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DALLAS — Dirk Nowitzki already is using the past tense when discussing the Dallas Mavericks’ first-round series with the New Orleans Hornets. And he’s not even the star player who might have to sit out the possible finale.

Yeah, Game 4 went that badly for the Mavs — and that well for the Hornets.

David West scored 10 of his 24 points during a game-breaking stretch early in the third quarter and Chris Paul had 16 points, eight assists and seven rebounds, leading New Orleans past Dallas 97-84 Sunday night.

The Hornets are headed home with a chance to end the series in Game 5 on Tuesday night. The Mavericks will have to find out today whether Jason Kidd will be joining them.

Kidd got a flagrant foul-2 and automatic ejection for taking down Jannero Pargo by his neck on a layup with 7:16 left. The league office will review the play and could suspend him.

“I was just trying to stop him from getting an easy layup,” Kidd said.

“That’s what he’s supposed to do,” said Pargo, adding that he “was a little surprised” about the ejection.

The Hornets had lost 14 straight games in Dallas since January 1998. Now they might not have to come back, with the Mavericks on the brink of a second straight first-round exit.

“It’s a great feeling to be up 3-1, but it doesn’t mean too much right now,” Paul said. “It’s tough to close out a team, to get that fourth win. That’s what coach has been preaching to us. We feel pretty confident going back in front of our fans.”

Nowitzki had 22 points and 13 rebounds and Jason Terry scored 20 points, but they didn’t get much help. Josh Howard was 3-for-16 and Kidd had only three points, three assists and four rebounds.

The Mavs went from scoring 30 points in the first quarter to 14 in the second quarter, then 40 in the entire second half.

“This sport is still about scoring points and we just didn’t have a great offensive series, I guess,” Nowitzki said, his word choice certainly eye-raising.

Dallas’ meltdown — in this game, in this series and since being up 2-0 on Miami in the finals two years ago — might end up costing coach Avery Johnson his job.

“I don’t really have an answer for it,” said Nowitzki, exhaling loudly and running a hand through his hair in frustration.

Peja Stojakovic scored 19 points for New Orleans and Julian Wright added 11, including a tremendous dunk off a midcourt steal of Jerry Stackhouse, a play that emphasized the difference in the age and agility of these teams.

“I thought Julian was athletic enough to match up with Josh and Jerry,” Hornets coach Byron Scott said. “He didn’t play like a rookie. He’s active, he runs the floor. He’s a pretty good player.”

Pargo also scored 11 and Morris Peterson had 10.

West was 10-of-21, but the most important part came at the start of the second half, when New Orleans turned a 48-44 halftime lead into a 64-51 advantage.

West made all four shots he took in that spurt and added a pair of free throws. All came against Erick Dampier, including a 1-hander that prompted an immediate timeout by Johnson and a huge chest bump from Paul. West never hit anything like that in Game 3, when he started 3-of-14 and finished 6-of-20.

The big guy was practically silent since then, stewing over his performance. Scott considered that a good thing.

“Everything was stirring up in him,” Scott said. “He wasn’t going to play the way he played in Game 3. We were banking on that. He was in an aggressive mind-set from the start and he came up big.”

Suns 105, Spurs 86

Boris Diaw had 20 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists in one of the best playoff performances of his career, and host Phoenix avoided a sweep in the first-round series.

Raja Bell scored 21 of his 27 points in a dominant first half to help the Suns bring a one-sided end to the defending NBA champions’ nine-game playoff winning streak. The Suns were 11-0 in the regular season when Bell scored at least 20.

Tony Parker, who scored a career-high 41 in Game 3 and was averaging 33 in the series, led San Antonio with 18 points and Manu Ginobili scored 10. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich threw in the towel by benching both of them along with Tim Duncan late in the third quarter.

Cavaliers 100, Wizards 97

LeBron James had 34 points and 12 rebounds, and dished the ball to Delonte West for a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 5.4 seconds left, helping visiting Cleveland take a 3-1 series lead.

After Gilbert Arenas’ 8-foot fadeaway with 28 seconds remaining made it 97-all, James dribbled out the clock before finding West, whose career playoff-high 21 points included five of Cleveland’s 13 3-pointers.

