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After all of the offcourt distractions of the last two days, the New Orleans Hornets needed something positive. They got it Saturday night. David West scored 15 of his 19 points in the second half and grabbed 12 rebounds to help the Hornets beat the Memphis Grizzlies 95-86. The win came against a backdrop of Chris Andersen's dismissal from the team Friday and lingering questions about where the Hornets will play next year and in the future. ``With all the adversity we've faced, I told them before the game that you guys have always done a good job of coming together in the face of adversity,'' Hornets coach Byron Scott said. ``That is something we're going to have to do, not just tonight, but the rest of the season.'' Andersen was dismissed and disqualified from the NBA for violating the league's drug policy. Several Hornets wore Andersen's trademark headband. Also before the game, Hornets owner George Shinn said the team should play in Oklahoma City next season because New Orleans may not be ready to support the franchise. West led a fourth-quarter charge as the Hornets connected on 11 of 16 shots in the period to hold off the Grizzlies. ``We knew we had to get aggressive in the second half,'' West said. ``We didn't want to come out in the third quarter and have a letdown. ``... I knew I was going to get the ball in my hands, and I wanted to be the one to get us going by knocking down a few shots.'' Speedy Claxton scored 20 points for the Hornets, who placed six players in double figures. P.J. Brown had 18 points and Kirk Snyder and Desmond Mason finished with 10 apiece. Chris Paul scored 13 points despite going 1-for-13 from the field. Pau Gasol led Memphis with 25 points and 16 rebounds, while Bobby Jackson scored 22 points. Mike Miller added 11 points, but was only 1-of-6 from outside the 3-point arc. Memphis, one of the league's top 3-point shooting teams, hit only 6-of-28 for 21 percent from long range. ``We got happy just taking the threes,'' Memphis guard Eddie Jones said. ``After a tough game (a 95-89 loss at Detroit on Friday), you may not have the leg strength. That was key. We were trying to penetrate and kick. The shots didn't go down. Just don't blame it on shooting. You can never blame a loss on shooting. It's what you do defensively.'' The Grizzlies have lost seven of their last nine, and while Gasol was passive during the early part of the streak, his offensive output has improved the last three games. Against the Hornets, it was the Grizzlies' inability to hit from outside and take pressure off the leading scorer. ``We're not playing our offense fluently,'' Gasol said. ``We're getting into our plays a little late, and we're just not getting it done right now.'' The Hornets built the lead to 10 early in the fourth. West and Snyder led the way, as New Orleans scored nine straight points as part of a 15-5 run spanning the third and fourth quarters. New Orleans eventually extended the lead to 11, and Memphis never got closer than seven points down the stretch. ``Some nights we shoot well; some nights we don't,'' Memphis coach Mike Fratello said. ``We have to come out and play hard and play consistently. ... We have to concentrate on stopping people, doing what it takes to keep us in games, and, hopefully, hit shots down the stretch.'' The teams were tied at 45 at the half. Claxton got untracked in the second quarter, scoring 17 of his 18 first-half points in the period as New Orleans erased an early 10-point lead for the Grizzlies. In the second half, New Orleans resorted to double-teaming Gasol in the post. With the Grizzlies having trouble from the outside, the strategy was effective. Gasol was left with few shots, some of which came when he resorted to 15- to 18-footers. Meanwhile, West was successfully working against Gasol for nine straight points late in the stanza. West's fadeaway 6-footer as the horn sounded to end the third period gave New Orleans a 67-65 lead entering the final quarter. |
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Slowing Dirk Nowitzki was not enough for the New Orleans Hornets to end their six-year losing streak to the Dallas Mavericks.
The Hornets did a decent job on Nowitzki most of the night, but he still scored 24 points and got help from Jason Terry and Josh Howard in the Mavs' 95-90 victory Saturday night.
Terry and Howard had 20 points each to help the Mavericks beat New Orleans for the 16th straight time dating to November 1999.
``It's just a tribute to how versatile they are and how many weapons they have,'' said Hornets forward David West, who had 18 points and 10 rebounds. ``Some teams in this league, if you stop one guy you have a chance. With them, you've got to stop more than one guy.''
Nowitzki averaged 30 points and shot 54 percent in the first two games against the Hornets this season. He had just eight points at halftime on 2-of-11 shooting, but scored 14 in the third quarter in helping the Mavericks open a 10-point lead.
Dallas began the period by making eight of its first 10 shots, then closed it by holding the Hornets scoreless over the final 3:14.
