New Orleans Hornets (46-35) at Dallas Mavericks (56-25)
Hornets Offensive Rating: 106.3 (18th) Defensive: 104.9 (7th)
Mavericks Offensive Rating: 109.4 (8th) Defensive: 105.2 (10th)
Could this be the first game of an 8 game series for the Hornets and Mavs? The good news is that it is possible. The bad news is that the Hornets would have to lose in order to see the Dallas Mavericks in the first round. A Mavericks win, combined with a Grizzlies loss against the Clippers and a Lakers loss to Sacramento would mean a #2 vs. #7 matchup involving these two squads.
Memphis has already shown their hand. They will rest Zach Randolph and Tony Allen again tonight because they are “injured.” The unlikely part of the trifecta is the two-time defending champion Lakers losing to lowly Sacramento. But then agin, would anybody be really shocked if this were to occur? The Kings have played decent ball in the last month, they have the young legs that give LA trouble, Bynum is out, and this might be the final game ever in Sacramento. Throw in Marcus Thornton and I am starting to believe it is a distinct possibility.
But back to this game, a game that the Hornets will try to win, despite what the conspiracy theorists say. You can only control what you can control, and the last thing the Hornets want to do is head into the playoffs on a three game losing streak. They have been terrible on both sides of the ball in the last two games, as opponents have shot 58% while the Hornets have shot just 39% from the field. If the Hornets go into the playoffs playing like that, they wouldn’t be able to beat the Joe Alexander/Antonio Daniels led Texas Legends team, never mind the Dallas Mavericks.
Regardless of how the Western Conference standings shake out, the Hornets have to play the best basketball that they are capable of tonight so that they can have some confidence heading into the playoffs. Everyone knows David West is not walking through that door, and the hard truth is that on most nights (and every night in the playoffs) the other team taking the court with the Hornets will have a more talented squad. But talent is one thing, while heart, focus, and determination are different beasts entirely. The Hornets showed all three of those components in their last matchup with the Mavericks, a 93-92 victory that happened despite the absence of CP3.
The key to that game was that the Hornets were able to control the glass despite the fact that they were smaller at nearly every position. On paper, a team built like Dallas would control the boards. After all, they have two seven footers in their starting lineup and one of the best rebounding point guards of all time, but this game isn’t played on paper, and the Hornets will have to remember that tonight. They are going to have to outwork the other team in every game moving forward just to have a chance to win another game this season. And that starts tonight.
Other News and Notes:
– If you were to make a “Hornets top 10 games of the Season”, all three Hornets/Mavericks games would be on that list. Heck, they might all be in the top 5. The three games were decided by a TOTAL of 6 points.
– CP3 is averaging 29.3 PPG in his last 4 games at Dallas. If he lays another egg tonight against a team he usually dominates, does that mean Christopher Paul is back? Luckily, I dont think we have to worry about that. Expect a big game for CP3 tonight that will get him kick started heading into the playoffs.
– By the way- yes that is me cranking out the Hornets247 Tweets, and yes I am pissed about this Charlotte Bobcats non-story. Not pissed because of the content, but just pissed that journalism is such a joke nowadays. I know as a “blogger” that I was supposed to be angry at what Cuban said last week, but you know what? I agree with him. The majority of writers are hacks and the majority of sites have no integrity and just want to drive traffic. It is embarressing. And yes, I would be saying the same thing if it was a “Dwight Howard to consider playing in Charlotte” piece along the same lines. I just feel bad that writers have to stoop that low.
– Vegas line: Dallas enter the game as 9.5 point favorites, with the over/under set at 186.5. Strange line considering how this series has played out so far this season, but I cant blame Vegas, considering the Hornets just got blown out at home by a non-playoff team. Hornets keep it close, the over is reached: Mavs 101 Hornets 97
– And a special, season finale Cap….That…..Pic. Top Three Captions will be placed into playoff ticket raffle. So far, we only have 7 people entered, so chances to win will be 10% should you land in the top 3 tonight. Not bad odds.
128 responses to “Game On: Hornets @ Mavericks”
Caption, “As I sit here with all of my friends…”
No raffle for me
Caption: What it looks like when a billion dollars can’t buy you a date.
Caption: “Welcome to the Mark Cuban fan club”
Caption: “After seeking medical attention for his double-thumb-erection brought on by the thought of CP3 going to the Bobcats, Mark Cuban decides to relax in his living room. Without pants.”
Caption: “Mom just take the picture already.”
I love it!
As far as losing 3 games in a row heading into the playoffs, I seem to remember another team from New Orleans winning a World Championship after a similar skid to end the season.
