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Going to keep this recap short and sweet, because it's late, and honestly, the basketball, on both sides, was terrible.

Darren Collison sat out the game with an injured knee.  Reportedly, it's nothing serious and he should play again during Summer League, but they kept him out this game just to be sure.  That left the Hornets relying on Bassett, who couldn't handle ball pressure, and Coleman, who isn't a point guard, running the point.  Miami was also able to completely overload Marcus Thornton's side of the floor when he got the ball, making it hard for him to do anything.

The result?  Though the team led for a lot of the game by forcing turnovers, the Hornets had no execution down the end of the game, and they lost in the last minute.

Quick observations:

• I'd like to see Brackins take a shot inside of 15 feet, please.  When I did my analysis of him, we saw he took like 85% of his shots from really far away from the basket.  Tonight, he tool every shot but one from really far away from the basket, and he only hit one of them.  Two of his three pointers were airballs, and one barely drew rim.  Last game he was Channing Frye.  This game, he was Antoine Walker.
• Shavlik Randolph had Brackins biting on every pump fake and spin in the post.  Okay, that's not fair to Brackins - he had EVERYONE biting on them.  It is a bit depressing to watch your team make Shavlik Randolph look like Kevin McHale.
• Because of the defensive attention paid to him, Thornton never got free on cuts, and had to take a lot of tough shots.  I hope the Hornets keep that in mind when its time to pay him.  He's an exceptional finishing in transition and as a complimentary piece to a penetrating ball-handler - as a primary option, he's not optimum.
• Pondexter mostly just played intelligent, hustled, and gave what he could, including knocking down two threes from the wing.  If he can be an energy guy who can knock down the set three pointer, he'll give me everything I was looking for from him.
• There were some other guys on the team.  None made me particularly want to see them again come October.

Have a good night.

Salary Cap Stuff

Don't get too excited, but it appears that the that the NBA salary cap and luxury tax lines are dropping less than expected. It's now being projected that the cap will fall from 57.7 million to 56.1 million. The 1.6 million dollar decrease is millions less than most front offices had anticipated.

The expected luxury tax hasn't been revealed, and likely won't be until the official salary cap is set. That said, I project it to be just over 68 million, given the historical correlation between the two. This years luxury tax line was set at 69.92 million.

As it stands right now the Hornets have ten players under contract for approximately 72.2 million dollars.

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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.

Game tips at 7 Central.

Linkage:

• TrueHoop: Trade/non-trade were big deals to Hornets
  
• Journals: Hornets-Rockets post-game report
• Rival bloggers: Hot Hot Hoops | Peninsula is Mightier | South Florida Sun-Sentinel

(Many thanks to Dariusz for the banner, today featuring Maciej Lampe. Be sure to check out more of Dariusz's designs in our Wallpapers vault.)

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.

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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.

Linkage:

• Rival bloggers: Hot Hot Hoops | Peninsula is Mightier | South Florida Sun-Sentinel

(Many thanks to Dariusz for the banner.)