The Dallas Mavericks fired Avery Johnson on Wednesday, a day following the team's second consecutive first-round exit from the NBA playoffs, ESPN.com has learned.

Johnson became Mavs' coach during the 2004-05 season and walked away with a 194-70 record (.735) but only a 23-24 mark in the playoffs.

The Mavs have now lost 12 out of their last 15 postseason games after taking a 2-0 lead in the Finals against Miami.

Mark Cuban and Johnson engaged in an emotional argument after a March 18 home loss to the Lakers, and sources indicated that Cuban actually considered firing Johnson before the playoffs.

Both the Mavs and Johnson wanted a speedy resolution to the situation so the coach could pursue current openings in Chicago and New York.

A party held for the birthday of forward Josh Howard after the Mavericks' Game Four loss to New Orleans infuriated coach Avery Johnson, according to the Star-Telegram.

Johnson stressed a rule of no partying to his team, but a celebration to honor Howard's birthday was still held hours after the defeat in Dallas.

Two sources confirmed the party to the Telegram, but they differed on how many players actually attended the affair.

Johnson was so livid at the news that he reportedly canceled the team's practice on Monday, a day before they were eventually eliminated by New Orleans.

NOH 99, DAL 94
Chris Paul led the New Orleans Hornets to a clinching victory over the Dallas Mavericks in Game Five of their best-of-seven series on Tuesday night.

Paul had 25 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds and Tyson Chandler tallied 10 points and 14 boards for the Hornets, who shot 49% from the floor and outrebounded Dallas by four.

Dirk Nowitzki ended his season with 22 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists and Jason Kidd added 14 points and 6 assists for the Mavericks, who were eliminated in the first round for the second-straight season.

Jerry Stackhouse was ejected with less than two minutes left in the fourth quarter after receiving his second technical foul of the contest.

The Hornets will face the winner of the Spurs/Suns series in the second round.

Game FIC Scores
Chris Paul, NOH - 33.0
David West, NOH - 21.9
Dirk Nowitzki, DAL - 19.4
Jason Kidd, DAL - 18.5

Avery Johnson talked openly on Monday about the possibility of being fired and on whether or not the Mavericks are still in his corner, according to the Dallas Morning News.

"Overall, these men have been very loyal to me," Johnson said. "It's a tough spot for us. Sometimes, we haven't played our best basketball. Maybe another team at that particular time was just a better team. But it's not because the men don't listen or don't try."

"This is a team that hasn't been together for a while. We've tried to incorporate a very tough situation. And we just haven't had the type of carryover like we want," he added.

The Mavericks have had problems on the road all season and will need to win in New Orleans on Tuesday night in order to keep their title hopes alive.

The league reviewed Jason Kidd?s flagrant foul Monday morning but determined that no further action was warranted, according to a league spokesman that spoke with the New York Times.

Kidd was automatically ejected following a hard take down on Jannero Pargo in New Orleans' Game 4 win.

The New Orleans Hornets won a hot-contested Game Four against the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday night 97-84 to take a 3-1 series lead.

David West had 24 points and 9 rebounds and Chris Paul tallied 16 points, 9 boards and 8 assists for the Hornets, who turned the ball over just eight times while holding Dallas to just 36% shooting on the night.

Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavericks with 22 points and 13 rebounds, while a majority of his teammates struggled at home. Josh Howard had just six points on 3-for-16 shooting.

Brandon Bass contributed 12 points and 9 boards off the bench in the loss, but Jason Terry (20 points) was the only Maverick other than Bass and Nowitzki to reach double figures in scoring.

Jason Kidd was ejected in the fourth quarter after receiving a flagrant-2 for dragging Jannero Pargo down by the neck during a lay-up attempt.

Soon after, a Hornets' fan was ejected for jawing wildly with Dallas owner Mark Cuban on the sideline.

Game Five will be Tuesday night in New Orleans as the Hornets look to eliminate the Mavericks from the playoffs.

Mavericks forward Josh Howard has openly admitted on Dallas' ESPN Radio affiliate to using marijuana during the offseason, Marc Stein of ESPN is reporting.

While he did say that he would not use the drug during the regular season, even if players were not tested, he did describe to "The Michael Irvin Show" on ESPN Radio 103.3 FM on Friday afternoon of "smoking weed in the offseason sometimes" as his "personal choice and personal opinion."

"I don't think that's stopping me from doing my job," Howard told Irvin.

"I think that everybody in the media world and in the sports world knows that NBA players do smoke marijuana."

Mark Cuban says he will privately deal with Josh Howard about his admitted marijuana use.

"We'll deal with Josh," Cuban said. "We won't make it public. But we'll deal with it. We'll do what we need to do and deal with it internally, and that's it. End of story."

Howard first disclosed his occasional marijuana use last summer. He said again last weekend in  The Dallas Morning News that he continues his off-season weed use.

The Dallas Mavericks won a game that they had to on Friday night to keep themselves alive in the first round against the New Orleans Hornets, 97-87.

Dirk Nowitzki had 31 points and 16 rebounds and Jason Kidd tallied 8 points, 12 rebounds and 6 assists for the Mavericks, who outrebounded New Orleans by six and shot 43% on the night.

Jannero Pargo led the Hornets with 31 points, as their stars struggled for a majority of the night in Dallas.

Chris Paul had 15 points and 9 assists in the loss, on 4-for-18 shooting, after posting tremendous stat lines in both Game One and Two.

David West had difficulties in Game Three as well. He scored 14 points on 6-for-20 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds.

The action turned much more physical in Dallas, with Kidd icing down an eye bruise in the fourth. Erick Dampier committed a flagrant foul on Paul with mere seconds left on the clock, which led to technical fouls on both Tyson Chandler and Dampier.

Game Four will be Sunday night in Dallas as the Mavs look even up the series.

If the Mavericks lose their first round series to the Hornets, as it appears they might, Mark Cuban might consider firing Head Coach Avery Johnson, according to the Dallas Morning News.

Johnson wore his NBA Title ring, as did some of his coaching staff, to Game Two in an attempt to fire up some of his players.

"It's just a form of camaraderie and, hopefully, a sense of motivation," Avery said. "But, I guess it didn't motivate tonight."

Dallas has always had the talent, and now they have the point guard in Jason Kidd. However, the Mavericks have continued to struggle when it counts. Hence, the 0-2 hole against New Orleans.