The Spurs dominate the Hornets

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Published: April 6, 2012

I’m not going to mouth platitudes to you like “That’s what a real championship contender looks like” because that isn’t.  The Spurs are a contender, but for this game they combined their ridiculous depth and talent with just one of those nights that happen to every team a few times each season. (Remember the Hornets dismantling the Warriors a few weeks ago?)   A special night for the Spurs, and I’m so glad I had the volume way down while Sean Elliot was talking.  That guy is the biggest chump in sportscasting.

The Gordon Report:

Phenomenal game by Eric Gordon.  He took a few dumb threes and had a couple bad turnovers, but those things were so heavily outweighed by his efficient scoring and quick hands on defense that it didn’t matter.

When Gordon explodes to the hoop, he reminds me extremely strongly of Dwayne Wade.  He has the same perfectly upright upper body, churning legs, left-to-right crossover, and mastery of the sidestep around defenders.  On the attack, Gordon is amazing.

Defensively, he got lost a half-dozen times out there and lost his guy, but he’s played four guys, and has yet to get any consistent time with any set of teammates.  His one-on-one defense is pretty solid.

Ball-handling, Gordon is good but not spectacular.  Jack has better handles than him, and I think he would benefit from having a point guard next to him who can handle pressure and get him the ball in position to attack.

The Rest:

  • It’s not often the Hornets earn 35 free throws and shoot better than 40% from three.  If both happen, they usually win.  They did that tonight, kept their turnovers down to a reasonable 14, and still lost.  Tells you how amazing a night the Spurs were having, driving, dishing and sinking every shot they got.
  • Carl Landry and Eric Gordon put on display every positive reason you’d want them on your team at night.  44 points on 27 shots due to 18 free throw attempts. That is the sort of offensive production you can build a defense around.
  • You know – Xavier Henry looks a lot like Gordon out there at times.  No where near as consistently aggressive, but you can see the similarities in their game.
  • The Hornets starting front court collected two rebounds.  Yeah, Smith left after hurting himself on a hustle play, but in 65 combined minutes, the Hornets got 2 rebounds from Kaman, Smith and Ariza.  That’s brutal.

Tomorrow night is the big game.  Wolves v Hornets.  Go Hornets!

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