trevor ariza

The Boston Celtics made clutch free throws late to defeat the Hornets 89-85 at the Hive Saturday night. The soldout crowd in New Orleans left the arena unhappy, as the Hornets fell to 7th in the Western Conference, only one game back of Portland and a game and a half back of Denver.

As it stands now, the New Orleans Hornets are in sixth place in the Western Conference standings. With 14 regular season games left, the Hornets have ample opportunity to move up, or down in the playoff race.

The sellout crowd in New Orleans was loud and proud when the Hornets were up by 16. By the end of the game, they were quiescent and disappointed as their team lost to the scrappy Rockets 91-89. David West scored 22 points in a losing effort.

New Orleans looks fresh and defensively charged since returning from the all-star break. The Hornets won their second in a row Friday night in Minneapolis, defeating the Timberwolves 95-81. Despite the absence of David West who missed the game due to a death in the family, New Orleans didn't miss a beat. The Hornets were absolutely relentless on defense, flustering Minnesota all night. Emeka Okafor returned from an oblique injury after missing ten games and patrolled the paint all night.

New Orleans lost their third in a row in Portland Wednesday night. The effort was good, but the Trail Blazers were better, winning 103-96. David West had 27 for the Hornets, but it was the other power forward who was the player of the game. LaMarcus Aldridge reminded the NBA that he should be playing in the all-star game.

The New Orleans Hornets opted not to sign Sasha Pavlovic today, after his 10 day deal expired. Pavlovic appeared in four games with the Hornets, with an underwhelming performance in each outing.

Willie Green scored a season high 24 points for the Hornets who defeated the Magic 99-93. New Orleans beat Orlando for the second time this season, and in doing so, snapped a four game losing streak. The defense was solid as starting SF Trevor Ariza returned from an ankle injury.

While Trevor Ariza recovers from a severe ankle sprain, the Hornets continue to slip in the standings. Medial ankle sprains take longer to heal than more common lateral ankle sprains, leaving Ariza helpless on the bench.

Minnesota, owners of the worst record in the Western Conference, embarrassed the Hornets in New Orleans Monday night by the score of 104-92. The Hornets continue to struggle without injured starters Trevor Ariza and Emeka Okafor.

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.

With Trevor Ariza sidelined for several weeks with a severely sprained ankle, the Hornets signed forward Sasha Pavlovic to a 10 day contract early Friday.

Hornets win at the Hive Tuesday night 97-89 versus the Wizards. Power Forward Jason Smith started at Center for New Orleans in replacement of the injured Emeka Okafor. Smith was solid, scoring a career high 20 points in 25 minutes of play.

New Orleans nearly completed a furious comeback in the final 20 seconds, but goaltending by Grant Hill was missed by the officials. Had the correct call been made, the game would've been tied at 104 with 4 seconds left. Phoenix hung on to win 104-102. "When I came back and looked at the film, the film doesn't lie and it was obvious that it was goaltending," Monty Williams said after the game.

New Orleans won their 10th straight game Wednesday night in Oakland. The Hornets shot 62% from the field on their way to a 112-103 victory over the Warriors. All five Hornet starters finished in double figures.

The sellout crowd at the Hive went berzerk when the Hornets took a two point lead with 0.5 seconds left on a David West jumper to silence the Oklahoma City Thunder 91-89. New Orleans has won nine in a row.

According to team records, the Spurs are the best the NBA has to offer. Saturday night in New Orleans, the Hornets gave the Spurs the best they had to offer. The result, a dominant performance for the hottest team in the league as the Hornets thump San Antonio 96-72. New Orleans has now won 8 in a row for the second time this season.

Wednesday night the Hornets found themselves down by double digits, again. They came back to take a late lead, again. They found themselves down late in overtime, again. And they pulled out an improbable victory, again. This is becoming a habit.

With many new faces on the floor, in the front office, and on the coaching staff, the New Orleans Hornets have been searching for their identity as a basketball team. Firmly in the Western Conference playoff hunt, the Hornets have found their identity, and it's a top ranked defense.

Orlando rode into New Orleans on an NBA best 9 game winning streak. The Hornets snapped it Wednesday night at the Hive, defeating the Magic in overtime 92-89. Marco Belinelli left with a sprained ankle 67 seconds into the game. Without their starting two guard, the Hornets got Marcus Thornton's best game of the season, as he scored 22 points, with 7 of those coming in overtime.

Lockdown defense by the road team propelled the Hornets to a solid win over the Denver Nuggets 96-87. Chris Paul and David West played like all-stars while Jarrett Jack had an awesome game off the bench.