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The game was a complete meltdown for the Hornets.  They held a 20+ point lead in the third, and then went away from everything that got them that lead - i.e. interior scoring - lost their scoring edge, and the Warriors unleashed an absolutely crazy barrage of three pointers to win the game, feeding off a bunch of gambles the Hornets made to steal the ball, leaving perimeter players open for shots.

I'm convinced, however, that had Chris Paul been playing that game, the Hornets would have won.  I love Collison, but when the Warriors started their run, the team started to lose its composure.  Then, for the third game out of four, the  last few minutes of the game was "hero shot" after "hero shot" as the Hornets let fly from deep over and over rather than going back to what worked for 30 minutes.  That never happens with Paul out there.  He seizes control of the team, forces them to slow down, execute, and apply the brakes to the stupid train.

David West

Fluffy was again in full effect.  Simply a man among boys for most of the game.  He didn't rotate as well as he should have on defense, but he was carrying a very heavy load offensively and was limping slight and looking exhausted by the fourth.  36 points on 26 shots, 15 rebounds, 5 assists, and 1 steal.  Only 4 turnovers.

No matter how irritating the game was as a whole, it was a joy watching David West operate.

Jeff Bower

I have very few quibbles with most of Jeff Bower's rotations.  Keeping Thornton on the bench as a sixth man?  It has its merits.  Short minutes for Okafor?  There is typically ample reason for that.(The combo of Okafor and West was getting smoked by the Warrior shooting bigs tonight) 

But playing James Posey in the fourth against a team like the Warriors?  Indefensible.  He let Devean George get open 3 times.  He then switched to Morrow and let him get free.  Posey should come in to give West 8-10 minutes of rest, and then get off the floor.  That's it.  In fact, play Julian Wright.  His defense is better than Posey's, and at this point, his offense isn't any worse.  Tonight, he was doing alright, too.

Unless, of course, Posey is Bower's secret weapon.  Maybe the two of them have cooked up a scheme where Posey purposely plays this way in order to guarantee a better draft position.  Bower is GM too, you know.  Yay, lame conspiracy theories!

Other Observations:

• The Warriors went 9-12 from three in the fourth quarter.  Just freaking dialed in.
• For the first time ever, Thornton was not playing the way I'm used to.  He wasn't attacking as hard as he usually does, particularly in the first half, and was instead passing off the ball more freely.  It led to him getting 6 assists, but I prefer the take-no-prisoners version of Buckets.
• Peterson was shooting well, until he missed three straight free throws.  I'm tired of other teams being keyed by missed free throws by our players.  Particularly when the team, usually, is a great free throw shooting team.
• Collison had 20 points on 14 shots, 14 assists, 6 rebounds, a steal, and 8 turnovers.  A great game, but four of those turnovers came in the third as the Hornets relaxed and let the Warriors cut the lead to single digits.  All of them were very sloppy, lazy passes that were easily picked off.

That's enough.  It's late.  Next game is tomorrow night in Denver. 

Just what the doctor ordered. The Hornets got just their third win in 13 tries tonight, ending a 7-game road losing streak in the process. It was their fourth win of the season against the Clippers, and 13th consecutive overall against them. If only we could play Baron and the boys every night.

The game was tight throughout the first half with David West and Emeka Okafor keeping the Hornets in it. In the third quarter, Darren Collison turned it up a notch and the momentum started to swing permanently in the Hornets' favor. Once Marcus Thornton joined in the fun in the fourth quarter, the Clippers were done.

108-100 the final (box).

Darren Collison

We witnessed perhaps DC's best Chris Paul imitation tonight in the third quarter. He'd dished out 6 assists in the first half, but had attempted just four shots and had been overshadowed by Baron Davis. But Collison came out of halftime aggressive, and within six minutes he'd knocked down 5-of-6 shots for 12 points and had the Hornets on track.

Later in the quarter, he ran a pick and roll with David West and whipped a gorgeous behind-the-back bounce feed to him for an easy 2 when the Clippers tried to trap. Jogging back on defense after that, Collison noticed Drew Gooden jogging behind him but not paying much attention, so he put on the brakes and let himself get clobbered. Offensive foul on the Clippers. Less than a minute later, Emeka Okafor got called for an iffy foul on defense, and Collison worked over the ref who called it during the ensuing free throws, being bold enough to put his arm around the official's shoulder as he pleaded his teammate's case.

