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Final Score: New Orleans 97 - Dallas 84

Dallas, TX (Sports Network) - David West scored 24 points and pulled down nine rebounds as the Hornets finally won in Dallas and did it at a crucial time, beating the Mavericks, 97-84, in Game 4 of their Western Conference quarterfinal series.

Peja Stojakovic tallied 19 points and Chris Paul had an inspired performance with 16 points, seven rebounds and eight assists for New Orleans.

"I thought after the first quarter everything that we talked about on the defensive end was special," Hornets coach Byron Scott said. "We really locked in on some of the things that they do. Our rebounding was much better, especially in the second half and our running game got going and that's really probably why we won this game."

The Hornets, who hadn't won on the road against the Mavericks since January 24, 1998, took a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. The Hornets have a chance to advance with a win on Tuesday in New Orleans. One more win would give the Hornets a spot in the second round for the first time since 2002, the club's final season in Charlotte.

"It's a great feeling to be up 3-1, but it doesn't mean too much right now," Paul said. "We're in the driver's seat right now, but it's really tough to close out a team."

At the same time, the Mavericks have to overcome a daunting task as they've lost eight straight road playoff games.

Mavericks point guard Jason Kidd was ejected with 7:16 left in the fourth quarter for picking up a flagrant 2 foul by grabbing the neck of Jannero Pargo, who was taken down while driving for a layup. Kidd had just three points on 1-of-6 shooting.

"No, no frustration," Kidd said of the foul. "I was just trying to stop him from getting an easy lay up and send him to the free throw line."

Dirk Nowitzki ended with 22 points and 13 rebounds for the Mavericks. Jason Terry had 20 points and Brandon Bass scored 12 to go along with nine rebounds in defeat.

"Everybody has to be in attack mode," Nowitzki said. "We've got to make shots to win in this league. They doubled team some of our scorers so if we swing the ball on the weak side you still got to make plays and that's what this league comes down to. We shot 36 percent at home, that's tough. The second game in New Orleans we shot 32 percent and this sport is still about scoring points and we just haven't had a great offensive series."

Josh Howard, playing his second game since disclosing his offseason use of marijuana, struggled again by shooting 3-of-16 and finishing with six points for Dallas.

Late in the fourth quarter, Nowitzki and his teammates were on the bench with long faces, in disbelief they are within a game of being ousted in the first round for the second consecutive year.

A three-pointer from Kidd had Dallas within 53-49 just over a minute into the second half, but New Orleans used an 11-2 flurry to widen the margin. West had the first eight points of the rally, and Stojakovic drilled a three to cap it.

Nowitzki's three-pointer pulled the Mavs to 68-63 with 2:22 left in the quarter, and although the Hornets pushed the lead to 76-66 going into the fourth, they received a scare when Paul rolled his right ankle driving into the lane in the final seconds of the third.

However, Paul hit both of the free throws and the Hornets started the fourth with a 13-4 spurt to seal the win. Paul's driving layup, right after the Kidd flagrant foul, put an exclamation point on the win, moving the lead to 89-70 with 5:49 remaining.

New Orleans' rookie Julian Wright recorded a postseason career-high 11 points. Pargo also scored 11 and Morris Peterson had 10 for New Orleans.

The Mavericks led by as many as nine points in the opening quarter and were in front 30-23 after 12 minutes, but the Hornets turned it around in the second. Down, 32-23 after a Devean George layup, New Orleans embarked on a 15-2 run, capped by a Pargo jumper with 6:48 left before halftime.

Stojakovic had six straight New Orleans points, as the Hornets widened the lead to 46-40 before the Mavs pulled within 48-44 at the intermission.