Hornets looking to end their three-game slide tonight when they host the Los Angeles Clippers. Game tips at 7 Central.
These two teams met just last week in L.A., with the Hornets riding some hot shooting to a blowout victory. Since then, the Clippers have fallen to the visiting Thunder and Raptors, before winning in OKC on Sunday. They come to New Orleans with a 4-7 record.
The Clips are still without Eric Gordon (strained undercarriage) and Blake Griffin (bum knee). Chris Kaman continues to put up big numbers, Baron Davis is always a threat and Al Thornton dropped 20 in Oklahoma City last game.
For the Hornets, Chris Paul is out indefinitely as the Hornets refuse to give straight answers about his ankle injury. Darren Collison will start again at point tonight. NOLA.com reports that Hilton Armstrong will also be unavailable due to a shoulder sprain (read: Kiwi time).
I'll be chatting it up again over at ESPN's Daily Dime Live during the game. Drop on by, bring a friend.
Linkage:
- Earlier on the blog: Breaking Down the Rookies and some Random Thoughts
- Journals: Consequences of a Short Term CP3 Injury
- Lagniappe: Mardi Gras jersey design leaked, and some other stuff
- Rival bloggers: ClipperBlog.com | Clips Nation
(Many thanks to Dariusz for the banner.)
14 superb comments post your own
Niall Doherty
11/17/09 06:48 PM
Some notes from the media room ahead of this one:
- Collison and Thornton have averaged a combined 25.7 points over the last three games.
- The Clippers have five assistant coaches.
- The Hornets are 0-7 this season when trailing at halftime.
- The Hornets are 1-6 this season when giving up 100+ points.
- Average Hornets points by quarter this season (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th): 22.8, 25.0, 24.0, 24.4
- Average opponents points by quarter this season: 25.5, 27.8, 25.4, 25.1
www.ndoherty.com #1
LSUhornet17
11/17/09 07:25 PM
Lot of moving parts on offense right now. Love it.
#2
420ftJesus
11/17/09 08:01 PM
Bower looks funny next to players. I feel my value per dollar goes up when I get to see it.
#3
Niall Doherty
11/17/09 08:17 PM
Definitely, LSUhornet. Not much pounding of the ball, and I've seen a few new plays being run. The defense is still lacking though.
www.ndoherty.com #4
Diane
11/17/09 08:31 PM
Okay - the truths out. I'm not a Chris Paul fan, never have been. Saying that he is just an outstanding player - the best. I don't think we need him in OKC, we are going just fine. (not that they would trade him). I think The Hornets will do fine this year,like Ryan says its going to take a few games to settle into this new coach.
And - I'm mighty proud of The Thunder tonight. Russell Westbrook actually got in a fight. It'll cost him, but I want the rest of the world to know we aren't wimps!
Its going to be an exciting year for both teams.
#5
icebird
11/17/09 08:35 PM
Sean Marks seems to be getting the doghouse treatment and for the life of me I can't figure out why. He's barely been on court long enough to blot his copybook. Were his fouls against Portland so grievous that Bower hasn't wanted to put him on the court since? Is he being judged on his performances in practice? Is Bower holding him back for the second half? I don't know whether he'd make the Hornets better by playing or not, but at the moment we're not even getting the chance to find out.
#6
Niall Doherty
11/17/09 08:56 PM
icebird: I don't think Marks is in the doghouse. Looks like Bower is just liking him some small ball.
www.ndoherty.com #7
Akademik_Hooligan
11/17/09 09:07 PM
The more you see of Thornton, the more you have to side with Shinn/Bower when it came to letting Byron go... at least on that issue.
#8
Zwie
11/17/09 09:15 PM
so if, marks hasent gotten in?? and hiltons out? whos backup center???
#9
LSUhornet17
11/17/09 09:24 PM
Marks got in for a couple min. Playing Songaila at the 5 in a small lineup earlier. Okafor playing a lot of minutes though.
#10
Niall Doherty
11/17/09 09:27 PM
Okafor and West coming up big down the stretch. West really putting forth the effort tonight. Best game I've seen him play this season.
www.ndoherty.com #11
Niall Doherty
11/17/09 09:51 PM
I'm hearing rumors that Jeff Bower got a mini-Gatorade bath in the locker room after the game; players congratulating him on his first win as head coach.
www.ndoherty.com #12
Niall Doherty
11/17/09 10:00 PM
At the post-game press conference, Jeff Bower commented on the lack of PT for Marks. Apparently he was banged up too, tonight, and Bower likes what Songaila has been bringing so he got the bulk of the minutes as the reserve big.
www.ndoherty.com #13
LSUhornet17
11/17/09 10:02 PM
haha that'd be great. Players seem to be getting after it lately. Effort looked better than last time we played the Clips and blew them out.
#14