Other than James and West, only one other Cavs player scored in double figures, Daniel Gibson with 12. Antawn Jamison led Washington with 23 points and 11 rebounds, while Caron Butler added 19 points.

Pistons 93, 76ers 84

Tayshaun Prince scored 23 points and made all but one shot from the field, and visiting Detroit played with a purpose and dominated the second half to even the best-of-seven Eastern Conference playoff series at 2-2.

The Pistons erased a 14-point, first-half deficit against the upstart 76ers.

Rasheed Wallace finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds, and Richard Hamilton bounced back from a 1-for-10 first half to finish with 18 points. Chauncey Billups also scored 18 points.

Andre Iguodala missed 10 of his final 11 shots and scored 12 points. Samuel Dalembert had 12 points and 12 rebounds for the Sixers, while Andre Miller and Willie Green each scored 13 points.

Saturday’s Games

Hawks 102, Celtics 93

High-flying Josh Smith scored 27 points to lead the Atlanta Hawks to a 102-93 victory over Boston on Saturday night that breathed life into their long-shot playoff hopes, cutting the Celtics’ lead in the opening-round series to 2-1.

Atlanta earned its first playoff win since May 16, 1999, a Game 5 clincher over the Detroit Pistons. The Hawks were swept by New York in the next round, then spent nine long years trying to get back to the postseason.

Joe Johnson added 23 points and Mike Bibby — who riled up the Boston faithful with his comments about “fair-weather” fans — bounced back from two dismal games by doling out eight assists. Showing much better ball movement and a willingness to run with the Celtics, the Hawks improved from 10 assists in Game 2 to 28 on Saturday.

Kevin Garnett led Boston with 32 points, but the NBA’s youngest playoff team had him kneeling over, looking totally exhausted, by the end of the game. Game 4 is today in Atlanta.

Lakers 102, Nuggets 84

Kobe Bryant scored 22 points and Los Angeles took a 3-0 lead in its first-round series against flustered Denver.

Game 4 is tonight, and the Nuggets are going to have to get more out of their All-Star duo of Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson if they hope to take the series back to the Staples Center.

Anthony and Iverson were miserable from the floor, shooting a combined 10-for-38 and finishing with 16 and 15 points, respectively.

Los Angeles took an 83-64 lead into the fourth quarter and never looked back. Luke Walton added 15 points off the bench for Los Angeles, and Pau Gasol and Derek Fisher each scored 14.

Magic 106, Raptors 94

Rashard Lewis had 27 points and 13 rebounds, Dwight Howard added 19 points and 16 boards, and Orlando beat host Toronto to take a 3-1 lead in its first-round playoff series.

Jameer Nelson scored 12 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter, while Hedo Turkoglu had 18 points and nine rebounds for the third-seeded Magic.

Chris Bosh set a career playoff-high with 39 points and added 15 rebounds for the Raptors, who face elimination in Game 5 on Monday night at Orlando. T.J. Ford had 12 points and 13 assists for the Raptors.

Lewis went 10-for-19 from the field. The Magic made four 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and finished 11-for-29 from beyond the arc.

Jazz 86, Rockets 82

Deron Williams scored eight of his 17 points in the fourth quarter and the Jazz beat the visiting Rockets for a 3-1 series lead.

Mehmet Okur added 14 points and 18 rebounds, grabbing the biggest board of the game when Williams went 0-for-2 from the line with 7.3 seconds left and Utah only ahead by two.

The Rockets host Game 5 Tuesday and need a win to keep the series going.

Houston cut a 16-point third quarter deficit to a point and made a great push at the end after Shane Battier and Rafer Alston made 3-pointers in the final minute to get the Rockets back within two. Kyle Korver answered with two free throws for Utah to make it 84-80 with 12.5 seconds left, then after Carl Landry putback an offensive rebound, Williams had a chance to seal it for the Jazz.

He missed both attempts, but Okur was there for the offensive rebound and hit both free throws with 5.5 seconds to go.

Tracy McGrady, who is 0-6 in playoff series, scored 23 points to lead the Rockets. Only four came in the fourth quarter.