Category: New Orleans Hornets

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New Orleans Hornets

Around the Rim: Hornets swarm the Spurs


1. Pressure? What pressure?
Just when it looked like the pressures of inexperience were finally catching up with the playoff green New Orleans Hornets, they stepped up again against the veteran defending champs. The Spurs owned a three-point advantage at halftime, just like in Games 1 and 2, but promptly had their socks blown off in the third period, just like in Games 1 and 2, when David West helped led his team on a 28-11 run in the quarter. By the time the final buzzer sounded, New Orleans had a 101-79 victory and a 3-2 lead in the series. The Spurs had no answer for West who recorded playoff career-highs with 38 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks on the same night San Antonio reserve Robert Horry played in his 238th postseason game, the most in league history. The Spurs philosophy of shutting down Peja Stojakovic (3-8 FG, 9 pts) offensively with Bruce Bowen worked once again, but, once again, they had no such luck against West or Chris Paul who finished with a 22-point, 14-assist double-double. Tim Duncan could not find his range, missing 13 of his 18 shots, but still posted 23 rebounds while Manu Ginobili erred his way to a team-high 20 points on 5-of-15 shooting. Game 6 is on Thursday in San Antonio where it will be do-or-die time for the home team.

2. It’s over!

In the final seconds of the game, Hedo Turkoglu went for a dunk that would have brought Orlando within a point of the Pistons. But Tayshaun Prince swooped in to make a game-changing block, forcing the Magic to foul and Detroit strolled into the Eastern Conference Finals with a 91-86 win. The Pistons are playing in their sixth consecutive conference finals, tying them with three other teams for the third most in NBA history after defeating Orlando in five games. Despite playing without Chauncey Billups for the final two contests, the Pistons were still the superior team, led by the starters who combined for all but four of the team’s points in the series closer. Richard Hamilton was perfect from the free-throw line, hitting all 16 of his attempts en route to a game-high 31 points and Antonio McDyess was outstanding with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Hamilton also became the franchise’s all-time leader in postseason points with 2,282 in 110 career games. For the Magic, it’s another disappointing to finish to an impressive season. They continue to take baby steps or in Dwight Howard’s case, man-child steps forward, but until Howard truly becomes the unstoppable offensive threat he is capable of being then these early exits will continue to occur.

3. Pain in the back
Going into Game 5 of the Lakers/Jazz series on Wednesday night, there’s really only one question that matters: How’s Kobe’s back? The MVP was in obvious pain during Game 4, but he still managed to almost record a triple-double in the loss, scoring 33 points to go with eight rebounds and 10 assists. So, in order to make sure their star was as close to 100 percent as possible, the Lakers rested Bryant during practice on Tuesday. Bryant said he would be “fine” for the momentum swinging game tonight which will give the winner a 3-2 advantage. We’re expecting a big game out of Bryant tonight; after all, if he can play with the weight of a sexual-assault trial on his back then a little tweak should be no problem at all.

Tuesday’s Player of the Day: David West vs. San Antonio 44 min, 38 pts (FG: 16-25, FT: 6-7), 14 reb, 5 ast, 2 stl, 5 blk

Buzzer Beater: After carrying bags and bringing in the doughnuts for an entire season, it’s time to give the NBA’s rookies a little love. The league’s All-Rookie teams were announced yesterday and the Hawks Al Horford was the only unanimous selection on the first squad. Surprisingly, the NBA Rookie of the Year Kevin Durant received only 57 of a possible 58 votes. Joining the hands-down best rooks in the game was Luis Scola from Houston, Al Thornton with the Clippers and Durant’s teammate Jeff Green. Second teamers included Jamario Moon (Tor), Juan Carlos Navarro (Mem), Thaddeus Young (Phi), Rodney Stuckey (Det) and Carl Landry (Hou).

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New Orleans Hornets

Around the Rim: Still the best in the West, but just barely


1. Hornets almost get stung
New Orleans needed a win on Tuesday night to keep pace with the streaking Spurs. Thanks to a sharpshooting Peja Stojakovic, they got it. OK, maybe “sharpshooting” is an overstatement considering he only connected on 2-of-11 field goals against the Magic, but Stojakovic came through in the clutch, connecting on a trey and hitting three big free throws in the final minute to help the Hornets sneak out of Orlando with a 98-97 victory. MVP candidate Chris Paul finished with 19 points and 12 assists and fellow All-Star David West double-doubled with 18 and 11 rebounds in Nawlins’ franchise-best 24th road win. Paul almost choked the game away by missing a pair of shots from the charity stripe with less than 10 seconds remaining. But when Keyon Dooling’s jumper fell short, the Hornets were able to breathe a sigh of relief. New Orleans holds a slight edge over SA which means they are still sitting atop the West with a game against Miami scheduled for tonight.

2. Nuggets get revenge against Suns

The home team continues to reign supreme in the battle between Phoenix and Denver. Just one day after losing by 15 points in Phoenix, the Nuggets returned to Denver and grabbed a 126-120 victory over the Suns thanks to stellar performances from Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony. A.I. finished with a game-high 31 points while Melo scored 25, including a pair of big free throws in the final 30 seconds to give Denver its seventh win in 10 games. More importantly, the Nuggets took a half-game lead over the Warriors for the West’s final playoff spot. The Suns did all they could, connecting on 53 percent of their shots, but homecourt advantage proved to be critical once again as the home team grabbed the win in every game between the two this season. Leandro Barbosa led the losers with 27 points while Shaquille O’Neal (14 pts, 13 reb), Amare Stoudemire (25 pts, 10 reb) and Steve Nash (17 pts, 18 ast) all recorded double-doubles.

3. Kings keep Rockets reeling
The Rockets are in free fall after reeling off 22 consecutive wins and Sacramento took full advantage on Tuesday night. Tracy McGrady scored a game-high 32 points, but it wasn’t enough to keep Houston from losing its fifth game, 99-98, in eight tries since going on the second-longest win steak in league history. Ron Artest finished with 30 points and Kevin Martin posted 27 as the Kings won their 34th game of the season which surpasses last year’s win total, marking the first improvement from one season to the next since 2001-02. For the Rockets, the loss sent them into sixth place out West. Houston took a one-point lead with time running out, but Martin knocked down a couple free throws with 48.9 seconds left on the clock, giving the Kings their final points of the night. Artest almost blew the victory by turning the ball over in the final moments, but McGrady’s shot was off the mark and Artest was saved by the buzzer.

Tuesday’s Player of the Day: Michael Redd vs. New York 46 min, 36 pts (FG: 12-22, 3FG: 4-9, FT: 8-11), 6 reb, 9 ast, 2 stl

Wednesday’s Game to Watch: Golden State (45-29) @ Dallas (46-28)
Playoff implications are abundant in this matchup as either team could still conceivably fall out of the conference’s elite eight with a poor showing down the final stretch of the season. Luckily for Dallas, Dirk Nowitzki could be making an early return to the lineup after suffering a lower leg injury against the Spurs on March 23. At the moment, the Mavs are sitting in seventh place, just one game ahead of Golden State who is in ninth. Dallas would clinch the tiebreaker with a win which would be huge in a jam-packed race, but these are the Warriors we’re talking about and when it comes to ruining Dallas’ fun, nobody does it better than Don Nelson. And let’s not forget about the stat that just won’t go away for Dallas. The Mavericks are currently 0-10 against teams with winning records since acquiring Jason Kidd at the All-Star break.

Buzzer Beater: ESPN released its list of the top players under the age of 23 and we really can’t argue with the rankings. Can you?

