The thing that hurts the most is we're not playing anymore, and they're moving on. That's two years in a row for us going home early with disappointment when we had high expectations. It's going to sting."

As it should. The Hornets were clearly the better team. Chris Paul came up with a triple-double in the close-out game, with 24 points, 15 assists and 11 rebounds.

"Congratulations to a young Nate Archibald," Johnson said of Paul. "He's a special player. He's relentless, he's strong, he's intelligent. He and his coach have great chemistry."

It remains to be seen if that sort of chemistry will develop for the Mavericks, who made the huge trade for Jason Kidd in February and never found a smooth stride. The window of opportunity has never looked more closed.

"If this is the end, you can't do anything but say we had our chance," Jerry Stackhouse said. "We had our opportunities."

In the past, yes. But this series was a one-sided affair.

The Mavericks' disjointed nature was never more evident than in this series. The Hornets, as they had all series, took their chances Tuesday with the Mavericks heaving 3-pointers. Nearly a third of their shots, 26, were from beyond the arc.

The Mavericks never led in the last game of their season. They were down by 15 at halftime but carved the gap to 68-63 late in the third quarter.

They fell behind by double-figures again and tried to salvage the game and their season with a late bid that got them within 97-94 with 33 seconds left.

The Mavericks forced a missed shot by Paul, but Tyson Chandler tapped the rebound to Peja Stojakovic, who was fouled with 5.7 seconds left. His two free throws iced the Mavericks' season.

There were many areas to point to for the Mavericks' demise. They actually played with playoff urgency in Game 5. It was earlier in the series that they lacked it.

"I don't want to take anything away from New Orleans," Dirk Nowitzki said. "I think they're a phenomenal team. I think what really lost it for us was Game 1. They had some jitters in the first half. We should have taken advantage of that more and come out somehow with the win.

"And we can't lose Game 4 at home, no matter what happens. To me, that Game 4 was a killer."

The NBA finalists since 1984 who failed to record a playoff series win the following two seasons or more: