New Orleans Beats Utah, Demands Name Back

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Published: April 13, 2012

The Eric Gordon led New Orleans Basketball Team took Utah to school late in the fourth.

It was over when- Eric Gordon showed up in the fourth quarter and said, “ MY GAME!”

MVP: Eric Gordon. Remember how earlier this year the Hornets hold late leads and then blow them? Eric Gordon isn’t a fan of that, and he let us know it yet again.

Defining Moment: Monty and Jason Smith were both T-ed up within minutes of each other for being predictably mad at the poor refereeing. The crowd really became a factor afterward.

LVP: The Utah Jazz for not simply offering up their name to the superior team.

X-factor: The crowd. While it was far from the most crowded Hornets game of the year, the noise per person was certainly up there.

That was… Fun: Really, it was. We’re a fun team to watch with Eric Gordon out there.

Tweet of the Day: New Orleans Saints ‏ @Saints: We are thrilled to announce & confirm Tom Benson as the new owner of the New Orleans @Hornets!

Jason’s Precap Predictions

  • Hornets lose by less than 6. (WRONG)
  • Vasquez ticked off a double-double. (I could stop here, but I’d rather continue to embarrass you)
  • Marco, single-double. (Still waiting for something to be right…)
  • Aminu had a strong offensive showing: at least 7 points. (Here we go! 11 points on 5 shots. Well done, Jason, although I’m not sure I count this as a real prediction since you said our starting SF is going to score 7 points)
  • Ayon returned to form with over 10 points and over 1.3 points per shot with at least 2 assists and at least 2 steals. (Well I guess we know what you’re not good at)

Utah Jazz 85 Final
Recap | Box Score
96 New Orleans Hornets
Jason Smith, PF 31 MIN | 3-6 FG | 2-2 FT | 8 REB | 4 AST | 8 PTS | +15Smith came back down to earth a bit tonight in terms of his statistical performance, but his fire and energy remained. He was t-ed up at one point for arguing, which I actually saw as a positive in this case. One thing I will say is that his defense was worthless tonight. The effort was there, but the Jazz front court got it done for most of the night.
Al-Farouq Aminu, SF 35 MIN | 4-5 FG | 2-4 FT | 7 REB | 2 AST | 11 PTS | +13Heck yeah! This is the kind of night that we’ve been looking forward to from Aminu. He played patiently, but still exploded when the time came. He consistently did the right thing on defense, and he even had some success taking it to the floor and from behind the line. It was a good night for Farouq. If there’s one negative, it’s that I found out he’s a Falcons fan. So there’s that…
Chris Kaman, C 33 MIN | 8-16 FG | 3-4 FT | 4 REB | 2 AST | 19 PTS | +11Aside from a brief stretch in the third quarter where he was the offense, Kaman really didn’t play well. He was just plain awful defensively and on the boards.
Greivis Vasquez, PG 32 MIN | 3-5 FG | 4-4 FT | 1 REB | 6 AST | 11 PTS | -1Greivis continued his efficient play, and again showed that he and Gordon form a pretty formidable duo in the back court. I’ve said it before, but it really is too bad that he doesn’t have the athleticism of some of his peers.
Eric Gordon, SG 37 MIN | 11-18 FG | 1-4 FT | 0 REB | 6 AST | 25 PTS | +12Yes sir. Defense, offense, passing, and leading. Gordon not only brought it all tonight, but he essentially closed the game for the Hornets, nailing on an and-on, a three, and then a long jumper consecutively. As far as rebounding goes, I’m actually impressed that he went 37 minutes and didn’t even grab a single one.
Carl Landry, PF 20 MIN | 2-4 FG | 1-1 FT | 3 REB | 1 AST | 5 PTS | -8Poor defense and mediocre rebounding for Landry makes it impossible for me to give him anything in the B range.
Marco Belinelli, SG 21 MIN | 3-7 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 1 AST | 7 PTS | +6Marco didn’t do much for most of the evening, but he did hit a nice three pointer lat in the contest to keep the Hornets rolling. I will say, it was a very selfless evening for him. He wasn’t hogging it or jacking shots, but did the little things that rarely get noticed.
Jerome Dyson, G 6 MIN | 1-3 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 1 AST | 2 PTS | +3Dyson didn’t see much time. The most notable thing he did in my mind was put up an atrocious jumper from the baseline. He was mad with himself when it feel a foot or more short.
Gustavo Ayon, PF 12 MIN | 1-2 FG | 0-0 FT | 6 REB | 1 AST | 2 PTS | +4Gustavo was doing well on the boards, but not really anywhere else. He seemed outmatched on defense.
Xavier Henry, SG 12 MIN | 2-3 FG | 1-2 FT | 3 REB | 1 AST | 6 PTS | 0I’d take 12 minutes like that every single time he touches the floor forever. SO AGGRESSIVE!

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