1. LeBron James

2. Dwight Howard

3. Chris Paul

4. Deron Williams

5. Carmelo Anthony

6. Kevin Durant

7. Greg Oden

8. Andrew Bynum

9. Brandon Roy

10. Monta Ellis

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New Orleans Hornets

Around the Rim: Putting in work


1. Double overtime
The Suns didn’t appear to miss Shawn Marion in the least on Wednesday night as they ran up and down the court at breakneck speed, scoring 130 points against the Hornets in a pair of overtimes. And Marion certainly didn’t miss being on the Suns because New Orleans managed to score 131 points, winning on a buzzer-beating Peja Stojakovic jumper. Tyson Chandler missed a doozey, sidelined with the flu, but his teammates stepped up on the road. Stojakovic finished with 26 points while David West grabbed 13 rebounds to go with 21 points and even though Peja gets credit for the win, Chris Paul gets the game ball. Paul just missed setting a new career-high with 42 points to go along with nine assists and a career-high eight steals. Shaquille O’Neal wasn’t in uniform for Phoenix yet and it’s a good thing because he probably got winded just watching. Amare Stoudemire did his best `Showtime Shaq’ impression, scoring 26, grabbing 20 and blocking four shots. Former MVP Steve Nash finished with a triple-double the ugly way – 32 points, 12 assists and 10 turnovers

2. Overtime

The Kyle Korver trade continues to pay dividends for Utah. Korver scored 27 points against Denver, nailing four big-time free throws in the final 20 seconds of overtime to give Utah a 116-115 victory. Allen Iverson had a shot at winning the game and adding to his game-high 34 points, but his shot wasn’t true. The Jazz are 16-2 since acquiring Korver from Philly, but he can’t get all the credit. Deron Williams finished with 29 points, 11 assists and six rebounds while Mehmet Okur had a double-double with 15 and 10. The Denver starters scored 104 points with A.I. (34 pts, 10 ast) and Carmelo Anthony (29 pts, 8 reb) combining for 63. Marcus Camby (17 reb) and Kenyon Martin (10 reb) yielded a ton of boards, but they also committed some boneheaded fouls down the stretch of both regulation and overtime.

3. Losin’ it
Joe Johnson scored 28 points, leading the Hawks to a 98-95 win over the Lakers, but, in the end, Kobe Bryant gave the game to Atlanta. With eight seconds on the clock, Bryant lost his handle of the ball and got hit with an over-and-back violation, turning the ball and the game over to the Hawks. A pair of clutch Johnson free throws with three seconds left sealed the deal. Josh Smith played an All-Star caliber game with 17 points, nine rebounds, nine assists, five blocks and a pair of steals. Oh, but that wasn’t it for Hotlanta. Rookie Al Horford grabbed a career-high 20 rebounds to go with 15 points. Lamar Odom led the Lakers in defeat with 19 points and 11 rebounds while Bryant struggled with more than just his handle, missing 12-of-14 shots for 11 points.

Wednesday’s Player of the Day: Chris Paul @ Phoenix 50 min, 42 pts (FG: 18-33, 3FG: 4-9, FT: 2-3), 5 reb, 9 ast, 8 stl

Thursday’s Game to Watch: Cleveland (27-20) @ Houston (28-20)
Get ready for a showdown of international superstars when the Cavs and the Rockets hook it up. Nobody in the NBA is currently a hotter commodity than LeBron James. What’s not to like – he’s funny, he’s got sick skillz and he drives like a bat outta hell. On a global scale, Yao Ming’s da man; more importantly, he’s playing like da man. Over his last four games he is averaging 20.3 points, 12.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.3 blocks per game. Coincidentally, the Rockets are undefeated in that span. Then you got the King. Like Yao, James’ squad is a perfect 4-0 in his last four starts (DNP @ Sea), and like Yao, he’s straight ballin’! LBJ has been good for 34.8 points, 10.8 rebounds, 6.8 assists and 2.8 steals over his last four contests.

Buzzer Beater: Speaking of James; for a guy who’s normally good for a few soundbites a day, we were really disappointed that he didn’t give us more when informed of the blockbuster deal that sent Shaq Daddy to the desert.

“Unbelievable,” James said after practice Wednesday. “That’s all I got. It’s unbelievable.”

We don’t think he was necessarily speechless because Shaq returned to the West, we’re figuring he was just realizing that he’ll be defended by Shawn Marion three or four times every year.