The Mavs pushed the lead to 13 early in the fourth quarter and, after New Orleans got within eight for the second time, Terry made two baskets including a 3-pointer to give Dallas breathing room again.
Dallas, which blew a 10-point fourth-quarter lead in a home loss to Golden State on Friday night, saw New Orleans pull within 88-80 with 4 minutes to play before Terry and Stackhouse hit consecutive 3-pointers - each as the shot clock expired - to make it 94-80.
``Tonight we made it a point in the huddle that we weren't going to let that happen again,'' Terry said, referring to the defensive letdown a night earlier. ``We're a pretty good team when we play defense for four quarters.''
The Hornets made things interesting by scoring 10 straight points to get within 94-90 with 17.6 seconds left. Howard then made one free throw for the final margin.
Speedy Claxton came off the bench to score 17 for New Orleans, and Chris Paul had 16 points and 10 assists.
The Hornets were coming off their worst loss of the season, 111-84 at San Antonio when they allowed the Spurs to shoot 59 percent. They held the Mavs to a more respectable 46 percent.
``Like I told the guys, that's a good basketball team,'' Hornets coach Byron Scott said. ``We hung in there, we kept fighting, but that is no consolation. We still have to learn how to get over the hump.''
New Orleans wasn't able to take advantage of Nowitzki's slow start. The Hornets never led by more than six in the first half and went to halftime with the score tied at 44.
Dallas coach Avery Johnson discounted the Mavs' string of success against New Orleans.
``We haven't won a championship yet,'' he said. ``Winning 16 straight over a team, we'll take it. But we have some other things in mind.''
Notes: Nowitzki made all nine of his free throws, giving him 49 in a row. That ties the team record set by Steve Nash in 2002. ... The Hornets, who ranked last in the league in attendance last season, played in front of their third straight sellout and seventh in 12 dates in Oklahoma City.
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Hornets 102, Clippers 89 |
When J.R. Smith finds his scoring touch, the New Orleans Hornets are hard to beat.
Smith scored 21 points and matched his career high with six 3-pointers Wednesday night as the New Orleans Hornets held off a late charge by the Los Angeles Clippers in a 102-89 win.
Smith, who was coming off a season-high 26 points in the Hornets' last game against Phoenix, was 6-of-10 from 3-point range to help New Orleans build a sizable advantage.
The Hornets are now 5-0 when Smith scores at least 16 points.
``It feels good, of course, but (I'm) not unstoppable. My confidence isn't that high yet,'' Smith said. ``I've got to just keep knocking open shots down, and hopefully it gets there.''
Smith hit back-to-back 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to put New Orleans ahead 89-70, and Speedy Claxton followed with a fast-break layup to give the Hornets their largest lead at 21 points.
Los Angeles responded with 11 straight points and got within 95-87 after Cuttino Mobley's 3-pointer from the top of the key, but could pull no closer. The Clippers have lost three straight for the first time this season, but maintained a half-game lead over Phoenix, which lost 102-96 at Dallas.
David West had 20 points and 12 rebounds, Desmond Mason scored 15 and P.J. Brown finished with 14 points for the Hornets, who had six players score in double figures.
New Orleans has won two in a row after a season-long five-game losing streak.
``We're playing more together now. I think we're playing a lot more as a team as opposed to just looking for one or two guys ... to carry all the weight,'' Smith said. ``The points are a reflection. We've got five or six guys and everybody's in double figures, so it's hard to stop a team like that.''
Sam Cassell scored eight of his 26 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Clippers' comeback, and Elton Brand added 22 points.
``They were making shots and that is it,'' Cassell said. ``J.R. Smith was making shots just like he did ... against Phoenix. That's how you win ballgames - hitting shots. It's pretty simple.''
It was Brand's ineffective third quarter that helped the Hornets pull away. He had 19 points by halftime, but was held scoreless while playing the entire 12 minutes in the third quarter.
Mobley pulled the Clippers within 60-52 on a basket underneath just after halftime, but New Orleans extended its lead with a 17-6 run started by West's jumper from the right elbow.
Smith followed with a 3-pointer and the Hornets finished the spurt with six straight points - a jumper by Brown, a two-handed alley-oop jam by Mason and a driving layup by Chris Paul - to go up 77-58.
Claxton added 14 points and Paul, the NBA's top rookie in scoring, assists, steals and minutes, had 13 points and eight rebounds.
