RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME FLOW

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) _ Charlotte coach Paul Silas was hoping the Hornets would overwhelm at least one opponent in the exhibition season. He got his wish Saturday night when the Dallas Mavericks came to town.

Bobby Phills scored 31 points to lead seven Charlotte players in double figures and the Hornets rolled to a 126-110 victory over the injury-depleted Mavericks.

``You'd like for your team to blow some teams out,'' Silas said after Charlotte shot 51 percent from the field and converted 24 turnovers into 29 points on the way to its top scoring output of the preseason.

``Dallas tried to run on us, and we returned the fire,'' said Phills, who made made 10 of his 15 shots from the field, all 11 of his free throws and added seven assists, five rebounds and three steals.

Cedric Ceballos scored 26 points and Eric Strickland had 20 to lead the Mavericks, who fell behind by as many as 23 points in losing for the third time in four games. It was the most points they have allowed in the exhibition season.

Dallas signed free agent center Charles Shackleford earlier Saturday to help bolster a lineup thinned by various injuries to Shawn Bradley, Michael Finley, Steve Nash, Gary Trent, Hot Rod Williams and Greg Buckner.

``With all the injuries, it's pretty tough,'' Strickland said. ``We're not able to get our timing down and we haven't been able to go all out in practice. We're shorthanded on the inside, and it definitely showed. We made a lot of mistakes. We shot ourselves in the foot several times, but I still think we can be very competitive.''

Charlotte broke it open in the third quarter, converting nine turnovers into 14 points and outscoring the Mavericks 35-20 to build a 19-point lead. Phills had 12 points and two steals in the third, and Eddie Jones added seven points and three steals in the quarter.

``That's the way we should have been playing early on in the game,'' Silas said.

Mavericks coach Don Nelson, upset after a first quarter in which the Hornets went to the free throw line 17 times compared to six for Dallas, got into a heated argument with referee Joe Forte and was ejected.

Forte and the rest of his crew wound up assessing 57 fouls, 30 against the Mavericks.

Charlotte played without starting center Elden Campbell, who was excused for what the team called personal reasons.