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New Orleans Hornets

Around the Rim: All-Star reserve reservations


1. 2nd best in the west
The backups for the 2008 All-Star game were revealed on Thursday with a bunch of Hornets and Suns warming the bench for the starting five. Chris Paul and David West were named All-Stars for the first time in their career after helping New Orleans shock the NBA with its meteoric rise to contender status. From Phoenix, Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire make their yearly pilgrimage to the game. The rest of the bench is rounded out by Carlos Boozer, Dirk Nowitzki and Brandon Roy. It’s a pretty formidable backup attack if you ask us, but we’re curious to know what the coaches were thinking when they decided to leave Marcus Camby off the squad. West is having a great season, but the team could use a rebounding, shot blocking, defensive machine down the stretch should the game be close. Allen Iverson, Kobe Bryant and Carmelo Anthony are already on the squad; how many points do you really need?

2. Sub snub?

Kevin Garnett is the veteran anchor of the Eastern Conference All-Stars and Celtics teammate Paul Pierce was named to the reserve roster on Thursday, but conspicuous by his absence was Ray Allen. Normally the coaches are all a twitter to reward the best team in the league by trying to cram as many players into the game as possible, but that wasn’t the case. Allen missed the cut while Chauncey Billups, Chris Bosh, Caron Butler, Richard Hamilton, Antawn Jamison and Joe Johnson got the nod. We really can’t argue too much with the lineup because, after all, it is the East and all their super duper stars are already in the starting five. Other than Allen, we’d have to take a long hard look at Jose Calderon who has stepped up in a big, big way since T.J. Ford went down.

3. Cs win again
The Celtics are starting to get used to playing without the Big Ticket and that’s bad news for the rest of the league. Most expected Boston to crumble without Kevin Garnett leading the troops, but Ray Allen and Paul Pierce know the battle plans well enough to roll over the Mavericks without their general. More importantly, some of the non `big three’ are getting quality minutes to shine in Garnett’s absence. Allen and Pierce scored 26 points apiece while Rajon Rondo finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds, continuing Boston’s undefeated streak against the West. James Posey literally stole the show in the final seconds with a game-clinching steal to seal a 96-90 victory. Dirk Nowitzki had a great game with 31 points, 11 rebounds and six assists for the Mavericks who, on paper, were the better team statistically across the board except in turnovers where they gave up five more than the Beantowners, including Posey’s shinning moment. The Dallas loss also handed the Western Conference All-Star coaching gig to Hornets coach Byron Scott.

Thursday’s Player of the Day: Dirk Nowitzki @ Boston 42 min, 31 pts (FG: 10-21, 3FG: 1-3, FT: 10-10), 11 reb, 6 ast, 3 blk

Friday’s Game to Watch: Los Angeles Lakers (28-16) @ Toronto (25-20)
The logic behind selecting this game as the reason you should sit in front of your television on a Friday night is simple to follow: We like seeing players score points. Kobe Bryant likes to score points (39 against Detroit on Thursday). And against Toronto, Bryant really, REALLY likes to score points. Last season Kobe averaged 28 points a game against the Raptors and two seasons ago, after scoring a meager 11 points in an early season blowout, Bean exploded for 81 in front of Jack and all his friends. And if you’re a Toronto fan then you should be in for a treat because Chris Bosh plays his best ball on Fridays, averaging 24.9 points, 10.0 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.0 block.

Buzzer Beater: Remember last year’s second round matchup between San Antonio and Phoenix? Well, Thursday night’s game between the two was just as highly contested and physical as the playoff confrontation, but Steve Nash’s beak stayed blood free all night long. Phoenix allowed a healthy lead to slip through their fingers in the fourth quarter and the clubs traded huge baskets for the final two minutes before San Antonio slipped out of the desert with a much needed 84-81 road win. Amare Stoudemire had an opportunity to tie the game via an old fashioned three-point play with less than 10 seconds remaining, but missed his free throw, allowing Manu Ginobili to sink a pair of free throws for the final score. Even without Tony Parker in uniform, the struggling Spurs still own the Suns. Can you say confidence builder?