Smith hit his first three attempts from 3-point range, including two during a 9-0 run that put the Hornets ahead 39-27 early in the second quarter.
His jumper from the right elbow started another six-point run for New Orleans, and West and Paul added layups to extend the lead to 57-43.
``I think he's just shooting it with a lot more confidence,'' Paul said. ``I think if you miss your first couple of shots in a game, you really get down on yourself.
``When he makes that first one, he's got like four or five coming behind it.''
Smith scored 19 points in the Hornets' season opener, but didn't top 20 until New Orleans' 91-87 win at Phoenix on Monday.
``It's a lot easier for me when I let the game come to me,'' Smith said. ``Early on in the year, I was pretty much trying to force everything and everything was going against me.''
Notes: New Orleans' Jackson Vroman was called for a technical foul and ejected after drawing his sixth foul with 5:47 left in the game. ... Smith, who made all 10 of his free-throws in New Orleans' 91-87 win at Phoenix on Monday, missed his first foul shot of the night. ... Shaun Livingston, who scored only one point in the 2004 McDonald's All-American game at the Ford Center, entered midway through the first quarter and picked up four fouls in his four minutes. He played 16 minutes in the second half and didn't pick up his fifth foul until there were 40.4 seconds left.
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Earlier in the week, Kings coach Rick Adelman wondered aloud if he would be around Sacramento long enough to see his rebuilt team finally come together.
Slowly and unsurely, the Kings seem to be getting it, and they showed off what they're learning during an impressive late-game performance in a 110-100 victory over the New Orleans Hornets on Sunday night.
Bonzi Wells, Peja Stojakovic and Shareef Abdur-Rahim scored 23 points apiece, and the Kings snapped a four-game home losing streak with excellent late-game execution - something that's been rare during their 9-12 start.
Sacramento nursed a tiny lead through the final minutes until Wells hit a layup and a jumper to put the Kings up 98-92 with 2:46 left. When Abdur-Rahim then made a layup on a gorgeous bounce pass from Brad Miller on the next possession, Adelman thrust his fist in the air in celebration.
Stojakovic, who hit six 3-pointers, added another jumper moments later, and Adelman's fist went up again. The Kings are no longer the club that once dazzled the NBA with style and grace, but maybe this revamped version can find its own flair.
``Every day, a little bit more, the guys are starting to get it a little bit,'' Adelman said. ``In the last seven minutes, we executed well, we got the shots we wanted, we made stops, rebounded well - things you need to do down the stretch. If you keep working at it and have success, it's going to really make a difference in the long run.''
Abdur-Rahim added 11 rebounds on his 29th birthday for the Kings, who have back-to-back victories following a five-game losing streak.
With Adelman's job security in its greatest danger since he took over the franchise in 1998, the Kings snapped their overall losing streak Saturday night with an impressive 123-104 victory in Seattle. One night later, they ended their longest losing streak at home since dropping six straight late in the 1997-98 season.
``We just have to keep it going,'' Abdur-Rahim said. ``It feels good, but we know we have to do more than show it for one or two games here and there. The last two games, we've come out focused and ready to play the whole time. In those other games, we had a few bad lapses.''
Sacramento held New Orleans without a field goal for 4 minutes in the fourth quarter, and the Kings made 12 fourth-quarter free throws as they handed the Hornets their ninth straight loss at Arco Arena. Stojakovic also had 23 points, and Miller added 10 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds.
Rookie Chris Paul had 18 points, 12 assists and five rebounds for the Hornets, who lost their fifth straight despite staying with the Kings for 3 1/2 quarters. P.J. Brown scored 17 points and backup forward Rasual Butler added a season-high 15 for the Hornets, who haven't won at Arco Arena since Jan. 12, 1997, back when the team was based in Charlotte.
``It's just frustrating, because we were right there with 3 or 4 minutes to go,'' Brown said. ``We just couldn't get the job done. If we had dug deeper, maybe. But we couldn't do it.''
The teams hadn't met since opening night, when the Hornets pounded Sacramento 93-67 in Oklahoma City. New Orleans played well against the Kings again, but late-game execution again was the difference - and the Hornets grabbed just 33 rebounds, one shy of their season low.
``We need to find a way to knuckle up a little more and play a little harder,'' said Butler, who surpassed his previous season high by the second quarter. ``I think we tried, but we need to play with a little bit more of a sense of urgency. Those last few minutes are key.''
Every Sacramento starter except Miller played extensive minutes in Seattle, but all five were back on the floor in the fourth quarter. The Kings' starters have outscored their counterparts by an average of 31 points in the last three games.
