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The Hornets get started on a three-game home stand tonight at New Orleans Arena, trying to come to terms with the news that Chris Paul will miss at least a month with that knee injury.

The Suns come in with a 28-21 record and are just a game ahead of the Hornets in the standings. They've lost five of their last six on the road, with that lone win coming last night against the Rockets in overtime. Amare Stoudemire led Phoenix in that one with 36 points and 11 boards, while fellow All-Star Steve Nash delivered 11 points and 16 assists.

The Suns will be without Leandro Barbosa (wrist surgery), while the Hornets will of course be without Chris Paul and James Posey (strained Achilles).

This is the third meeting of the season between these teams. The Hornets got blown out in Phoenix on November 11 when the Suns had eight players score in double figures, hit thirteen triples and were +16 on the boards. The Hornets would get revenge a week later in New Orleans, when Peja Stojakovic sank seven long bombs and the rookies came up big in Chris Paul's third game out with an ankle injury. The Hornets will need strong performances from Darren Collison and Marcus Thornton again tonight if they hope to win this one.

Game tips at 7 Central. Numbers:

Pace: Suns 98.7 (3rd), Hornets 94.2 (20th)
Offensive Efficiency: Suns 111.3 (1st), Hornets 104.8 (14th)
Defensive Efficiency: Suns 108.5 (29th), Hornets 105.4 (19th)

Linkage:

• Earlier on the blog: Collison and Thornton: A New Hope
• Lagniappe: A listing of some D-Leaguers Jeff Bower might have his eye on
  
• Rival bloggers: Bright Side of the Sun | Valley of the Suns (THN)
  

(Many thanks to Dariusz for today's banner featuring Michael Adams, who ran back-up point for the Hornets back in the mid-90's. Be sure to check out more of Dariusz's designs in our Wallpapers vault.)

Tonight, the Hornets simply out-hustled the Phoenix Suns and evened Jeff Bower's head coaching record at 2-2.  The Hornets owned a +18 edge on the glass and had an astonishing 25 offensive rebounds - one more than the total number of defensive rebounds the Suns had.  The Hornets now stand at 5-8, hardly an impressive record, but there was one very important difference between this game and the games we saw under Byron Scott:  The guys didn't quit. 

The Suns were down three at the half after battling back from being down big in the first quarter.  They then came out and ripped off a 16-5 run to open the second half, and it looked like the Hornets were letting it slide out of control.  Instead, the Hornets simply buckled down, attacked the screen and roll, got back in transition, and fought back.  By the end of the third, the Hornets had reclaimed their lead and didn't back down the rest of the way.  Good stuff.

Observations:

• Just a few hours after I make a joke about worrying about Peja taking open threes, he goes out and has his best game of the last two seasons.  25 points and 13 rebounds.  7-11 from three.  He was even in amongst the trees digging out offensive rebounds, and he came away with 5.  Do you know the last time Peja had 5 offensive rebounds?  January 6, 2006.  When he still played for Sacramento.  The team was running plays for him all night - and not just the simple "catch and shoot" plays off screens like Byron used to run.  They were sending him across the paint regularly(probably a reason for the rebounds), which kept the Suns scrambling, and West and Okafor were setting staggered screens in the paint for him to weave through probably every fourth possession.  In fact, I noticed that by the end of the game, Peja looked a little ragged.  He probably hadn't worked that hard in game in a long time.  But it worked.  And that three he hit with 2 minutes to go was icing on the cake for a turn-back-the-clock game for him.
  
  
• Darren Collison was ice cold in every sense of the phrase.  For the first three quarters, he was ice cold and unable to buy a shot.  They weren't bad shots, they were just falling short.  In the fourth quarter, he was ice cold as he drilled two huge shots - first a pull-up three(his first of the season) and then a beautiful drive into the paint and fake pass to Okafor that allowed him to finish a nifty layup at the rim.  It took some real balls to take those shots as he was 2-13 up to that point, but he was up for it. He piled two free throws on top of that to help seal the game, meaning he is now shooting 95% from the free throw stripe.  15 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, a steal and only one turnover in 32 minutes.

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Hornets and Suns on TNT tonight, live from New Orleans Arena. Game tips at 7 p.m. Central.

We saw the PHX just last week, when they dropped 124 points on the Hornets in Byron Scott's last game as coach. The Suns lost to the Lakers the next night but have since bounced back with wins over Toronto and Houston.

The Hornets will of course be without Chris Paul this time, but it should be interesting to see what adjustments Jeff Bower and Tim Floyd have put in place to try slow the Phoenix roll.

Once again, I'll be chatting live during the game over at ESPN's Daily Dime. Should be a lot of Hornets-Suns talk there tonight as there's only one other game on at the same time.

Linkage:

• Earlier on the blog: Next Few Games will be a Bellwether
  
• Journals: Rant at Non-Fans About Tanking | Positive Notes
  
• Rival bloggers: Bright Side of the Sun | Valley of the Suns

(Many thanks to Dariusz for the banner.)

The Hornets got trounced tonight in Phoenix, 124-104 ( box | recap ). The Suns put up 40 points in the first quarter, 75 in the first half, and the Hornets never threatened. About what you'd expect when a bad defense meets a good offense.

Some late-night bullets for this one...

Team game vs. Two-man game

The Suns spread the ball around on offense. It's not unusual for all five guys to touch the rock on one possession. There's lots of off-the-ball movement, resulting in defensive confusion and guys popping free for jumpers or layups.

In contrast, the Hornets offense is very much a two-man game. Usually it's Chris Paul working the pick and roll, then dishing directly to a teammate for a shot attempt. Sometimes you might see West or Okafor post up, draw a double team, then kick it to someone for a catch and shoot. Rarely in the Hornets offense is there that extra pass, which makes it very easy for opposing defenses to rotate and challenge shots. This problem seems to have grown out of an over-reliance on the talents of Chris Paul, and the result is a stagnant offense that results in very few easy scoring opportunities.

Defense

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The Hornets wrap up their three-game road trip tonight in Phoenix, taking on the red hot Suns. Game tips at 9:30 Central on ESPN, and you can watch it live online via ESPN360.com.

The Suns have surprised everyone with their 7-1 start, their lone loss coming on the road against the Magic. Steve Nash looks rejuvenated, the whole team is shooting a ridiculous percentage from three, and they lead the league with 110.9ppg. Meanwhile, our guys are allowing 102.6ppg, which is 8ppg more than last season, and the most points per game that the Hornets have allowed since 1995-96. Now would be a good time for the defense to show up.

Phoenix last played Monday in Philly, beating the Sixers 119-115 behind 21 points and 20 assists from Nash.

Valley of the Suns, the TrueHoop Network Suns' blog, will be hosting a live chat during the game. You'll find the chat window embedded at the bottom of this post.

Linkage:

• Ryan's game preview
• Lagniappe: Power rankings, CP > Nash and some Chris Paul video highlights
  
• Rival bloggers: Bright Side of the Sun | Valley of the Suns

(Many thanks to Dariusz for the banner.)