Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better(or Hornets Beat Pacers)


I think user I Heart Becky Hammon said it best in the comments.

“OH . . .”

Crazy finish.  Crazy shot.  Twice.  The win was brought to you by PBS(Paul, Butler and Stojakovic) and the number 3, as those three players combined to go 9 of 19 from deep including the fade-away trey as time expired by Paul.

A hard-fought game, the Hornets showed the heart of warriors as West didn’t play, Chandler and Armstrong got injured, Antonio Daniels hurt his knee and Rasual Butler executed a slick screen, using his head to stop Chris Paul’s face in the fourth, causing blood to flow on both sides.  Pretty brutal game.

Observations

  • As the second quarter started, I thought to myself, “Tyson’s in the mix for every rebound, and his defense is solidifying. I think he’s finally turning the corner.”  He had been playing well the last few(except for that Cleveland Debacle) and I was all set to talk about it here.  Then he goes and turns his ankle all ugly-like and we’re back to square one.  I hope it wasn’t as bad as it looked.
  • Peja was simply excellent – drives, baseline cuts, post ups, elbow and deeper curls, and spot up threes.  He actually came out doing his usual passive firing from deep and missed twice, and I was worried.  But then he started doing everything else, found the range, and ended up with 26 points on 14 shots, including 5-9 from deep and . . . wow, Peja had 6 free throws?  His ability to pick up the scoring slack was huge.
  • David West is a finisher off the Pick and Pop.  He doesn’t miss from seventeen feet.  Sean Marks misses.  And misses.  And misses.  And knowing Byron he’ll probably start next game too.  Look, I don’t like Ely any better.  I don’t think Posey and Wright can give us good minutes at the power forward position, BUT they could give us next to nothing and still be an improvement over the crap Marks produces.  This may be why David West doesn’t get yanked when he refuses to get on the floor for a loose ball.

  • The whole second unit came in early in the game and played with some energy, getting after it behind Daniels and Armstrong.  As a result, for the first time since formation of the galaxies and birth of our sun, the Hornets outscored an opponent in the second quarter.  Cosmic.
  • Hilton forced a turnover and finished a break with Antonio Daniels running next to him with his hands up waiting for the pass.  He too was having a nice game until he hurt his knee and had to leave the game.  I think he’s finally starting to reach serviceable level, but man I wish he could rebound stronger and stop turning the ball over.
  • We went deep into our bench as a result of all the injuries.  Morris Peterson hit a bad shot in transition(the top of the arc three is NOT his shot) and then missed a couple other bad shots and Byron yanked him.  I feel for the guy – he’s trying to make stuff happen.  However, his short hook allowed Julian to play.  Julian also pressed offensively but had some nice moments.  His greatest accomplishment was making Melvin Ely pass to him for an open jumper.  I almost choked on my Ginger Ale.  (That’s right, ginger ale.  I’m a freaking party animal.)
  • When you look at the numbers, Phoenix Butler didn’t actually have that efficient of a game, but Rasual’s ability to knock down open jumpers down the stretch was what kept the Hornets in the game when the Pacers were  Doubling Paul and sticking Peja like glue.
  • CP3 had 27 points, 9 assists, 5 rebounds, 1 steal, and 5 turnovers.  I’m willing to forgive him his turnovers.  I’m big like that. 
  • Apparently Paul went to Byron and demanded the ball for the last posession, and Byron drew up a play to give it to him.  During the play, I was trying to figure out why we weren’t going to Peja for his patented corner three off the inbounds pass, but if Paul came to me and demanded the ball I’d comply too.

We play Wednesday against New Jersey without Fluffy and I’m guessing no Chandler.  At least they don’t have much of a frontcourt.

UPDATE: Video of CP’s heroics:


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