Mike Bibby, who scored 17 points on 5-of-16 shooting, made all four of his free throws down the stretch, and Wells was 5-of-6.
Notes: Six Hornets had at least 10 points apiece by the final minute of the third quarter. ... Sacramento, which has played 13 of its last 16 games at home, is headed out on a four-game road trip that includes visits to both reigning conference champions, San Antonio and Detroit. ... Paul was the latest in a season-long string of point guards who embarrassed Bibby, with the rookie repeatedly driving past the slow Sacramento veteran for a series of layups and passes. But the Kings repeatedly exploited a defensive mismatch forcing New Orleans' Speedy Claxton to guard the bigger, tougher Wells.
| New Orleans Hornets | 100 |
| Sacramento Kings | 110 |
Grizzlies 89, Hornets 73 |
Opponents are starting to respect the Memphis Grizzlies' defense.
Pau Gasol scored 29 points and grabbed 15 rebounds Tuesday night as the Grizzlies beat the New Orleans Hornets 89-73 for their sixth straight victory.
The Grizzlies, already leading the league in defense, have allowed opponents an average of 76 points during their winning streak, and have won all but one by double-digit margins.
Like other teams, New Orleans struggled from the field, shooting 39 percent - a problem Hornets coach Byron Scott had warned his team about before the game.
``I told them if you've got a good shot, take it because if you drive inside or take one dribble that shot is gone,'' Scott said.
Gasol shot 7-of-13 from the field and also hit 15-of-19 free throws, tying a personal mark for most made and matching a franchise record for most attempts. He added three blocks.
``We tried to take New Orleans out of their trend,'' Gasol said. ``We stopped the point guards pretty well with our guards moving their feet and the big guys committing on all the pick-and-rolls they run. I think we did a good job keeping them off the lane and not letting them play their offense the way they wanted to.''
Reserve guard Bobby Jackson scored a season-high 21 points, and Eddie Jones added 11 for Memphis, which held a 21-point lead in the second half.
By the early stages of the fourth period, the Hornets' starters left the game for good and watched from the bench as the reserves finished New Orleans' second straight loss.
``That's our bread and butter,'' Jackson said of the defense. ``When I first got here in training camp, I was like 'Man, we're working on a lot of defense,' and we weren't working enough on offense.
``I see why we are working on defense because (coach Mike Fratello) wanted us to be one of the best teams in the league, and we're there.''
P.J. Brown, leading scorer Chris Paul and reserve guard Speedy Claxton missed a combined 22 of 26 shots.
``I think they did a good job of keeping me and Speedy out of the lane, which is where we can be effective,'' Paul said. ``They did a good job of shutting that down.''
Desmond Mason and David West led New Orleans with 15 points apiece, while J.R. Smith and Kirk Snyder each scored 10.
Memphis, which struggled early from the field, eventually got on track thanks to Jackson, building an 11-point lead in the second period and taking a 50-39 lead at the break as Lorenzen Wright hit an 10-footer at the horn.
Jackson, the winner of the NBA's 2002-03 Sixth Man Award and runner-up the previous season, said creating instant offense is just one of the keys to his game.
``I've always had to the same approach. I know I can go in there and change the game offensively and defensively,'' Jackson said.
New Orleans chose not to double-team Gasol down low in the first half, and the Memphis leading scorer had 17 points and eight rebounds. Mason scored 13 to lead the Hornets in the first half, and Smith added all 10 of his points.
``(Scott) felt like we should go one-on-one with me first,'' Brown said. ``But at halftime, he didn't think the energy was there, so he wanted us to pick up the tempo by doubling down on him. It just seemed like when we did that someone else hurt us.''
Brown was only 1-of-6 for two points. Meanwhile, Paul, who entered the game with a 16.9 average to lead all rookies, missed all three of his shots in the first half, and was held scoreless until a layup with less than a minute left in the third period for his only points of the game.
By that time, Memphis had built the lead to 21 and carried a 70-53 advantage into the final period.
Notes: Memphis has defeated opponents by an average of 17.3 points during the six-game winning streak. ... The Hornets' Chris Andersen got into a bit of an exchange with a front-row fan, who suggested the center cut his long blond hair. Andersen glared at the fan long enough that the spectator said little more. ... Paul had scored in double figures in 15 of the Hornets' first 16 games. ... The six-game winning streak matches the longest undefeated run for Memphis from last season.
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