After an extended layoff, a New Orleans team plays host to a Philadelphia team for the second time in three days.
The Spurs without Ginobili, the Bulls without Derrick Rose, and now the 76ers without Andrew Bynum. The Hornets’ early season schedule has benefited from the misfortune of others, and they took advantage on Saturday night. Of course, New Orleans has been playing without their best guard as well, which makes their 2-1 record to this point even more impressive. Unfortunately, the Hornets will also be without both Anthony Davis and Austin Rivers tonight. Davis is still recovering from concussion-related symptoms, and Rivers sprained his left index finger in practice yesterday.
The Philadelphia 76ers come to town with a record of 1-2, winning their season opener against the Nuggets before dropping two straight to the surprisingly undefeated Knicks. Without Bynum, Philly has been led by the play of Jrue Holiday at point, Dorell Wright on the wing, and Spencer Hawes down low. Additionally, Thaddeus Young has been solid, and with Jason Richardson ailing from a sore ankle, expect Evan Turner to play a major role tonight as well. Player matchups aside, here are my three overall keys to victory tonight.
3 Keys to Victory
1) Defensive rebounding – The Hornets have had a tough time on the defensive glass thus far, ranking 24th in defensive rebound rate. The 76ers, on the other hand, are 9th in offensive rebound rate, an impressive number given the fact that they are without their all-star center. To get the win tonight, New Orleans will have to keep Philadelphia off of the offensive glass. Keep an eye on how effective the Hornets big men are at finding their man when a shot goes up and boxing them out.
2) The Turnover Battle – The 76ers have had some trouble taking care of the ball to this point, as their 16.8% turnover rate ranks 22nd in the league, while the Hornets come in ranked 18th. Given the fact that both teams are among the bottom five in pace through the first week of the season (both were in the bottom seven last year as well), every possession becomes that much more important. Whoever coughs the ball up less should have a good chance to come out on top.
3) Knock down 3s – Remarkably, the Hornets have averaged 17.3 second chance points over their first three games, second best in the NBA, despite the league’s 3rd slowest pace and a 17th-ranked offensive rebound rate. In order to sustain that type of efficiency off of their own misses, New Orleans would likely need to vastly improve its offensive rebounding. I expect that those second chance scoring numbers will decline, meaning the Hornets will have to make up for that scoring elsewhere; I look to their 25th-ranked 3-point attempts per game and their 21st ranked 3-point percentage as a place where that can happen. Look for Ryan Anderson to give the 76ers fits, since Thaddeus Young is the only player on Philly’s roster who should even have a chance of successfully defending him. Anderson is a solid two inches taller than Young, which should allow Ryan to shoot over Thaddeus regularly.
What do you think the Hornets need to do to ensure victory in tonight’s contest?
22 responses to “Game On: 76ers at Hornets”
With the two pansies out Gordon and Rivers.We’re doom at the SG position.
Not really sure how Rivers qualifies as a pansy………
I tend to agree that it is a bit soft. I’ve played several games with broken fingers, even my shooting hands index. Nothing tape can’t handle
I would bet my life on it that he wanted to play and we sat him down. We will ask today after the game.
Rivers is Chris Paul level competative. No way he said he couldn’t play. Long season. Monty sat him
Mason, “Without” their best guard as well. But still a great article.
You mean Roger Mason isn’t our best guard?
Only kidding. Thank you sir, good catch.
With Rivers out, the guards (other than Vasquez) will have to step up tonight. Roberts or whoever runs the offense needs to be able to keep it flowing so Vasquez can rest. Hopefully the slower pace won’t hinder Aminu’s strong play. Also, whoever is announcing needs to pronounce Vasquez correctly. On a side note, ESPN has to but upset that they’re going to televise a game where Davis, Rivers, Gordon and Bynum are all out.
I have an extra ticket to tonight’s game if anyone is interested..cant seem to convince any of my friends to go unfortunately..decent seat..section 106 row 5 ..free ticket only catch is you’ll have to sit next to me..lol
text me at 757-358-1963 if you want the ticket..
Wow, Can’t believe I missed this opportunity. Sorry man
AD’s concussion must be a lot worse than “mild”.
Is AR left handed?
i heard he was right handed and sooo…unless he was scrambling for a loose ball and hurt his finger, I don’t know how it happened or how it could cause him to sit this game out
God our fans really do suck. This attendance is just a joke.
Why do you care about attendance or how humorous it is?
I know why I care.
Umm I guess because I’m a native New Orleanian and I was so invested in the effort to keep the team after Katrina. I had full season tickets for 5 years and I still remember that magical turning point game in the first year back… We always had shitty crowds like this one even though the team was fiyah. Then randomly, miraculously – somehow out of the blue – we had a near sellout against the (then horrible) Grizzlies on a weeknight. It was amazing. And we pretty much had sellouts the rest of that season, through the great playoff stretch, and then great crowds all the next year as well. Was fun.
But I don’t know if you were a big Hornets fan 6 years ago, so maybe you wouldn’t understand the history of OKC fans taunting us over our attendance and the long-time New Orleans NBA fans’ desire to prove that we belong in the NBA as a market.
That is over.
We proved it.
We got the owner.
Settle down.
We were a bad team last year. That, the opponent, and the night of the week will determine the attendance for most of the season. If we start doing well, it could be a factor should it be sustained. That would be more of a factor the next year. Check the attendance for 2007-2008 vs 2008-2009. The latter is higher though the record was better the year before. Same for the next season.
We need some drive and kick action, or inside outside game. Too much pick and roll.
Can’t have drive and kick with Vasquez at the point. When rivers and Gordon are both acclimated, you’ll see our offense at full strength. Right now, Monty is seriously limited. We have absolutely no sg production. We need our bigs to all have above average nights to win until then. Amino will score, but only when we execute our d. Tonight’s loss sucks, but was bound to happen. It just pains more cause of the national audience.
Aminu was driving but no kickouts. Lopez can post up and kick out Roberts needs to learn to defend and pass. He and Xavier can drive just need more diversity on offense.
That disaster second half of play, that disaster Roberts, Henry and Mason …. Mason is not an NBA player, which will play into the league of the Philippines …. That crap … I’m not exonerating Greivis Vasquez, had a bad night, Holiday ran over, by my computation, played for a coefficient of 96, a coefficient Vasquez 58, but Mason a ridiculous 7 ….. can not be, for there was the game, with responsibility for Anderson, he has the responsibility of being the shooter of the team, failure, Smith with four turnovers in the second half, simply reflects the helplessness and despair to see the disaster of the team, is not there to lead the attack …. Pity the loss of the 16 Amino rebounds ….. I worry about the lack of spare parts, replacements that give rest to GV, and has 4 games playing almost every minute, you look like a blown motor, no spares, GV does not reach half of season without a tear or other serious injury … hiso much needed Rivers, will be for his defensive contribution, a key player in the system … a future Monty GV will remain PG holder, escorted by Gordon as SG, Rivers will be the replacement, the replacement, which will give break both …. At least this first year will be well ….. ultimately …. Friends …. Awaken … welcome to reality ..
Can we honestly say we have the three worst NBA players on this roster : Lance Thomas, Xavier Henry, Brian Roberts…
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