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New Orleans Hornets

Around the Rim: Buzzzing right along


1. It’s a nice view from above
If you’re anything like us then you probably have to slap yourself every morning when you see New Orleans sitting atop the Western Conference. But the Hornets recent swarm appears to be legitimate after winning their ninth consecutive game by annihilating the Nuggets 117-93. Chris Paul came up one rebound shy of recording a triple-double with 23 points, 17 assists and the aforementioned nine boards. This game was over for Denver before the first quarter buzzer even buzzed and by halftime they were staring up from a 23 point hole. The Nuggets had a good excuse though with Carmelo Anthony riding the pine.

2. Same faces, new places

There’s about to be a few very excited real estate agents thanks to the recent decisions of several nomadic NBAers. The biggest news comes out of New Jersey where the human triple-double Jason Kidd confirmed the rumors that he wanted a trade before the Fed. 21 deadline. Dallas and Denver already inquired about obtaining the All-Star’s services. Next up is the news that Don Nelson and Chris Webber will be reuniting in Golden State 15 years after things went horribly wrong between the duo in C-Webb’s rookie campaign. Talk about a whacky, whacky world! If time has mellowed these guys then this experiment could pay off come playoff time. Last but not least, we’ve got the buyout of Damon Stoudamire’s contract with the Grizzlies. The Spurs appear to currently be atop the long list of possible new zip codes for the former Rookie of the Year.

3. Rode-oh-no road trip
The slumping Spurs began their annual extended road trip on Monday in Utah and things didn’t go according to plan for the champs. San Antonio fell behind early, trailing 27-19 after the first quarter, and spent the remainder of the game chasing the Jazz. The Spurs made it close late as they drew within three points with a minute remaining in regulation, but Utah got a timely 3-pointer from Kyle Korver to help secure a 97-91 victory. Andrei Kirilenko and Carlos Boozer scored 23 apiece and Deron Williams finished with 11 points and 14 assists. Utah made an astonishing one-day leap from not being in the playoffs to owning a home court, first round seed (No. 4)! For the Spurs, it’s one down and eight to go. D’oh!

Monday’s Player of the Day: Chris Paul vs. Denver 38 min, 23 pts (FG: 7-20, 3FG: 1-2, FT: 8-8), 9 reb, 17 ast, 2 stl, 1 blk

Tuesday’s Game to Watch: Atlanta (18-22) @ Phoenix (32-13)
Phoenix hasn’t lost to an Eastern Conference foe since Dec. 10 when the Heat somehow grabbed a road win in the desert. Yea, the Suns are still scratching their heads over that one too. Their only other loss to the East came in Atlanta when former Sun Joe Johnson was horrid from the field (3-17 FG), but Marvin Williams and Josh Smith both recorded double-doubles, leading the Hawks to victory. Last time Johnson visited Phoenix, he racked up 17 of his 32 points in the fourth and the result was a nine point Hotlanta victory. The Hawks have lost five of their last six, but they have way too much talent to be counted out.

Buzzer Beater: Hedo Turkoglu and Al Jefferson’s time in the spotlight has finally arrived. The duo became perhaps the oddest duo to ever combine for the NBA Players of the Week awards. Jefferson deservedly won the award for the West while playing on the worst squad in the league and Turkoglu won the East honor by somehow becoming the biggest offensive threat on a team with Dwight Howard and Rashard Lewis. Anyways, nobody shined brighter so, congratulations fellas, you’re having the Best Week Ever!!

Turkoglu guided Orlando to a 3-1 week, including wins over Eastern Conference leaders Detroit and Boston. Leading the Magic in scoring in all four games, Turkoglu averaged 25.5 points on .492 shooting from the field and .500 shooting from three-point range. Turkoglu tallied a game-high 27 points, including the game-winning three-pointer as time expired in Orlando’s 96-93 win over Boston on Jan. 27.

Jefferson led the Timberwolves to a 3-1 week, averaging 28.8 points and 12.8 rebounds. Minnesota defeated three playoff teams from a year ago and its lone loss came by one point at Boston, owner of the NBA’s best record. Jefferson posted three point-rebound double-doubles, including a 40-point, 19-rebound effort in Minnesota’s 98-95 win over New Jersey on Jan. 27.

