Lack of energy in the 4th quarter. Poor 3 point shooting. Inadequate bench play. All 3 attributed the Hornets 100-86 home loss the Lakers in Game 3. However, the biggest Lakers contributor…size.
The Hornets will return to New Orleans tied 1-1 with the L.A. Lakers in the best-of-seven playoff series. New Orleans missed a golden opportunity to go up 2-0, but fell to the Lakers Wednesday night 87-78. Trevor Ariza led all scorers with 22 points.
The Hornets defeated the Lakers in L.A. Sunday 109-100. With the win, New Orleans takes an early 1-0 lead in the best of seven playoff series. Chris Paul was simply incredible, scoring 33 points, dishing out 14 assists, pulling down 7 rebounds, and swiping 4 steals. Check out the rest of Scott's blog on yesterday's upset win.
The NBA playoff matchups are now set. With the Lakers overtime win over the Kings Wednesday night, they secured the 2 seed, setting up a matchup with the 7 seeded New Orleans Hornets.
In their regular season finale in Dallas, the Hornets played a solid first half, leading the Mavericks 61-58. The second half was a different story, as New Orleans rested key players and only scored 28 second half points. The result was a dominant 121-89 victory for the Mavericks.
Chris Paul was held scoreless for the first time in his six year career Sunday night in Memphis. The Grizzlies dominated the Hornets in the paint, and everywhere else on the court, beating New Orleans by the score of 111-89.
Despite missing starting forward Trevor Ariza, starting center Emeka Okafor, and sixth man forward/center Jason Smith, the Hornets still led the Lakers late in the fourth quarter. However, L.A. played like a championship team in the final minutes to escape New Orleans with a 101-95 victory.
David West sat out Friday's game versus the Knicks with an intestinal virus. The Hornets defensive effort probably gave many fans a stomach virus as well.