New Orleans ? So much for playoff experience.

Chris Paul had 35 points and 10 assists in his first career playoff game Saturday night, lifting the New Orleans Hornets to a 104-92 come-from-behind victory over the Dallas Mavericks in Game 1 of their first-round series.

David West, in his first playoff game since he was a rookie reserve, scored 23 points, and Tyson Chandler had 10 points and 15 rebounds to help New Orleans storm back from a 12-point halftime deficit and win going away.

Dirk Nowitzki had his way with New Orleans early and finished with 31 points, but scored only four during Dallas’ fourth-quarter collapse. Josh Howard added 17 points for the Mavericks, a team that hasn’t missed the playoffs in eight seasons and was in the finals two years ago.

Jason Kidd, the All-Star point guard the Mavericks were hoping would be the missing piece to a championship run when they traded for him midseason, finished with 11 points and nine assists.

But the Mavericks had only nine field goals in the second half and no answer Paul, whose third year in the NBA has included a maiden All-Star game nod and serious consideration for league MVP.

The Hornets also got 14 points from Peja Stojakovic, one of their few grizzled playoff vets, who hit a pair of three-pointers in the final period to help squelch any notion of a Dallas comeback.

Dallas, which lost, stunningly, in the first round of last year’s playoffs to eighth-seeded Golden State, won’t go down without a struggle. With this game out of reach, the Mavs seemed to be already psyching themselves up for the next contest with physical play.