The AP reports: David West calmly dropped a 17-foot jumper—coming on Paul’s 20th and most impressive assist—with 0.6 seconds remaining to give the New Orleans Hornets their fifth straight win, 100-99 over Cleveland on Wednesday night. LeBron James’ driving layup had given the Cavaliers a 99-98 lead with 7.7 seconds left before Paul and West, the Hornets’ All-Star duo, teamed up for the game-winner… Peja Stojakovic scored 25 points — 18 on 3-pointers — David West added 20 points and Chris Paul 15 for the Hornets, who came in with the Western Conference’s best record and improved to 2-0 on a six-game road trip against Eastern Conference teams… Zydrunas Ilgauskas scored a season-high 29 points with 15 rebounds. LeBron James had 21 points and eight assists, but wasn’t able to get a defensive stop in the closing seconds against Paul, one of his closest friends. Anderson Varejao added 15 rebounds for the Cavaliers.
Category: New Orleans Pelicans Blog
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Mar. 25: Hornets 114, Pacers 106
The AP reports: David West had 35 points and 16 rebounds, and the New Orleans Hornets beat Indiana 114-106 on Tuesday night in the Pacers’ first game since CEO Donnie Walsh announced he was leaving the team at the end of the season. Chris Paul had 31 points and 14 assists as the Hornets won their fourth straight to maintain the best record (48-21) in the Western Conference. Danny Granger led Indiana with 26 points and nine rebounds against his hometown team. The Pacers had been on a four-game winning streak, but the loss gave the Pacers back-to-back losing seasons for the first time since 1987-88 and 1988-89.
Players of Week are Garnett, Paul
The Boston Celtics’ Kevin Garnett and the New Orleans Hornets’ Chris Paul today were named the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played Monday, March 17, through Sunday, March 23. This is the second Player of the Week nod for both players this season.
Garnett led the Celtics to a 3-1 week, as Boston became the first team since the Sacramento Kings in 2001 to sweep the Texas Triangle (Dallas, Houston and San Antonio). The last time Boston accomplished the feat was in 1987. Garnett had 22 points, 11 rebounds and three steals in Boston’s 94-74 win over the Rockets, snapping the team’s 22-game winning streak. For the week, Garnett averaged 20.5 points, 11.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals.
Paul led the Hornets to a 3-0 week, averaging 25.7 points, 10.0 assists and 3.0 steals. Paul has scored 20-plus points in 15 of the team’s last 19 games. In a 113-106 win over the Celtics, New Orleans came back from a 15-point deficit as Paul scored seven of his 19 points in the final 2:12 of the game. The Celtics were 36-0 when leading by 15 or more. Paul had 37 points, 13 assists and three steals in a 108-97 victory over the Bulls. He recorded 16 fourth-quarter points to help the Hornets finish the game on a 24-4 run.
Other nominees for the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week were Atlanta’s Joe Johnson, Boston’s Paul Pierce, Cleveland’s LeBron James, Indiana’s Mike Dunleavy, L.A. Lakers’ Kobe Bryant, Portland’s LaMarcus Aldridge, Phoenix’s Amaré Stoudemire and Washington’s Antawn Jamison.
Celtics to be a playoff favorite
The New Orleans Times Picayune (John Reid) writes: “With 14 games remaining on their schedule, all signs appear the Celtics will be the odds-on favorite once the playoffs begin next month. The Celtics (55-13) play the Hornets tonight at the New Orleans Arena having won 14 of 15 games. It had been eight years since a team went to Texas and came away with victories against Southwest Division foes San Antonio, Houston and Dallas. The Celtics became the first since the Sacramento Kings achieved it in 2001. Boston came back from a 22-point deficit to defeat the Spurs and snap their seven-game home winning streak earlier this week. They ended the Rockets’ 22-game consecutive winning streak, the second longest in league history, after holding them to a season-low 34 points in the second half. On Thursday night, Ray Allen’s 3-pointer with 31.7 seconds remaining sealed Boston’s 94-90 victory against the Mavericks. The Celtics is 6-0 against Southwest Division opponents, playing the Hornets for the first time tonight.”
Dirk tells InsideHoops Kobe is MVP
I recently met with current league MVP Dirk Nowitzki and got his MVP opinion:
InsideHoops.com: Other than yourself and any of your teammates, who are the official Dirk Nowitzki candidates for the league MVP?
Dirk Nowitzki: That’s tough. LeBron certainly has a case in the East. On the Celtics, KG has had a great year. And in the West, to me it’s been Kobe, the way he’s been scoring, really setting the tone every night for his team, and to me he’s the best player in the league anyway, scoring-wise and all-around player. I’d probably give it to Kobe. Those three definitely deserve it.
The item is here.
– Jeff
Pau Gasol sprains left ankle
The AP reports: Pau Gasol sprained his left ankle and needed help limping off the court in the first quarter of the Los Angeles Lakers’ game against the New Orleans Hornets on Friday night.
Gasol was running into the lane looking for a potential offensive rebound when he appeared to step on teammate Vladimir Radmanovic’s foot.
Bruce Bowen suspended for kicking Chris Paul
Bruce Bowen of the San Antonio Spurs has been suspended one game without pay for striking Chris Paul of the New Orleans Hornets with his leg, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, NBA Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.
The incident occurred following a foul call on Paul with 5:15 remaining in the third period of the Spurs’ 100-75 loss to the Hornets on Wednesday, March 12 at New Orleans Arena.
Bowen will serve his suspension tonight when the Spurs visit the Detroit Pistons at The Palace of Auburn Hills.
