The Hornets were not about to let the Miami Heat upstage them tonight as they pulled off a last second win. Those on the tanking train might not be too happy but it’s tough not to be excited about the cornerstone of the franchise tipping in the game winning shot as time expires despite fighting the flu.
Before we get to everything else, let’s talk about the game winner. Down 86-85 the Hornets doubled Paul Pierce and forced him to miss a fade away jumper. Ryan Anderson grabbed the defensive rebound and the Hornets called a timeout with 15 seconds left.
Coming out of the timeout the Hornets lined up in a formation they don’t use too often: the Horns. Eric Gordon had the ball at the top of the 3-point line, there was a player at the top of each side of the free throw line, and a man in each corner–basically creating a V. After dribbling to kill time, Anderson (at least I think it was, I don’t have a clip of the play to watch right now) cut across the court, and Gordon started to drive. Avery Bradley defended Gordon well and for a second Gordon lost his dribble. After regaining it he drove on Bradley for a layup which just missed.
And then from the corner Davis flies and tips the ball in over the top of Kevin Garnett and Jeff Green as time more or less expires.
Awesome.
Observations
-I’m not sorry to say this: Robin Lopez is not the long term answer to any question for the Hornets. Defensively he was targeted by the Celtics as they tried to get him to switch off their bigmen during the pick and roll. He also can’t rebound which is kind of a problem. 4 rebounds in 23 minutes isn’t going to cut it if the Hornets want to make deep playoff runs in the future. He’s lucky Aminu spends so much time on the court with him to make up for his lack of rebounding ability.
-I’ve been hard on him all season but Brian Roberts really kept the Hornets offense going in the 4th quarter. He basically played the role we’d expect Gordon to do. He knew someone needed to carry the Hornets offense and he did just that. I’m not even upset he was looking for his shot first since, tonight, it was needed. Assuming he’s on a cheap contract I’d be all for bringing him back next season.
-Lou Amundson was the Hornets best defender off the ball in the first half. His rotations and help defense were on time and that is something this team sorely needs.
-Nice to see Darius Miller get significant minutes tonight.
-The Hornets won the free throw battle tonight and it was a direct result of taking 37 of their 71 shots within 3 feet of the rim.
-I can’t fight it anymore, I like what Aminu’s been doing. He has fully embraced his role and a rebounder and transition guy. He’s not trying to do too much and, to sound cliché, is letting the game come to him. I don’t really want him as a starter but there is definitely a place on the team for him.
That’s all I’ve got for you tonight. Enjoy the win!
17 responses to “Anthony Davis Tips the Hornets past the Celtics.”
(New Orleans Arena, New Orleans, LA – Wednesday, March 20th)
Anthony Davis tips in game-winner versus Boston. 42 is only Hornets fan with IQ of over 120 who is happy about the meaningless win.
(NBA Draft Lottery, New York, NY – Tuesday May 21st)
NBA Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver: The 9th pick in the 2013 Draft belongs to …. The Minnesota Timberwolves.
Mike Tirico: No surprise there – the Draft lottery is holding to form.
Adam Silver: The 8th pick in the 2013 Draft belongs to…… the New OrLEEEENS Pelicans
Mike Tirico: WHOA! Our first surprise as New Orluhns drops 3 slots from 5th to 8th! That means 3 teams have moved up!
(2013 NBA Draft, New York, NY – Thursday June 27th)
NBA Commissioner David Stern (wild boos from crowd): With theeeee…. Eigth pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, the New Orluhns Pelicans select…. ALEX LEN…. CENTER…. MARYLAND
Hornets Draft Party Attendees in 1/20th full New Orleans Arena: (crickets)
(NBA Roster Deadline – October 24th, 2018)
AP WIRE: VANCOUVER PELICANS RELEASE CENTER ALEX LEN, 4 YEAR VETERAN
Ugh. I guess I’m not the only pro-tank guy here
Check the odds on that drop? 0.4%. Alarmist.
ETA: Actually slightly less given that we know 6, 7, 8 all hit.
A win in early in the season has the same lottery implications the as win tonight. I doubt anyone complained about the November 9th victory over the Bobcats so I won’t complain about a win tonight. Plus, a few more losses last year and we’re building around Beal or MKG. Watching AD come through with a clutch tip in, in front of a home arena full of Celtic fans is too enjoyable to worry excessively about the race to suck the worst.
Oh man, that is pretty damn funny.
Doesn’t it seem like a couple teams (Detroit, Phoenix, Cleveland) have just decided they are winning zero more games?
I can’t be mad about about any game winner for AD, especially against an NBA elite. The young man has had a hard season he deserves these moments.
Tanking sucks especially for a youg team that needs to learn how to win. But Youngfella that post is halarious. Alex Len would suck even more than tanking.
Itll be hard top that comment, so ill just post a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SOCNxCzb1I
Nice recap.
I wasnt too displeased with Gordons game tonight. Bradley is one of the best perimeter defenders in the game and he still managed 18 points and 8 free throw attempts. Considering bradley held a similar but clearly much better player this season in d wade to pretty much the same shooting stats last game is enough for me
i will take any win against the celtics and I hope the hornets will be the team that will end miami’s winning streak and after that i don’t care if they lose their remaining schedule….Im aboard with the tank but a win against these 2 teams is PRICELESS…..:)
The Hornets have 11 of last 14 games against playoff teams so I wouldn’t worry too much about this game affecting their lottery status. I am sure there will be enough losses along the way to put them in a good lottery position.
“His first game-winner comes on a night when he’s sick and puking and doesn’t feel his best,” Hornets coach Monty Williams said. “So kudos to him.”
“I was really tired, but I knew my team needed me, so I was trying to fight through it,” Anthony Davis said. “I’m glad I did. It was a big win for us.”
Tanking fans: “We wish you would’ve lost instead because the win hurts our lottery odds by 0.4%.”
Seriously?
To be fair, we won’t know how much this loss will have hurt us until after the season. Maybe nobody is within a game either way and it wont have hurt at all. Maybe we tie for 4th with 3 other teams when a loss would have meant a two way tie for 3rd and this win will result in losing 100 ping pong balls. We won’t know. And it’s not all about “winning the lottery”. It is about increasing our odds at a top 5 pick, which is historically much, much better than any pick below it. A loss last night would have meant we were alone at 3rd, which gives you a 96% of a top 5 pick. Instead, the position we are in with a win gives you about a 65% chance at a top 5 pick. HUGE difference.
It’s not about this win, but the fact that this win gives us less margin for error (or success) moving forward.
I personally think 26 wins is the maximum we can get and get the top 5-6 pick we need. 24 or 25 is ideal to me. Winning this one allows us only 2 or 3 more wins as I see it.
I personally would have been happier with a loss here, seeing that we still have Sac, PHX, and Cleveland on the schedule, but if I had to win a game, I would have chosen an Anthony Davis game winner as my dream scenario, so I will take it!
This was my favorite win of the season. Mainly because I was there, and I love to see all the bandwagoners go home sad.
While losing games at this point helps more than winning I cannot complain at all about this win because it is a win that the team and the fans needed. This is a signature win to give the fans some excitement to close out the season, nothing wrong with that. Our future star and face of the franchise was able to have a signature moment of his young career, nothing wrong with that.
The only other wins that I really want would be against the Heat and the two games against the Clippers.
Dear Boston Bandwagon Trolls,
Eat s*@t and die.
Sincerely Yours,
Anthony Davis
[…] – Chris W […]