Caption: “Yes, I farted.”
42- I will give you first dibs on deconstructing this argument since I love to read your stuff. I will then cleanup anything you have missed or purposefully left out.
Go ahead sir.
Just an observation. Not saying the Hornets are comparable on the court to the 2009 Saints.
I can’t wait!
Not picking on ya Mark- I just love seeing 42’s mind at work and this is the kind of rhetoric he usually has fun with. Believe me- I will be the happiest person alive if this Hornets postseason played out in a similar fashion.
I’ll deconstruct the argument. Cuban’s arsehole is so tight it cannot physically fart.
The caption is tops.
And what Doghouse said . . .
Glad you are coming back around more, fella.
Anyone with the passion you have for this team is top-shelf in my book.
MarkB65, I admire the moxie. Love it. And don’t worry, I get what you are doing, and the pump-up is appreciated . . .
But Mr. McNamara, sadly, knows me too well, and I’m like but a toy to him, dancing for his pleasure.
More about the Hornets below, but about the Saints . . .
That so-called-skid was not a skid. A skid is when your best just fails to be anywhere near good. This was not the case. We were not We started resting players way before the Dallas game Saturday night. We had key people resting (like Shockey, TD in THE Superbowl . . . yes, THE) and we had so many opportunities to win that game: Roman dropped a pick, Dev dropped a TD (he was square in the endzone), and Drew had the ball in his hands to send that game to OT with a minute left when a sack fumble ended the chance. We were right in it. It wasn’t quite a coin-flip type of game, but we we’re just flat (Cleveland 2010 for an example). The TB game had more starters resting, we missed 2 key kicks (I think 2), and gave up a punt return TD to the special-teams-less Bucs. We didn’t even play the main guys for a second against Carolina. The Saints, the REAL SAINTS, weren’t really playing. “So much for Rust” — Coach.
Then we had a bye week, destroyed the Cardinals (one of Reggie’s signature games, and maybe his best run after catch ever, plus an earth-scorching punt return . . .).
I can’t talk about the next 2 games. Too emotional, especially the Vikings game. So many games, so many plays, so many hikes up to my seats, still with rust on the bolts holding them to the concrete that has supported so much joy and so much pain . . . site of my first concert (Guns, Metallica, Faith No More) . . . all `worth it’ in an instant . . . infinite rectification for a fleeting instant . . . gone forever . . . like water down the Mississippi, slightly affecting everything else in a Whitman-esque immortality . . . always looking about the same, but lost to constant chance (credit Heraclitus with the assist: mad love my Greek brother).
I have a video of the kick and ensuing celebration. I may put it up in the offseason. So much cheering, after so much intensity. So much emotion. I’m tearing up at work, actually. Even some Vikings fans stayed with us to be part of our moment. They cheered for our trophey, they hugged us, took pictures with us. It was special. If anyone doubts what’s possible here, in New Orleans and around the Gulf, this video will erase those. This is a special place, and that love for the Hornets is here among some of us . . . it’s sad if that number hasn’t swollen to a compelling economic number by some date that will be upon us. Truly sad, and for those who doubt: you don’t know.
I didn’t get much video at the Superbowl. I was too busy putting on my dress, celebrating, and communing with those strangers-become friends: the Patricks, Superbowl Bob, and DEB.
Back to the Hornets.
3 games in 82 NBA games isn’t a skid if 3 NFL games might be a skid. It’d take more like 15 games, and that would jibe with the percentages and actual recovery time on the calendar.
No, we are just broken, tired, devoid of hope. How many shots were short the other night? The amount I saw says we just were not putting for effort. We were playing like we’re the trash the NBA-babblers think we are.
Well, guess what? I fu$%^ng hate Dallas. I f#@k&g hate the Mavericks. I f@#$!%g hate Cuban. I hope to all that might be holy in this universe of blips in the microwave background radiation that someone on this squad hates them too. Monty, pity him, needs to get these guys up. The cavalry isn’t coming. There is no deus ex machina. There is no Rufus and/or phone booth. We are alone.
Our best case scenario, I think, is to `Thunder’ our way through the team we draw. They bested the Lakers twice in Bricktown, just 2 of 6, and NBA went apeshit. We were all put on notice. Credit the pesky little guys: They delivered THIS season.
We weren’t going to win a title with West, but with him out, the only thing we can do is damage. We need to be the guy that guy at the party that knows he’s not getting . . . relaxed . . . and so no one else is either. We need to scare whoever we play. They may take us down, but we need to break the coffee table, bleed on their fancy shirts, and leave our organs all over the house, making a huge mess for them to clean up going into round 2.
