The scoreboard in the Charlotte Coliseum, apparently missing a couple of parts, wasn't working Wednesday night.
The Charlotte Hornets' offense, minus a couple of key components, wasn't either, and the scoreboard wasn't necessary to record the 89-78 victory for the Dallas Mavericks.

The Hornets, dropping to 5-6, played their second straight game without starting shooting guard David Wesley (strained arch) and starting small forward Jamal Mashburn (groin pull).

The Hornets struggled to find any kind of rhythm on the offensive end and failed to offset that with enough defense at the other, a bad combination against a team with as much talent and shooting ability as the Mavericks.

Michael Finley finished with 22, Dirk Nowitzki 17 and Juwan Howard 16 off the bench.

That was bad enough.

Then point guard Baron Davis compounded the situation with not one of his better games and on top of it was ejected on with 7:43 to play. What little chance the Hornets had of winning went to the dressing room with him.

"The whole night was frustrating," said Davis, who a night earlier carried the Hornets to a road win at Washington with 32 points, 16 in the fourth quarter. With Mashburn and Wesley sidelined, Davis needed another big game.