The Hornets improved to 4-0 yesterday with their 97-93 win over the Warriors (box | recap | video | photos), the best start in franchise history.
To celebrate, there will be punch and pie at my house later. Bring toilet paper. I'm all out.
Darnell Mayberry tells us in his blog today…
Not to take anything away from this team's record start, but who have they played? I had to seriously think about it the other day. The Celtics stink. The Pacers are average. The Rockets have two and a half players (Shane Battier being half), and the Hornets effectively took the big two out of the game. And the Warriors stink.
That's a fair point — the Hornets haven't really been tested yet — but I'm getting a real kick out of this unbeaten run. Just two years ago, we had to endure an 0-8 start, so seeing zero in the L column four games in is, quite simply, fucking fantastic.
I'm not going to dive too much into the numbers and performances from the Warriors game. Once again though, it must be noted that most of the roles we envisioned for everyone were filled to perfection.
Peja knocked down some threes and came through in the clutch (not a great game overall for the guy, but there's plenty of time to complain about that when the losses come). CP played so damn good, Baron Davis must have had tears in his eyes. Tyson Chandler came through with his first double-double, helping the team to a 52-34 rebounding advantage with 14 of his own (6 offensive). David West knocked down jumpers like gang-bangers knock down Steven Jackson. Desmond Mason came through with the big defensive stop at the end and finished just shy of a double-double of his own.
The bench didn't have its best showing ever and the Hornets shot poorly for the game (42.7%), but the free-throw accuracy improved (15-18) and nobody got in foul trouble.
Most important of all, the Hornets got another win.
Some tests coming up with a three-game West Coast trip. There's a back-to-back, and then one of the better teams in the conference: We'll see a healthier and better-rested Warriors team on Thursday, followed by the Blazers on Friday, then the Clippers on Sunday.
7-0?