Hornets Struggle in Fourth, Lose to Kings

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Published: February 6, 2012

The Hornets sucked it up again in the fourth quarter, falling to the Kings after three quarters of quality basketball.

The Hornets led by 9 heading into the fourth, but that wasn’t enough. Honestly I feel a little bit sick to my stomache after watching the Hornets get out-scored 32-13 in the fourth quarter (and because where I’m sitting smells like someone covered garbage in hair and then lit it on fire), I’m not sure that this game deserves anything more than player grades (all F’s, sorry) and the angry comments that I’m sure you all will provide.

I’m sure I speak for everyone when I say, “yuck”.

Also, that BS let’s try really hard to win even though we’re down 9 with 20 seconds to go doesn’t make me think more of anyone. When the game is over, it’s time to admit defeat and move on (to drinking probably).

 

Sacramento Kings 100 FinalRecap | Box Score 92 New Orleans Hornets
Trevor Ariza, SF 34 MIN | 5-11 FG | 1-2 FT | 6 REB | 4 AST | 11 PTS | -5Pretend Ariza played four games in your mind. This was the third best of them. Regardless. F!
Gustavo Ayon, PF 32 MIN | 2-6 FG | 0-0 FT | 9 REB | 0 AST | 4 PTS | -7Ayon played alright in his first even NBA start, but it was less than spectacular. His energy isn’t as noticeable as a starter, and neither is his advantage over his opposition. He grabbed his fair share of boards and played some nice defense early on, but offensively he was just about non-existent. He came back in for Kaman with six minutes to go in the fourth and had a nice putback off a missed Okafor jumper. Other than that I barely noticed him.
Emeka Okafor, C 32 MIN | 6-14 FG | 7-7 FT | 7 REB | 0 AST | 19 PTS | 0Oak had it going on in the first half offensively, and then all but disappeared in the second. He missed a couple jumpers and just didn’t seem to have his newfound touch. Nonetheless, he was perfect from the line through three quarters and had a dunk. Yay!
Marco Belinelli, SG 36 MIN | 6-14 FG | 4-4 FT | 0 REB | 4 AST | 18 PTS | -9Marco was aggressive and effective early in his matchup with Thornton, hitting both his threes in the first half and winding up with 10 points on only 6 shots. In the third quarter he continued attacking, getting to the line and hitting his free throws, even though the shot wasn’t falling. He was awful in the fourth quarter. Otherwise it was one of his best games of the year.
Greivis Vasquez, PG 40 MIN | 6-9 FG | 7-8 FT | 2 REB | 9 AST | 20 PTS | -7Greivis really played well again tonight both as a distributor and when needed, a scorer. He was drawing fouls like a certain point guard we used to love, and controlled the game for the Hornets much more than we’ve been accustomed to. He had only a single turnover through three quarters. When he came out in the fourth, the Kings really got back into it. When he got back he tried to regain the momentum, but that’s really asking a bit much from Greivis at this point. If you didn’t notice, he’s the only one who escapes the F.
Chris Kaman, C 22 MIN | 4-12 FG | 2-4 FT | 12 REB | 1 AST | 10 PTS | -6Did his usual thing in the first half, playing quality offense, decent defense, and committing a mental error when he didn’t hold onto a rebound with about 15 seconds left. The Hornets should have had last shot. Instead, the Kings got another two before the half. In his first drive of the second half, Monty Williams literally grimaced. I saw him. It didn’t get better from there, as Kaman remained ice cold on offense and became a liability on defense. He hit a jumper with 8 minutes to go, the first of the quarter for the Hornets, but it wasn’t enough to erase an ugly stretch for Kaman. Rebounds be damned, the Hornets needed more from Kaman in the fourth, even if the officials decided not to call fouls committed on him in the second half.
Carldell Johnson, G 10 MIN | 0-3 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 2 AST | 0 PTS | -3Squeaky played alright in the first half, missing both his shots, but notching a couple of turnover-free assists. He got a few more minutes early in the fourth, and turned down a wide open 8 footer in favor of a rushed bank shot two seconds later that missed by a mile. Odd…
Lance Thomas, F 10 MIN | 0-2 FG | 0-0 FT | 4 REB | 0 AST | 0 PTS | -3Lance played some pretty good minutes in the first half, pulling down three boards in just under five minutes relieving Okafor and Kaman. He saw some more time early in the fourth and hustled his buns off to no avail. His unit was on the floor when the Kings got back into it, so he gets the F. I feel bad about this one since he played some solid minutes.
Al-Farouq Aminu, SF 14 MIN | 1-3 FG | 0-0 FT | 6 REB | 1 AST | 2 PTS | -3I wasn’t impressed with much in the first half, and the second wasn’t much better. He checked in with about 11 minutes to go and just didn’t have it going then either.
Xavier Henry, SG 10 MIN | 4-7 FG | 0-1 FT | 2 REB | 0 AST | 8 PTS | +3Henry showed flashes of the potential that made him a first round pick last year, scoring eight points on five shots in the first half and getting a steal. The shot he missed was way off. Like, really far off. He checked back into the game with 11 minutes to go in the fourth and then the Hornets got killed. Sorry, Xavier, you played well, but it’s F-time.

Five Things We Saw

  1. All 10 active Hornets players entered the game in the first half. Eight of them scored.
  2. DeMarcus Cousins is a freaking beast. He had 20-20 for the second straight game. He takes some stupid shots, but whatever. Guy can straight up ball. Isaiah Thomas really impressed me today as well. He’s not a star in the making by any means, but I dig his style and I like his moves. That 31 footer late in the fourth had “balls” written all over it.
  3. The players often look miserable after games, but this one was even worse than usual. I counted five guys looking like they’d just lost their dogs seconds after the game ended.
  4. The in-house Jazz was kicking tonight.
  5. Kaman was limping a bit in the fourth. Hopefully that’s nothing.

 

More notes and quotes–

  • Center Jason Smith suffered a concussion in Saturday night’s game against the Pistons and will be sidelined with no activity for one week. Once that time is up, his status will be day-to-day.
  • Forward DaJuan Summers is out tonight against the Kings with right knee effusion and his status is day-to-day.

 

 

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