Okay, let’s try not falling into a gigantic hole in this game, see how that works out. The Hornets welcome the villainous Spurs to New Orleans tonight, trying to shake off last night’s loss to the Mavericks in Dallas. Game tips at 7 Central.

The Spurs are 33-24 on the season, 12-14 on the road. They’re currently 7th in the Western Conference, 3.5 games ahead of the 9th-place Hornets. The Spurs beat the Suns in San Antonio yesterday afternoon, but had lost three of four before that. Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Richard Jefferson combined to score 62 points against Phoenix.

These teams have met twice already this season, and the Hornets lost both games. It was sloppy Nawlins defense in San Antonio on October 28th that led to a Spurs blowout win, and then Duncan and Tony Parker carved it up at the Arena on MLK day. The Hornets fell into big holes before halftime in both those games.

Numbers:

Pace: Spurs 94.0 (22nd), Hornets 94.7 (17th)
Offensive Efficiency: Spurs 106.5 (9th), Hornets 104.6 (13th)
Defensive Efficiency: Spurs 102.5 (11th), Hornets 105.6 (19th)

Linkage:

• Earlier on the blog: Does Collison belong on the trading block?
• Lagniappe: Unflattering nicknames for Aaron Gray, plus what DC has in common with AI
  
• Standings: The Hornets are 3 games behind the 8th-place Blazers, a half game ahead of the Grizzlies. Those two teams square off tonight in Memphis.
• Rival bloggers: 48 Minutes of Hell (THN) | Pounding The Rock | Project Spurs

(Many thanks to Dariusz for today’s banner featuring Chris Paul. Be sure to check out more of Dariusz’s designs in our Wallpapers vault.)