CHARLOTTE -- For the season's 18th game Thursday night, the injury-ravaged Mavericks rolled out their 12th different starting lineup.
So it's not all that surprising that the Mavericks wallowed to a 23-14 first-quarter deficit en route to a 97-87 loss to Charlotte at Spectrum Center that dropped Dallas' record to 3-15.
Nor is it surprising that these slow starts are fairly common. This was the ninth time the Mavericks failed to reach 20 points in the first quarter, and the third time they have scored 15 points or fewer.
The Mavericks never led Thursday and the game was only tied once, at 2-2, yet Dallas was within 88-85 with 1:58 left before the Hornets (11-8) pulled away.