We need to take it to these pricks tonight. We need to get pissed. We don’t need to win. The time for winning has passed.
Pride.
We play for pride.
I’m not talking hollow moral victories. These two-bit pretenders need to look up at the scoreboard to check that they won 3 or 4 times if they squeak out the win of blow us out by 20. They need to feel pain tonight and remember it tomorrow, win or lose.
That’s where we are.
Pride.
PRIDE PRIDE PRIDE.
WE NEED TO PLAY WITH SOME GOD DAMNED PRIDE!!!
I knew this would be good.
Caption: “I know what you’re thinking, and the answer is no, this doesn’t look any better with HDNet.”
(For those who are unaware… Mark Cuban founded HDNet.)
We get you here, Mason. You are in a safe place.
Loving it.
http://www.hornets247.com/news/2011/04/05/mark-hdnet-cuban-ponders-medias-role/
haha, love this.
Caption:
“I like this cushioned seat. It has that cheap motel “magic fingers’ feel, if you know what I mean.”
Caption: “whose got two thumbs and no friends… This guy!!! Yeh!”
caption:
“Mark Cuban shows us the odds of the Mavs winning a championship”
lmao, love this one!
Nice
Caption-Where is thumbkin?,where is thumbkin?, here I am, here I am.
Caption: “Everyone of us in this room believes the Mavs can beat the Hornets in a 7 game series!”
LOL!
Cap that pic: mark cuban ” this is a picture of me,my close friends, everyone who cares what I have to say, and everyone who thinks my team can actually beat new Orleans in a series”.
“wait where are my players”???????
Caption: A year after the NBA full season lockout here is a photo of the owner along with fans of the brand new WNBA Dallas expansion team.
Caption: “Hey Dirk! These new Brown seats are perfect! I won’t need to leave my seat during the game to do a #2 and no one will know the difference!”
Caption: “I must be at a Hornets’ game in New Orleans.”
Fact: The Hornets game v. Utah drew the fewest fans of any game on the NBA schedule Monday night, including long-awaited matchups such as Charlotte at New Jersey, Cleveland at Detroit, Toronto at Milwaukee, and Minnesota at Phoenix.
we actually have blue seats…
Caption: “Great job, James Online! You don’t know how good that felt!”
(This was my second try. I realized there might be kids reading.)
Borderline….
Let’s not call out each other, at least so directly.
Didn’t you see Boyz N the Hood? Do it for Ricky, man.
Good research.
Must watch video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpYi2SL__SM
caption: “A snapshot of Mark Cuban’s heart and soul… empty for everyone but himself.”
Caption: Viewing party for “The Benefactor II”
Caption: Ever wonder how the Mavericks sell out games with so many empty seats?
Hornets 11 pt dogs now, wow.
Bynum’s injury is not serious at all, just a bruised knee.
He will be ready when the playoffs start….
oh no
Sad to say but the Lakers would probably beat the Hornets even without Bynum.
Joe (LA)
BYNUM INJURY UPDATE: MRI REVEALS BONE BRUISE
Ryen Russillo (4:50 PM)
Well this makes it official. If this is real, then that’s good news, but would L.A. tell us if it was serious?
Yeah I doubt they’d tell us if it were serious but then again if it were all THAT serious, he probably wouldn’t be able to play.
Caption: “We can photoshop people in here right?”
Caption that Pic: “Where’d everyone go? We’re only down 40 and we have 5 whole minutes left! We can still beat the Hornets!!!”
Caption: “Welcome to the Mavs Fan Appreciation Night!”
Caption: “Celtics fans always arrive late at the Hive” Or “This is opening night for the movie version of my life story”
“Two answers is no answer” – 42 to his students
“The cat is alive and the cat is dead” – Schroedinger to 42
“Nevermind, provided you can describe your quotes as a wavefunction” – 42 to 504ever
42, are you saying I can’t poke fun at the Hornets fans who sold/gave seats to Celtics fans?
If was going to stop anything besides needless offensive comments, it wouldn’t be your comments or captions.
I’m just saying you should do a single comment for contest purposes. Do as many as you want for fun.
That’s fair, eh?
Peja out tonight, expected to be with team for first playoff game.
I hear he’s at the Kings game.
Wow.
How awesome is Peja?
So we have Hubie “New Orleeenz” Brown commentating tonight?
John Larroquette said that is basically the only wrong way to say the name of the city of all that are close to reasonable in the mind of the locals. N’awlins, New Orlyeihns (for the Uptown crowd), whatever . . . no Orleeeens.
