Fox Sports (Mike Kahn) writes: With 10 days left in the NBA regular season, it’s time we recognized the Hornets for what they’ve been all season – the most consistently effective team in the Western Conference. Their 12-point win over the Warriors Sunday afternoon told us everything we need to know. MVP candidate Chris Paul had the fourth triple-double of his career — 16 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds, plus 5 steals — and hit a 3-pointer with just less than eight minutes left that broke a tie and allowed the Hornets to end the game with an 18-6 run. To better reflect what Paul was about Sunday (and the entire season for that matter), consider that he fired an airball that turned into an assist and a lob pass that actually went through the hoop. Consequently, the 54-22 Hornets have equaled the most wins in franchise history, have a two-game lead in the loss column over the Spurs and the Lakers for the top seed in the conference, and their 17-10 mark against the other eight playoff contenders in the West is also the high-water mark in the West. The 54 wins also mark the most ever for coach Byron Scott, now in his eighth season overall as a head coach and fourth with the Hornets. He never won that many coaching the Nets to the NBA Finals twice.
