Did some previewing of Hornets-Pacers earlier, check here if you missed it. Let's dive right into this…

• First off, I gotta recommend you go read DJ Toney Blare's take on the Orlando game. Dude was in the building Monday night and felt the crowd buzzing…

  …from what I can tell, we have a shot at a great, great NBA crowd. All through the 4th quarter, the half-full arena was rocking, with people going all out in dance contests and D-Fence chants. A lot of this was the tight game, but there was also a sense of celebration, of unembarassed foolishness, that was a familiar sensation.

• That was the optimistic take on the Hornets attendance. Here's the flip side.
• Stat guru Kevin Pelton talks nice about the Hornets, using lots of numbers and stuff to back up said niceness. He also talks nice about Orlando, but screw them and the horse they rode in on. Some quotage…

  In hindsight, expectations were probably too low for the Hornets… So far, Paul has an unbelievable 30.2 PER, good for second in the NBA… Peterson's True Shooting Percentage thus far this year (66.3%) is an enormous upgrade on the inadequate 49.3% TS% Mason posted a year ago.

• Hey look, another knee injury! This time it's Denver's Steven Hunter. Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the Hornets back out of acquiring Hunter from Philly a couple of years back because they were worried about his knees?
• Steve Aschburner takes a look at the fortunes of the NBA's seven expansion teams since 1988, and even grades their success. The Hornets come first, outside of Florida.
• As if I wasn't looking forward to moving to New Orleans enough already, the Hornets are now telling folks there will be free beer at every pregame BuzzFest. Luckily, free beer is my favorite kind of beer.
• This next link is three weeks old. Found it in the back seat of my car. It's entitled The Crucial Mistake 19 NBA Teams Are Making, and author Quinten Farmer tells us that mistake is hiring "stale veteran coaches." Nice read.
• The Hornets are in Utah on Friday to take on the Jazz, and I've had that game pegged as the first true test for our guys this season. Right now though, Utah don't have much of a team. Between injuries and absences, they didn't have enough players for a scrimmage at practice yesterday.

  Deron Williams, Mehmet Okur and Matt Harpring are all suffering from various ailments and I'm guessing some of those guys could be iffy for Friday's game. Williams had surgery yesterday for an ingrown toenail on his right big toe. That's just sexy.

• THIS JUST IN: Chris Paul will play tonight against the Pacers. Tyson Chandler will sit it out. Confirmation via The Official and NOLA.com. Jamaal Tinsley, happy Thanksgiving.
• Actually, confirmation on Tyson's absence tonight from none other than Tyson Chandler himself, in his second blog post over at NBA.com. Very cool post, actually. He talks about his injury, plans for Thanksgiving, and growing up without a father…

  I want you to know that I play for that kid that's in his backyard right now, taking his jumpshots by himself, with no father figure. It's just him and his mom and he's trying to do whatever it takes to get them out of that situation, and all he has is his ball.

Righty, I'm outta here. Thirteen frickin' games in the NBA tonight, folks. That means only four teams are chilling. Mavs-Rockets (6:30 Central, ESPN) and Magic-Spurs (7:30 Central) might be worth keeping an eye on.

Hornets-Pacers gets going at 7 Central. Let's get another win streak going.