Ah, them Hornets. Completely and utterly incapable of playing a boring game of basketball these days. Tonight's one-point victory in Portland was their ninth win by five points or less... this month! To boot, they've only lost four games in January, at most by 7 points, and two of those losses were in OT.
Ain't no garbage time around here. 98-97 the final score tonight. Here's your boxscore.
The Rookies
As amazing as Chris Paul was tonight, I have to mention the rookies first. With the trade of Devin Brown earlier today, Marcus Thornton got his first NBA start and came through like a champ. He started red hot, dropping 9 points before the Blazers could even figure out who he was. He'd finish with 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting in 39 minutes of action, and was on the floor with fellow-rook Darren Collison as the Hornets somehow halted Portland's momentum and clawed their way back from a late 9-point deficit.
Collison played just 18 minutes total, but he came through in the clutch with two huge jumpers. He showed great poise and patience in the fourth quarter, never panicking when he had the ball in his hands late in the shot clock, just making heady plays repeatedly.
As for defense, Thornton struggled quite a bit trying to stick with the likes of Steve Blake and Rudy Fernandez, especially off the ball. He needs to keep working on fighting around those picks, and preferably no with an elbow (though I find it hard to believe Marcus had malicious intent in that clash with Rudy).
But speaking of defense, it must be noted that it was Collison and Thornton who teamed up to do a nice job contesting that last shot by Jerryd Bayless. Gotta love those rookies getting it done in crunch time.

As New Orleans basks in the unprecedented glow of the Saints being Superbowl-bound, the Hornets are some 2000 miles Northwest and about to do battle with the Portland Trail Blazers. Game tips at 9 p.m. Central.
Game One After Byron. The Hornets will take on the Portland Trail Blazers at New Orleans Arena tonight, game tipping just after 7 p.m. Central.

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