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Sooner or later, it was going to happen. It is what happens to all undefeated teams, regardless of professional or amateur affiliation; in this instance, it happened to the lone member of the NBA’s undefeated.

Monday night would find the 8-0 New Orleans Hornets at American Airlines Center taking on the Dallas Mavericks in what would be one of the better games on the NBA schedule Monday night.

While the game ws competitive throughout, it took a three-guard combination of Jason Terry, Jason Kid and Jose Juan Barea to give Dallas that extra boost as they rallied to edge New Orleans 98-95.

The first half was one of contrasts as the Mavericks outscored the Hornets 27-24 while New Orleans took over the second period, with the Hornets taking a 52-47 lead going into the intermission.

New Orleans had as much as an 11-point lead, but Terry made a pair of three-pointers on consecutive possessions to open the fourth quarter and pulling Dallas to within 78-75.

Four consecutive treys by the Hornets’ Willie Green and Peja Stojakovic gave New Orleans the lead at 90-83 with 6:04 left in the game. Dallas would rally with a 13-3 run, capped by a Dirk Nowitzki 3-pointer wth 3:20 remaining to tie the game at 90-all.

Terry drained a 17-footer with 46 seconds left, giving the Mavericks a 95-92 edge but Trevor Ariza converted a 3 which tied the game at 95. Terry would hit a mid-range jumper with 34 ticks on the game clock for a Mavericks 97-95 lead; Nowitzki made just one free throw with just 2.8 seconds remaining, giviing New ORleans a final chance to tie or win the game. But Emeka Okafor missed a 25-footer, helping MAvericks secure the win.

Only three Mavericks scored in double-digits, led by Terry with 26 points (including 3 three-points), 2 rebounds, 4 assists, a steal and a block while Nowitzki added 25 with 10 rebounds and 3 assists. Kidd added 16 (including three treys) with 8 rebounds, 6 assists and a steal.

The Hornets are led by Chris Paul with 22 points, 4 rebounds, 9 assists and 3 steals while Stojakovic added 17 (including 4 three-pointers) with 2 rebounds and an assist. Okafor, while scoring just 5 points, grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds.

Dallas (7-2) and New Orleans (8-1) play each other again in a rematch on Wednesday night, this time at New Orleans Arena.