Landry’ll probably foul out guarding Dirk. Pfft.
new orleaneeez and all , it is a real treat listen to hubie commentate the beeeez .
I like him.
Hubie Brown is one of the most knowledgeable sportscasters in the history of the game, although he is not what he used to be IMPO.
I met Hubie a few years ago, when he was coaching the Grizzlies. He was really friendly, but (honest to God) he could not recall the names of his players… any of them.
Yeah. I didn’t want to say it, but I think he is starting to get dementia. No matter what, I say Hubie Brown, Snapper Jones, and Dr. Jack Ramsey, are the best sportscasters from the Golden Era.
I see Dirk now inspires the whole Mavs team to flop, Barea deserves an Oscar for that acting job right there.
And Paul got a tech? WTF is that?
That’s Barea’s game. Run into the big man.
So true, and sadly the league still rewards floppers for their actions. And yes CP3 does flop but not to the extent that some of these players do (Barea, Ginobili, Varejao)
Lol…Manu Giflopply…Anderson Floppyjao
I know we’re only halfway through the second quarter, but I’m convinced more than ever that we CAN beat the Mavs, if we can just get a shot at them. Please, please, let the Grizzlies and Lakers lose tonight!!.. Oh, and us too!
Gary Zielinkski. SMH.
Also, you know DAL isn’t gonna just let us win. If they lose, they end up either #3 or #4, meaning they get Denver or Portland. You know they’d rather at least have a chance to play MEM instead. Because I’m SURE they really don’t want to play us in the playoffs.
Never mind… they cant play Memphis if they lose.
Jason Smith how dare you touch Dirk!! FOUL ON YOU
That’s not a foul if the Mavs are up 10…but since the NO bench is beating their starters…
Jack off the bench is working well for NOLA
Did they just say we’re shooting 80% in the quarter???
Tyson with all that And 1 yelling and misses the ft. SMH.
I swear Dirk takes 3 and 4 steps working his way around in the paint to lunge for his shot.
Man, why can’t we ever get officiating like this at home? 15 fouls on the Hornets, 6 on the Mavs. Two minutes till half. Yet we still lead 54-50.
The only shot Kidd can make.
LMAO Jack.
And it seems only against us. He’s 20% from 3pt for the month of April.
If Jason Terry was Kobe, he probably won’t get called for that foul on JJ 🙂
If my grandmother had balls, she’s be my grandfather.
Still remember what Terry said after Jack was fouled on that 3 that gave the Hornets a W right :)?
Yes.
“I don’t know if Jarrett Jack gets that call,” Terry said. “We know Kevin Durant does. You know Kobe may get it. But I don’t know about Jarrett Jack. That’s just my personal opinion. So we’ve got to live with it, take it on the chin and go ahead and get ready to get this next one.”
I’m talking to him about his nonsense: T the JET Foul Call Power Rankings.
LMAO @ both of you!!
Caption: Live studio audience for the new Dallas sitcom “Upset in the First Round.”
actually replace “new” with “classic”
Early observations at halftime:
Jack’s learned really well from CP3 on that swoop shot to draw the foul.
Belinelli hits 3 threes in the first quarter, then sits.
61 points, when we only scored 78 on Monday.
Aaron Gray’s becoming another Erick Dampier .. no points, lots of fouls, but 5 boards in 10 minutes.
Not getting a break from the refs… 17 fouls on NO, 7 on DAL.
———-
Hopefully, we can play well, look good, scare the crap out of the Mavs, and yet lose and still have a shot at them in the playoffs.
He’s been that his whole career.
He can’t create his own shot.
All he does is clean up around the 5 inch diameter around his body.
Positioning. Matchups.
LOL Deshawn.
How long does Monty play the starters?
I hope a little bit longer. I want us to lose, and the bench has done better than the starters! Really though, I think we’ve proven our point: we match up so well with this team. And I think we’re in their head some as well.
We just need to keep it close long enough so that they know when they pull away, that its because we let them, not because they’re better than us.
Dallas ain’t winning it all this year.
can never keep the momentum
This reminds me so much of the last regular season game of 07-08.
And wtf is wrong with Chandler? LMAO.
But didn’t we already know we were going to play them by that game in 08?
I think you may be right but Dallas was said to want the Hornets. The Hornets lost and everyone thought that they would be walked on by Dallas. They are happy right now but I know deep down they don’t want the Hornets in the playoffs.
