Hornets Hype

Fact.  Hornets are 7-1 in games decided by 3 points or less.  Fact.  The Hornets are 7-3 in their last 10, as good as any other Western Conference team as I write this.  Fact.  CP3 is as good as any MVP candidate.  So the T-Wolves took us to the buzzer.  They are, in fact, a professional basketball team.  Give them credit, they hung around the whole game and gave themselves a chance to win.  But the Hornets, who were outscored 24-11 at one point in the 4th, turned it around and finished on a 9-3 run and made the home crowd happy.

Early, it looked like a blow-out.  The Hornets ran out to an 8-0 lead and forced a time out.  They built the lead and kept it around ten most of the first quarter.  Then Byron starting subbing in the backups.  First Posey for Julian.  Then Marks for Hilton (who started in place of Tyson).  Then Mo in place of Butler.  They caved and gave up a lead, right?  Wrong.  They held their ground, and actually built the lead.  And as for Mo?  Ended up with 8 points (on 50% shooting) and 2 boards in 15 minutes.  A welcome bench contribution.  More than that, Mo was all over the floor on both ends, and helped space out the floor again, as defenders had to respect his 3-point shooting ability.

The surprise?  The starters came back in and gave up a run that let the Wolves close to 4 at the half.  Rick Kamla would be happy.  Then the third quarter.  Slow start, where we built the lead back up, but D-West struggled, clanking shots, looking frustrated, and ultimately getting into full trouble, and being shown the bench.  Or more accurately, the large blue bouncy ball that he sits on to keep his back loose.  The crowd was behind him, though, hollering at the refs, as he failed to get call after call; in the end, thought, the refs dictated that he’d be the one sitting, not shooting free throws.  

When we were at our best, we had great ball movement, finding Hilton and Marks underneath the rim, Mo cutting, Posey backing smaller defenders down, and Rasual with his little stutter-step stop jumper.  Also of note, Julian finally started to get aggressive, and used quick first step to penetrate and to break to the rim, and then kick out to the open shooters, finding both Mo and Rasual on such plays, each of whom nailed the deep shot.  (The Kid ended up with 6 pts, 3 bds, 2 asts, 1 steal, on 50% shooting in 15 minutes.)  And CP?  Well, he was CP.  He was all over the place, drawing fouls, driving hard, and putting the ball in the hoop through sheer force of will (I’ll take his 26-10-4-5 and raise you).  But CP’s jumper failed him in the late third and early fourth. Then, when West finally got back from his foul-induced exile in in the fourth, he was still cold.

So what happened?  Defense.  As much as Minnesota seemed unstoppable to start the fourth, they failed to score in the last several possessions as the Hornets clamped down, got the stops, and pulled down all the rebounds.  On the other end, we finally got into the penalty and D-West did what even on his worst of nights he can do: nail free throws (he’s 89% on the season; what’s your 4 forward hit at?).  And then, when it mattered most, and Kevin Love had again hit two free throws, with the clock running down, and the game on the line, CP penetrated deep through the Minnesota defense, the entire squad collapsed on him, and somehow, somehow, he found DX under the rim on a tough bounce pass around those defenders and West had only to dunk it home to take the lead.  The crowd exploded.

But there was 12.4 seconds left.  So we played defense, again.  Game-winning defense.  And that, that, is what makes me believe that this team can do something come May.  Any team can win.  But not every team can grind out a last minute win when it looks like the team that you kept around all night takes a late lead and is going to make you pay for doing so.  But the Hornets did.  So I believe.  So should you.

Posted in CP3 for MVP, Game Recaps, HiltonWatch |

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