There's nothing quite like beating up on some bottom-feeders to make you feel good about yourself. Last night's 114-103 result in Memphis makes it three wins in four games for the Hornets, and fickle fools like me are thinking about that P-word again.

Not much time to drop game notes. We'll go Random Shizzle bullet-mode and jump around my brain like Ced Simmons in a bounce house…

• First, the usual linkage: box | recap | video

• And then to the standings. We've been magically transported to just a half game behind the Clippers and Warriors, who are tied for eighth. I'm not sure how that's even possible after losing those six in a row, but whatever.
• Chris Paul's numbers in the four games since we found out about that stress reaction last week: 19.8ppg, 7.8apg, 4.5rpg, 2spg, 50% from the field, 50% from three (8-of-16), 93% from the free throw line (28-of-30).

  You could say he's playing his best ball of the year.

• Rasual Butler is back on my Christmas card list.
• Earlier today, via the wonders of email, the always fantastic Mo informed us of this new Hornets site. Methinks it has a ways to go, but I'm liking it nonetheless.
• Byron Scott shortened the rotation last night, playing just eight guys. Grizzlies head coach Tony Barone played eleven guys. I was going to make some kind of point here but damned if I can remember it now.
• Speaking of Barone, his words postgame:

  "We had no answer for Chris Paul. And David West is an All-Star as far as I'm concerned."

• I think Linton Johnson may have pissed in Byron's cornflakes or something. He logged a whopping three minutes against the Knicks last Friday and hasn't played since.

  Linton did however brick three ill-advised jumpers in those three New York minutes, so maybe that explains the DNP-CDs. But why is Byron's solution to situations like this always to sit the guy on the bench for the next dozen games? Couldn't he just give LJ the ol verbal bitch-slap and tell him not to launch any more dumb jumpers when we've got double digits on the shot clock? Can we really afford to have guys planted on the bench because they suffered temporary retardation for a short spell two weeks ago?

• Just so you know, I'm still involved in those weekly division updates over on About.com.
• As you've surely heard by now, Bobby Jackson is injured. Also, hell has not frozen over.

The Hornets are back in action on Friday, down in that funky town of New Orleans. The Lakers will be the opponent. Beyond that game, we've got meetings with Houston then Dallas then San Antonio.

Bottom-feeders, they ain't.