I agree. They don’t want the Hornets. But I don’t think they really want POR, MEM or DEN either. They almost want us by default. And the only chance they have to get us, is to beat us.
It has been “a bit chippy”.
Chippy indeed.
Dirk has shot almost as many FT as our whole team. Doesn’t matter who we play we’re not going anywhere with calls going against us all the time
I agree. Not to mention they’ll probably still go out of their way to show that even though we are owned by the league we don’t get favorable calls.
West guards Dirk better than Landry. I still wouldn’t be worried about it though.
I have no doubt that we’ll see incompetent refs in the post season too. Difference is, they might try to be a bit more careful since more people will be watching.
Actually, I think that’s actually been happening a lot this season. I do think the refs are overly sensitive to any suggestions of “favoritism”. I think we paid the price this season.
Yep, ever since David Aldridge mentioned that people were saying the Hornets were getting favored calls cuz they’re owned by the league they’ve been getting the raw end a LOT.
If we end up playing the Lakers, Smith needs to start at PF to help out Oak on D.
Landry will come off the bench whenever Odom is subbed in, Landry is the only guy on our team that has the size and quickness to guard Odom….
Smith needs to start instead of Landry. We can’t have a 6’8” C (Oak) and a 6’5” PF in Landry.
Gray can’t do anything but clog up the offense with his size. He can’t create anything on his own.
He picks up easy rebounds and fouls everyone…but any blob can.
Change it up, Monty, please.
Did someone leave Mek n Landry in the dryer too long? They shrunk?
Okay yes Landry and Okafor might be a BIT undersized for their positions but you are GREATLY exaggerating how short they are. Okafor is no shorter than 6-10 and Landry is at least 6-7, but closer to 6-8.
“Gray can’t do anything but clog up the offense with his size. He can’t create anything on his own.
He picks up easy rebounds and fouls everyone…but any blob can.”
—————————-
LMFAO! Best comment of the day!!
All Hornet bench players to start the 4th and Dirk is on the court. Go Mavs. LOL.
Wow…that happened quick. 18 point lead. Not happy with only 17 points in 15 minutes in the second half, though.
The fans are so happy! LOL!! I love it.
Sure they’re happy. They’ve been sweating it out for the last two hours! They know this is the end of the regular season, where the Mavs ALWAYS play well. The next game starts the second season, where they are usually one and done.
Amen. I mean the Hornets are probably one and done too but I don’t have any doubt that the Mavs are.
If Dirk gets hurt with a 20 point lead, Carlisle’s ass will be grass.
Poor Hornets…lol.
Worst part about a national game…you get a blowout, and they cut away from the game. Give me CST anyday!
Put Ewing on dammit, loving q-pon
Yeah I was ready to watch some of Chewing Jr and they cut away. 🙁
Hmm. It looks like we indeed decided to tank to avoid the Lakers. I think that’s kind of weak. If the Lakers win & we get them anyway, we’ll look like a bunch of asses.
We didnt tank anything. We just got our butts spanked. We tried to win, that was obvious.
How was that obvious? You’re not supposed to look like you’re actually tanking.
It was obvious by the way we finally showed intensity and hunger. We looked really good that 1st half. I was like wow is this really the Hornets. Shows we can compete. The question is can we keep it up for 48 minutes. I think we ran out of gas after halftime evident by the way we couldnt make a shot or get any stops.
Like Robert just said, tanking would have been not playing CP3, Okafor, Landry, etc. I think the plan was to lose but not like we did. I think Monty wanted that same 1st half effort for 3 quarters but only got 2. Despite the letdown I still like what I saw in the 1st half, hopefully thats the Hornets team we see in the playoffs.
NolaHog, shooting almost 60% the first half, and being down by 5 midway through the third is hardly “tanking” it. I think we proved our point. We can go head to head with them. A win took any chance of playing them away, and forced us to play the Lakers. You don’t think the same thing about Memphis when they had a chance to finish 6th and they rested two starters against Portland? Grizzlies decided plain and simple to avoid the crapshoot, rest their injured, and play SA. Is that better than what you accuse us of?
So, if the Lakers lose and Memphis win, we get Dallas? And if Lakers win and Memphis lose, we get who, the Lakers?
It’ll all be over with soon. No need to fuss and fight. It’ll all be over with soon. LOL.
If Lakers and Memphis both lose, we get Dallas. 2 vs 7
If Lakers win and Memphis loses, we get Lakers. 2 vs 7
If Lakers lose and Memphis wins, we get Spurs. 1 vs 8
If Lakers and Memphis both win, we get Spurs 1 vs 8
Basically, a Memphis win means we get SA.