Hornets Struggle Again from Deep, Lose Tough One to Mavs

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Published: January 21, 2012

The New Orleans Hornets shot a pitiful 2-19 from behind the arc and again came up just short of a win, this time against the Mavs.

The key to hitting three's is to DUNK them

 

 

How it ended: Delonte West stepped to the line with 14.7 seconds left and a one point lead. He calmly knocked down both. Jack then took the ball for the Hornets, losing his footing which resulted in a jump ball. It was knocked out of bounds by Dallas, and the Hornets took possession. Ariza inbounded to Landry for a layup, cutting the lead to one. On the next Dallas possession Jason Terry was fouled. He made both, bringing the lead back to three.  With the Hornets out of timeouts, Jack took the ball up the court and was fouled before shooting. He made one and deliberately missed the second. After Jason Smith flew into the box, getting a piece of the ball in the process, Jack got up a last second attempt, but it wasn’t successful. The resuly was another disappointing Hornets loss. Eric Gordon, where art thou?

Dallas Mavericks 83 FinalRecap | Box Score 81 New Orleans Hornets
Trevor Ariza, SF 37 MIN | 5-15 FG | 1-3 FT | 6 REB | 2 AST | 12 PTS | -11Playoff Trevor was back in action tonight aside from the 2-9 shooting outside the paint. I really don’t think most of those were bad shots though. He went to the rim whenever he got the opportunity, and played the aggressive style of defense that the Hornets need from him. Overall I was pleased with what we saw from him in his third game back from injury.
Jason Smith, PF 21 MIN | 2-6 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 0 AST | 4 PTS | -8He wasn’t effective tonight on either end of the floor. Running him out there as a starter makes life incredibly hard for him on a night to night basis, even if Dirk did sit this one out.
Emeka Okafor, C 37 MIN | 7-13 FG | 2-3 FT | 17 REB | 1 AST | 16 PTS | +2Despite playing only 16 minutes in the first half, Emeka Okafor had 11 of the Hornets 23 rebounds (48%). He added 10 points in the half, including two nice jumpers from 15 feet. He continued his nice play in the second half. He again seemed to be a real option on offense, and I’m happy to report I no longer cringe when he gets the rock inside. In fact, I look forward to it. He had a bunch of key baskets for the Hornets tonight. Without his rebounding this game is a slaughter.
Jarrett Jack, PG 40 MIN | 3-12 FG | 5-7 FT | 4 REB | 6 AST | 12 PTS | -5Jack got a HUGE round of applause when he went for a ball and wound up about 6 rows deep in the stands which led to shot clock violation. Guy is the leader of this team and with that hustle play he single handedly brought the crowd to their feet for the remainder of the game. That play, as irrelevant as it was in terms of actual value on the court, was one of the most memorable of the year at the Hive. Losing the ball with 14 seconds left was unfortunately all too predictable.
Marco Belinelli, SG 25 MIN | 1-7 FG | 2-2 FT | 3 REB | 2 AST | 4 PTS | -7Our three point specialist went 0-6 from behind the arc. I watch him drain threes in practice, and the pace at which he shoots is noticeably faster during games. I know he needs to hurry sometimes, but even when he’s wide open you can tell his tempo is off. Take it from a golfer– slow down, Belli.
Chris Kaman, C 7 MIN | 1-2 FG | 1-1 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 3 PTS | -3Who? Kaman barely saw the floor, playing seven quiet minutes in the first half.
Carldell Johnson, G 5 MIN | 0-2 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 1 AST | 0 PTS | +5Squeaky had a nice pass in the second quarter to Ariza for an open three, but then missed two of his own shortly after. Monty yanked him as soon as the second one missed. I hate, HATE, when coaches pull players immediately after they miss a shot they should be taking. That’s what happened with Squeaky tonight, even if the missed three did barely catch rim.
Carl Landry, PF 27 MIN | 5-8 FG | 9-13 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 19 PTS | +6Carl got the tough buckets throughout the late third and fourth quarter for the Hornets, but it was two missed free throws when the Hornets were down two with about 3:30 to go, and a missed box-out immediately following that led to an easy Mavs basket that is what stuck in my mind, as well as making only one of two free throws with a minute left. It’s too bad, because those mental errors sort of overshadowed a nice comeback game of sorts in my mind. I liked his aggressiveness a lot though. Getting to the line is and should be a key part of his game. As a result of drawing contact when he attacked, he wound up with a very efficient game on offense. I’ll mostly ignore his deficiencies on the glass, but one rebound in 27 minutes from your power forward is something that I have to mention.
DaJuan Summers, F 10 MIN | 2-5 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 0 AST | 4 PTS | -2Summers had back to back steals in the third along with a thunderous dunk. He’s really a multi-dimensional player. It will be exciting to watch him grow if he can get some time in the lineup. Otherwise it will be disappointing to watch him ride the pine for most of every game.
Greivis Vasquez, PG 16 MIN | 2-5 FG | 1-1 FT | 2 REB | 1 AST | 5 PTS | +5Greivis has a Mohawk now. So… Anyway, he played some solid ball in the fourth when the Hornets really needed some spark from him. He’s also one of the first guys off the bench when things go well, which gets him bonus points from me. Unfortunately those points are more than negated by the assist to turnover ratio of 1:2 .
Gustavo Ayon, PF 4 MIN | 0-0 FG | 0-2 FT | 0 REB | 0 AST | 0 PTS | -1Didn’t see any time in the first half. The most memorable moments from the four minutes he played in the third quarter were when he was posterized by Ian Mahinmi and the two missed free throws with .6 seconds left on the clock in the quarter. Can’t win ‘em all!
Al-Farouq Aminu, SF 11 MIN | 1-3 FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 2 AST | 2 PTS | +9He played a few good minutes with the team (best +/-), but struggles with keeping his hands to himself. He rebounded well, as usual.

Five Things We Saw

  1. The Hornets trailed by 11 entering the fourth, but started out hot. They outscored the Mavs 9-2 to start the quarter the quarter thanks to strong drives by Greivis and Vazquez, and Emeka Okafor’s third jumper of the game, this time fading away from just inside the free throw line as the shot clock was winding down. The Mavs called timeout as the crowd came to their feet, their double digit lead reduced to four in just 146 seconds. Coming into the quarter I thought the game was going to get away from the Hornets. It was nice to be wrong, even if they lost in the end.
  2. The Hornets hung tough despite struggling on offense in the first. They did it behind their solid defense, limiting Dallas to only 40 percent shooting. The Okafor-led squad entered halftime tied at 41, but in the third the Mavs found a number of easy baskets inside, and the Hornets remained cold offensively, at one point scoring only four points in a stretch of 16 offensive possessions.
  3. Attendance was 15,471. That’s just not very good for a beautiful Saturday evening against the defending champs.
  4. Morris Bart had the pleasure of sitting next to Zach Galifianakis tonight. I saw Mo make Zach laugh. Boom! He won tonight. Dylan McDermott was a few seats by sitting next to Hugh Weber.
  5. It’s much easier for me to watch blowout losses than to come up just short. You?

 

 

Jarrett Jack

Trevor Ariza

Jarrett Jack after tumbling into the stands

Carl Landry

Jarrett Jack

Everyone in the Hive on there feet for the final seconds of the game

 

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