Next thing you know, Collison will be purposely getting defenders on his back, sporting a mouthpiece and letting his eyebrows meet in the middle.

DC's final numbers tonight: 18 points, 8-13 FGs, 14 assists, 4 turnovers and 3 rebounds without a single breather.

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The Hornets kicked off their road trip in Phoenix tonight, and despite pulling off the rare feat of shooting 17 more times than their opponent due to their 9 more offensive rebounds and 5 fewer turnovers, still lost by 14.

The problem hasn't changed.  It's been there from the start of the season.  The defense as a whole is weak.  The guards frequently lose their guy on the perimeter, and the interior defender either helps and his guy gets an easy dunk or putback, or he doesn't help and we see a dunk or layup.  Amare took advantage of that tonight, earning 36 points on 17 shots.  Yes, that's more than 2 points per shot, and he didn't shoot any threes.  14 free throws do that for you.

Marcus Thornton

Other than West, only Buckets was truly on his game tonight.  What's more, he looked downright pissed off in the fourth as the team tried to make one last push and failed.  He was gesturing furiously at teammates, directing traffic, attacking aggressively, and threw up his hands in disgust several times when the Suns scored to push the lead out.  I'm a little worried that next year the combined glares of Paul and Thornton might actually kill a teammate who fails to rotate.  A lot of intensity there.

Thornton finished with 28 points on 21 shots, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 2 steals, and a block.  He got no free throws at all.  Now, considering how often he drives, that may seem weird, but I'm not sure I can argue tonight.  Thornton is the best rookie I've ever seen at changing the angle of his release or double-clutching at the basket to get a clean shot off.  That does tend to cut down on the fouls called, since he's simply making his defender whiff.

David West

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The Nuggets came visiting and though the Hornets fought all game long, the Nuggets executed beautifully at the end behind Carmelo and Billups and took the win at the Hive.  The last two minutes of Hornets posessions were a bit frustrating.  They took lots of what I call "Hero Shots" as multiple Hornets took off-balance three pointers instead of chipping away at the Nuggets lead.  They had lots of chances there - but came up empty on all those poor attempts.

Still, I enjoy watching the team playing hard.  It's why I watch basketball.

Oh, and this was odd . . . the Hornets didn't seem to miss James Posey much.  Any surprise at this?  No?

David West

For the second time in recent games, I came away very happy with David West's play.  He seemed really focused and played aggressively.  Against Nene, he drove hard, picking up fouls on help defenders, and against Andersen, he did exactly what you need to do against a lanky shot-blocker - he put his shoulder into his chest, made it near impossible for him to leap quickly, and powered in a shot over his head.  Even defensively West was working hard, talking and switching and doubling on Carmelo hard in the second quarter.  He even led a fast break, taking the middle of the floor with the ball, and then sprinted ahead of the field for a fast break dunk off a turnover he wasn't even involved in.

Try as I might, I can't really figure out where this West has been all season.  He looks almost joyful out there at times.  I know its a bit of blasphemy, but sometimes I wonder if Chris Paul's intensity and continuous barking sometimes wears on his teammates.  I know if a teammate at work kept vocally pointing out my errors, I'd probably accidentally spill coffee all over his or her laptop.  Not that I make errors.  Really.

The Rookies

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This was never going to be an easy game for the Hornets, down two starters and playing one of the NBA's hottest teams on their home floor. They were able to stick with OKC until about midway through the second quarter, thanks mostly to some heavy lifting by David West, but then the Thunder ramped up the defensive pressure and the Hornets just couldn't keep up with their scoring.

98-83 was the final score (box), and the Hornets never really challenged in the second half. The didn't so much get outworked tonight, as they just got beat down by a superior opponent.

Thunder defense

Really, OKC's defense was solid all game. David West was simply unstoppable in that first quarter. Once he cooled off, the Hornets had little else to rely on. The Thunder showed some great interior defense, usually having one if not two players in position to help when guys like Collison or Thornton drove in from the wing. The result was an often stagnant Hornets offense, and very few easy baskets for them in the halfcourt. I wished they would have pushed the ball more, as that seemed to be about the only way they were getting to the rim. Unfortunately, with Collison having an inevitable off night and his teammates still winded from that 48-minute fastbreak against the Warriors on Monday, running wasn't much of an option for the Hornets.

David West

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