Discuss this with other fans in this forum thread.
Chris Andersen reinstated to NBA
The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association today granted the request of Chris Andersen to be reinstated as an NBA player, after Andersen was expelled from the league on January 27, 2006, for testing positive for a prohibited substance under the NBA/NBPA Anti-Drug Program.
The rights to Andersen’s playing services belong to the New Orleans Hornets, provided that the team tenders a player contract to Andersen within the next 30 days. If the Hornets do not make such a tender, Andersen will become an unrestricted free agent eligible to sign with any team.
Wizards-Hornets team connections
Wizards forward Antawn Jamison was born in Shreveport, LA.
Washington’s Antonio Daniels and New Orleans’ Bonzi Wells were teammates in Portland in 2002-03.
Washington’s Caron Butler and New Orleans’ Rasual Butler were teammates in Miami from 2002-04.
Butler and Hornets’ guard Mike James were teammates in Miami in 2002-03.
Washington’s Darius Songaila and New Orleans’ Peja Stojakovic were teammates in Sacramento from 2003-05.
Songaila and Tyson Chandler were teammates in Chicago in 2005-06.
Wizards Head Coach Eddie Jordan and Hornets Head Coach Byron Scott coached together on the New Jersey Nets teams that went to back-to-back NBA Finals in 2002 and 2003.
Hornets Assistant Coach Darrell Walker played for Washington from 1987-1991; was Washington’s Head Coach for a 38-game stint in 1999-00; and served in the team’s scouting department from 2000-04.
Wizards notes
The Washington Wizards will visit the New Orleans Hornets tomorrow night (Monday, February 25th) in Louisiana on Comcast SportsNet and WTEM 980 at 8:00 pm.
This game marks the first of two meetings between Washington and New Orleans this season. The Wizards and Hornets will conclude their season-series on March 2 in Washington.
Last season vs. New Orleans…The Wizards and Hornets split a pair of meetings, with each team winning at home…The Wizards’ loss in Oklahoma City on January 12, 2007 marked Washington’s tenth consecutive road defeat to the Hornets franchise; including games played in Charlotte, New Orleans and Oklahoma City…The Wizards’ 125-103 win at Verizon Center on March 17, 2007 was their third straight home win vs. New Orleans.
Washington last defeated the Hornets on the road on November 1, 2000 in Charlotte when the franchise was still the Charlotte Hornets. That win came in the Wizards’ opening game of the 2000-01 NBA season. None of the current Wizards played for Washington at that time.
This game marks the beginning of Washington’s 15th back-to-back set this season. The Wizards are 6-8 to date in the first game when playing on consecutive nights. Washington will conclude the back-to-back on Tuesday night in Houston. The Wizards are also 6-8 in the second game of a back-to-back set.
Washington’s starting line-up of Antonio Daniels, DeShawn Stevenson, Antawn Jamison, Andray Blatche and Brendan Haywood started their ninth game together as a unit in Washington’s last game, becoming Washington’s second-most frequently used starting line-up this season. The Wizards’ most popular starting unit — Daniels, Stevenson, Caron Butler, Jamison, Haywood — has started 27 games as a unit, and holds a 16-11 record in those games. In all, Washington has used eight different starting line-ups this season, as the opening night line-up that featured Gilbert Arenas, Stevenson, Butler, Jamison and Haywood started just eight games together. Antawn Jamison and DeShawn Stevenson are the only two Wizards to have started every game this season.
Despite Washington’s sub-.500 record this season (26-29, .473), the Wizards have outscored the opposition by three points this season, 5,421 – 5,418. The Wizards are the only sub-.500 team in the NBA that has outscored their opponent this season. Two teams with a +.500 record this season — Cleveland and Portland — have been cumulatively outscored by their opponents in 2007-08.
In Washington’s last game…The Wizards defeated the Charlotte Bobcats, 110-95, at Verizon Center on Saturday, Feb. 23…Antawn Jamison led five Wizards in double figures in scoring with 22 points…The Wizards improved to 7-2 this season when all five starters score at least 10 points…DeShawn Stevenson’s 20-point game marked his fourth game this season with 20+ points…Brendan Haywood finished with 15 points (6-12 FG, 3-3 FT), seven rebounds, a career-high five assists, and three blocked shots…Andray Blatche started his 12th game of the season, and finished with 13 points and eight rebounds…Antonio Daniels tallied 10 points, and improved to 20-17 as a starter this season…Oleksiy Pecherov finished one point shy of being the sixth Wizard in double figures in scoring, but finished with a career-high tying nine points and a career-high six rebounds…Rookie guard Nick Young grabbed a career-high five rebounds…Washington committed a team season-low seven turnovers…Caron Butler missed his eighth straight game with a left hip flexor strain.
Washington-New Orleans connections…Wizards forward Antawn Jamison was born in Shreveport, LA…Washington’s Antonio Daniels and New Orleans’ Bonzi Wells were teammates in Portland in 2002-03…Washington’s Caron Butler and New Orleans’ Rasual Butler were teammates in Miami from 2002-04…Washington’s Darius Songaila and New Orleans’ Peja Stojakovic and Bobby Jackson were teammates in Sacramento from 2003-05…Wizards Head Coach Eddie Jordan and Hornets Head Coach Byron Scott coached together on the New Jersey Nets teams that went to back-to-back NBA Finals in 2002 and 2003…Hornets Assistant Coach Darrell Walker played for Washington from 1987-1991; was Washington’s Head Coach for a 38-game stint in 1999-00; and served in the team’s scouting department from 2000-04.