Categories
New Orleans Hornets

Around the Rim: Changing of the guards?


1. Jason Kidd. Meet Jason Kidd 2.0
It’s hard to say that a guy who misses a triple-double by one rebound is playing second fiddle to a youngster in the point guard department, but last night it was true. Jason Kidd finished with nine rebounds, 10 assists and 14 points, but, like they say, he scores last scores best. At least, that’s the motto Chris Paul is living by after his lay-up with less than three seconds in the game gave the Hornets an 84-82 victory over New Jersey. CP3 has been playing out of his mind over the opening act of the season and last night was just one more chapter in the book. Paul paced his boys with a team-high 29 points to go with six rebounds, seven assists and three steals.

2. The Chosen `One’

The Nuggets proved the old adage of “two is always better than one” again last night as Denver’s dynamic duo combined for 59 points during their team’s 122-100 victory over Cleveland. LeBron James wasn’t the only Cav on the court, but he was doing all the heavy lifting and it didn’t work out to well for the defending Eastern Conference champs. Behind LeBron’s 27 points, Ira Newble was the second leading scorer with 17 and it took him 15 shots to get that. In all, Cleveland shot the ball pretty well, 36-86 for 41.9 percent, but the Nuggets were rolling. Keyword being Nuggets, accent on the s. Anthony finished with 22 points and Iverson racked up a game-high 37. And if three is a crowd then Denver has a fetish for hordes because J.R. Smith came off the bench to chip in 29 more.

3. Those aren’t “Booos,” they’re “Boooz”
Carlos Boozer must be getting coached up by Mike Gundy on the side because there’s no doubt he’s a man! The Booze went off for 32 points and 10 rebounds, giving him his seventh double-double in eight games. Perhaps the most important number of all is the team’s six wins in those eight contests. Last night, Boozer led the Jazz as they savaged the poor Kings 117-93. As if having a 6-foot, 9-inch, 266-pound of man meat at your disposal isn’t enough, try throwing in a side of coach-hating Russians to the mix. The previously disgruntled Andrei Kirilenko almost got himself a triple-dip with 15 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.

Monday’s Player of the Day: Allen Iverson vs. Cleveland 35 min, 37 pts (FG: 14-20, 3FG: 2-4, FT: 7-8), 3 reb, 8 ast, 2 stl

Tuesday’s Game to Watch: Los Angeles Lakers (3-2) @ San Antonio (6-1)
It’s been a while since the LA/SA rivalry was really heated, but make no mistake about it, these two teams still can’t stand one another. Tim Duncan and Gregg Popovich might not come out and say it, but they’re still fuming over Phil Jackson’s “asterisk” comment in regards to their 1999 championship which was won in a shortened season. But when you tune into this game, the real animosity to concern yourself with is between Kobe Bryant and Bruce Bowen. Bryant is a point-hungry scoring machine and he’s been known to throw a few cheap shots in order to get his fix. Unfortunately, nobody keeps perimeter scorers jonzing more than Bowen and his tenacious D. These two have exchanged plenty of heated words in the past and both take this match-up as a personal challenge. Bring your cups with you, because this could get testy.

Buzzer Beater: We can kind of understand why Bulls fans would start chanting Kobe Bryant’s name when the Mamba comes to town. After all, it’s not too hard to want a guy who you’re watching him put on a clinic first hand. But what’s up with Chicago fans chanting his name during a game against the … Raptors?

The United Center sellout crowd of 22,467 lost its patience midway through the third quarter. With each turnover and each missed shot, the chorus of boos grew louder. Ditto for the chants of ”KO-BEE … KO-BEE … KO-BEE …” Then in the fourth quarter, the remaining fans passed the time by doing the wave.

Really, there was no other way to react to the Bulls’ embarrassing, humiliating — pick an adjective, any adjective for bad — 101-71 loss to the Toronto Raptors on Saturday night.

Oh, yea; 1-5 record. Right.