Rapid Recap: Hornets defense swarms Nuggets

By:
Published: January 9, 2012
New Orleans Hornets 94 Final

Recap | Box Score

81 Denver Nuggets

Chris Kaman, C 28 MIN | 10-16 FG | 0-0 FT | 7 REB | 1 AST | 20 PTS | +8

Operated efficiently from the high post and was a matchup nightmare for Denver. Defensively, Kaman was nothing to write home about, but his offense was a large reason why the Hornets are leaving Denver with a win.

Al-Farouq Aminu, SF 26 MIN | 2-7 FG | 0-0 FT | 8 REB | 5 AST | 4 PTS | +12

Aminu is getting more and more confident with each game he plays, and although he is still raw offensively, he does a lot of little things that make you feel good about his prospects for the future.

Emeka Okafor, C 24 MIN | 2-3 FG | 0-0 FT | 7 REB | 2 AST | 4 PTS | +7

Emeka was virtually non-existent in the first half after picking up two quick fouls, but he had some nice moments in the second half- grabbing some key rebounds and dishing out some nice assists.

Jarrett Jack, PG 35 MIN | 4-11 FG | 4-4 FT | 4 REB | 9 AST | 13 PTS | +7

Jack was expected to miss the game with an ankle injury, but he toughed it out and hit a big three in the 4th that all but iced the game. Great display of leadership tonight for Jack.

Marco Belinelli, SG 30 MIN | 8-13 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 2 AST | 19 PTS | +13

Oh, Marco- if we could only bottle up some of these first half performances and spread them out over the course of the game, that would be great. Belinelli had 16 of his 19 in the first half, but it was enough tonight as the rest of the guys finished what Marco started.

Carldell Johnson, G 14 MIN | 1-2 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 3 PTS | -4

So steady. Squeaky really is making the D-League proud and I expect him to get minutes even when Eric Gordon returns because of the way he paces the offense.

Carl Landry, PF 37 MIN | 8-15 FG | 5-8 FT | 5 REB | 1 AST | 21 PTS | +20

Just a monster off the bench, Landry gives the second unit some scoring pop. He simply took over for stretches in this gamed and even showed the ability to play some small forward with some nice handles on offense.

Greivis Vasquez, PG 14 MIN | 2-4 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 4 AST | 5 PTS | +6

Vasquez is going to have to step his game up to keep his minutes once Eric Gordon returns because Squeaky is playing well. Greivis did a little bit of everything tonight, but still needs to show that he has the lateral quickness to defend point guards.

Five Things We Saw

  1. The Nuggets seemed more than happy to settle for outside shots despite having success nearly every time their guards got into the paint. Monty’s defense challenges teams to beat the Hornets from the outside and there will be lots of tired legs during this shortened season, which will lead to lots of missed jumpers.
  2. Summers and Aminu both can use nights like this to develop, but within two weeks the Hornets should have both Ariza and Henry available. How do we get all four of thes guys enough minutes?
  3. For the second straight game, the Hornets front line gave Nene fits. Because Mosgov is just so terrible, the Nuggets went small most of the game, which left Nene as the only big to contend with all that Hornet size.
  4. Hornets were outscored in the paint by more than 20 the last time these two met just 4 days ago. Tonight they won that battle 46-32.
  5. T’Wolves lost, making this at least a somewhat tolerable night for all you LSU fans.

30 Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.