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The Dallas Mavericks' season isn't over.

But let's not quibble over a technicality.

Phoenix has a better shot of coming back against San Antonio than these Mavericks do of beating New Orleans. The reason: The Mavs have only three players who have bothered to show up in this series.

Josh Howard isn't one of them.

Question Avery Johnson's coaching ability all you want. Everything is fair game when a veteran team goes down 3-1 and looks this bad doing it.

But you try devising a game plan when a player who averaged 20 points during the regular season, a player integral to the team's success over the past three seasons, gives you next to nothing.

This series is lost because Howard has been a lost cause. The forward has averaged 12.7 points and gone an unsightly 25.9 percent (15-of-58) from the field.

Feel free to insert the obligatory marijuana joke of your choice.

Remember how bad you thought Dirk Nowitzki was in the first round against Golden State last season? Well, Howard has been worse in this one.

"I mean, he's obviously had a tough series so far," Nowitzki said. "He's still trying to do all the little things. Defending. Rebounding. But shooting-wise, it's been a tough series. We've got to get the scoring from somewhere else.

"We're all confident Josh will come through for us on Tuesday, that he will attack and hopefully make some plays for us."

Are they really?

This is no time for teammates to pile on. But Howard has given them absolutely no reason to believe he will break out of this funk.

"Again, the shots just are not going down right now," Johnson said. "Obviously, we know it's not the best of timing."

Here's another indictment. Howard isn't even a defensive emphasis for New Orleans. I know this because Peja Stojakovic is defending him.

Stojakovic does a lot of nice things for the Hornets. Defense isn't one of them.

"We worry about [Jason] Terry and Dirk," New Orleans coach Byron Scott conceded. "They make those guys go."

The Mavs wouldn't have vanquished San Antonio two postseasons ago without Howard. He blossomed into an All-Star last season and established career highs in scoring, rebounds and assists this season.

But something has changed. One of Howard's greatest strengths was that he complemented Nowitzki's game. His ability to slash to the basket from the weak side created fits for opposing defenses.

Now, Howard is more likely to dribble around trying to find room to squeeze off his jump shot. He was at his offensive best early in the season when Nowitzki struggled and again late in the season when Nowitzki was hurt.

New Orleans forward David West said it early in the series: The Hornets want to take away his angles to the basket and force him to shoot jumpers because they feel he's a streaky shooter.

Heck, Howard can't even sleep when he should. On Friday, when most of his teammates turned off their cell phones for their pre-game naps, Howard got on his cellphone to call a local radio show to talk about his drug use.

Howard isn't the only player in a Mavericks uniform to have a bad series. But it's hard to defend him. Verbally, that is.

The Hornets have no problem at all defending him.