NBA Playoff Preview: Hornets vs Mavs

	New Orleans	Dallas		Advantage
PG	Chris Paul	Jason Kidd	Kidd averaged a double-double in point and assists, but Paul is a deserving MVP candidate	Hornets
SG	Morris Peterson	Jerry Stackhouse	Neither Peterson nor Stackhouse has had a strong season, but Peterson's defense gives him the edge	Mavs
SF	Peja Stojakavic	Josh Howard	While Peja has played well, Howard is a better defender and has carried the offense at times	Mavs
PF	David West	Dirk Nowitski	West has emerged as an All-Star, but few can match Nowitski's ability to take over a game with his scoring	Mavs
C	Tyson Chandler	Erik Dampier	Both are there for defense and rebounding, but Chandler is far more consistent, averaging 12 RPG	Hornets
Bench	Bonzi Wells	Jason Terry	Terry could start for most teams and is a tremendous shooter, while Wells has always been erratic	Mavs
Coach	Byron Scott	Avery Johnson	Both have reached the Finals and lost, but Johnson gets more credit for doing it in the West	Mavs

Overview: Dallas won the last meeting by a healthy margin, but Jason Kidd knocked down five threes in that game. What are the odds he does that again? In addition, Dallas was playing for a higher seed, while the Hornets were already locked in. Experience certainly favors Dallas, though the Hornets have a couple key players (Stojakavic, for one) who have been through the playoff battles before. The key match-up has to be the point guard battle between Kidd and Chris Paul, which heavily favors the quicker Paul. Of course, one can't forget Nowitski. He and Paul are both capable of winning series by themselves, but Nowitski is going to have a harder time with David West than Paul will with Kidd.

Hornets in 7