Hornets back to the cozy confines of the New Orleans Arena tonight, taking on the visiting Heat and hoping to avenge that November loss in Miami.
The 16-12 Heat have won five of their last six and are sporting a 6-4 road record. They're coming off a 34-point win over the Pacers on Sunday. Dwyane Wade and Michael Beasley have been doing most of the damage. No injuries to report for Miami.
The Hornets are coming off last night's loss to the Rockets in Houston, a game that saw both David West and Chris Paul put up big numbers but receive little help from their teammates.
It was an ugly game, that's for sure. 39% shooting for the Hornets vs. 52% for the Heat. A nine free-throw disadvantage. Okafor struggling all game with foul trouble. Despite that, the Hornets were right in there at the end as fought hard, dragging down 11 offensive rebounds to the Heat's 4, forced five more turnovers, and continued to pour it in from downtown as Posey joined Thornton and Stojakovic in knocking down deep shots at a high rate.
Also important was the way the guys fought back, having fallen behind by more than ten on two seperate occasions before the fourth. That they were willing to battle and had a chance at a game winning shot says a lot about the differences between this team under Bower, and this team under Scott.
In related news, the Hornet's rookies, who combined for 85 minutes in nine games under Byron Scott, entered tonight's game 2nd and 4th amongst rookies in PER. Amongst the entire NBA, they ranked 17th(Thornton) and 42nd. (Collison) The next sportswriter who blames Scott's firing on financial woes needs to suffer a quick kick in the rear.
Observations from the game:
Tonight the Hornets were bitten by what I call the "Bryant Rule". It's when the "man" on the team decides they must win the game single-handedly. I hate everything about it, since an offense's primary advantage is that the other team doesn't know where a shot will come from. When a team clears out for a single teammate, or the teammate breaks the play like West did tonight, that advantage becomes much more limited. Tonight, not only did West succumb to the "Bryant Rule", he also committed another cardinal sin: The Hornets were down 1, and instead of making a move when he got it with 12 seconds to go, he dribbled around, wasted clock, and then took the shot. If the game is tied, that's the correct play, but the Hornets were down, and they needed to go right away and try to score. If they hit, the onus went back to the Heat to manufacture a shot. At worst, the Hornets miss, they foul, the Heat got two free throws and then the Hornets get another chance to win or send it to overtime. Instead, time was wasted, a poor shot went up, and it was over. Compound error.
Like last game, West was most effective offensively when he got the ball late in the game, forced a double team, and then kicked the ball out to find the open man. Unfortunately, his passing was off tonight - and the pinpoint passes he'd delivered the past few games kept ending up in the crowd. He did work hard on the glass, and moved his feet well enough defensively. The Hornets do need his shot to re-materialize, though.
I was a little surprised at how little Bower used his centers, Marks and Okafor through the game. Yes, they (particularly Okafor) battled foul trouble, but they were both cleaning the offensive glass nicely, and despite Songaila's strong play, I would have liked to have seen them get a few more than 24 minutes between them.
Hornets in Miami today to take on Dwyane Wade and the Heat. Our guys looking to build on their current three-game winning streak and coming off impressive wins over the Suns and Hawks. How will they fare on the road? Game tips at 5 p.m. Central.
Miami were riding high after starting the season 7-2, but have since dropped three straight games. They last played in Toronto on Friday, losing 113-120 despite Wade scoring 30. The Heat have been giving up a lot of points recently, with their opponents going for 100+ in four of the last five.
Starting Heat forward Udonis Haslem has missed the last two games with a shoulder injury. The Miami Herald lists him as probable for today's game, while Quentin Richardson is doubtful with a back injury. According to Peninsula is Mightier, the absence of those two guys is a big reason for Miami's defensive struggles of late.
In every game so far this pre-season, the Hornets have been outscored in the first and second quarters, and I'm not talkin' by a couple points either. The Hornets have entered the second half trailing the opposing team by an average of 17.8 points. The Hornets are fouling more than they are being fouled, giving up more free throws, aren't forcing many turnovers, and their perimeter defense has been abysmal, allowing an unpleasant 39% from behind the arc.
That last item doesn't shock me. The Hornets play either very slow or very rookie shooting guards, which tends to make it hard to defend that position. They are also starting Julian Wright, and his tendency to cheat off shooters and try to help elsewhere has been well documented on this blog. Open perimeter jumpers may be the norm this season until Scott manages to drill the value of staying home into the heads of his perimeter players.
Lots of storylines from tonight's game in Miami. It was ugly as sin through most of the first three quarters, with constant turnovers, fumbles and bricked jumpers by both teams. Q4 saw Miami seize control while Chris Paul did all one man could possibly do to keep us in it. Then there we were unable to guard the pick and roll and facing a 4-point deficit with 18 seconds left. Byron burned our last timeout. It didn't look good. I was already writing the postmortem in my head.
But then CP gets the quick two and Dwyane Wade bricks a free throw. Ten seconds left, down three, length of the floor to go. Paul rushed it up, tried to free himself before tossing it to Rasual Butler. Yeah, same Rasual Butler who had missed 6 of his 8 shot attempts. Before he could even think about shooting, he fumbles the catch and has to chase the ball down at the sideline. I could foresee a forehead slap in my not-too-distant future. But somehow Rasual was able to gather the rock, take one dribble and fire up a prayer between James Jones and Michael Beasley. And somehow, that prayer was answered.
UPDATE: Video...
Overtime, and David West would do the rest. After struggling through a horriffic 4-of-18 shooting performance in regulation, West would sink all four of his attempts in the fifth frame. Compliment that with two costly turnovers by Wade down the stretch, and this one belonged to the Hornets.
93-87 the final score. Let's get to some bullets...
Let's talk more about David West first. I believe he missed 13 shots in a row before knocking down his final five. (Interesting to note that he only missed one shot after he tweaked his ankle late in the fourth quarter. He seems to play better on one leg, no?) He even missed two of his six free throw attempts, which doesn't sound all that amazing until you remember that he's the eighth-best free throw shooter in the NBA this season.
The Heat doubled West pretty much every time down low, but most of his misses came from wide open 17-footers that he usually feasts on. He also had a rough night defensively, especially when he switched on to Beasley in the fourth and had to help guard Wade on the pick and roll. That was a nightmare for West and his slow feet, and it almost cost us the game with Wade easily getting to the rim for scores or kicks to an open James Jones. West definitely made amends though with his strong finish. He schooled Beasley in OT, dropping some sweet post moves on the rookie and banging home a couple of contested jumpers. Can't keep a good man down.
Hornets back to the cozy confines of the New Orleans Arena tonight, taking on the visiting Heat and hoping to avenge that November loss in Miami.
Hornets in Miami today to take on Dwyane Wade and the Heat. Our guys looking to build on their current three-game winning streak and coming off impressive wins over the Suns and Hawks. How will they fare on the road? Game tips at 5 p.m. Central.
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