Well, last night's loss to the Sixers brought the Hornets crashing back down to earth. Just when I thought the season was finally beginning to look up, they go and drop one to the worst team in the Eastern Conference. Said Byron Scott afterwards: "Forget about this playoff talk. We got no chance if we can't sustain it every night.”
For further depression, check out the following news and notes…
- Linkage: box | recap | video | photos
- The Hornets sucked pretty consistently throughout, falling behind by as many as 19 points in the second quarter and 20 points in the fourth. They were able to cut it down at the end, but it was too little, too late. More from Scott…
"We were never in this game. Tonight was ridiculous, it really was."
- The worst part of all this hit me this morning when I was taking a look at the latest standings. The Sixers seem destined for one of the top spots in the Lottery with their 12-30 record, but that's not a million miles worse than the Hornets 16-24 record.
- David West continued his solid play, scoring 23 points on 10-of-21 shooting (including a late triple) and grabbing 11 boards, too, just for the hell of it. He's now managed a double-double in all three games since returning from injury. Great news for all you fantasy basketball nerds.
- Rasual Butler had a rough night in his hometown, knocking down just 3-of-12 shots for 7 points, his lowest output in almost three weeks. He reportedly had 50 or so friends and family in the stands. Sucks he couldn't give them a good show.
- Devin Brown canned 24 points despite a swollen left wrist, his bestscoring performance as a Hornet. Desmond Mason was the only other guy in double figures for the Hornets, finishing with 17 points.
- Everyone else pretty much sucked. Tyson Chandler's 9-point, 7-rebound performance were way below what we've come to expect from him, while Bobby Jackson hit just 1-of-7 shots en route to 6 points. In Bobby's defense, his effectiveness may have been hindered by a knee to the nuts.
- For the victors, Kyle Korver came off the bench and torched the Hornets for 25 points. Iguodala added 20, while Andre Miller scored 17 and dished 11.
- Passion and Pride wrap this one up from the other side.
Ok, so where does that leave us?
The Hornets will play game 41 of the regular season tonight at Toronto. I figure this game is an absolute must-win for the Hornets.
The Raps are 20-22 on the season, 12-7 at home, and are currently latching on to the eighth and final Playoff spot in the East. That means they are significantly better than the team we just lost to. Way I see it, if the Hornets can't bounce back from a humilating defeat and beat a mediocre team, there's no way they deserve a Playoff spot. Lose this one, and I'm officially giving up hope.
Doesn't bode well that the Raptors beat the Hornets at home back in November. Refresh.
I'm not going to break down the Raps much here. We all know about Chris Bosh, Jose Calderon is playing well, not exactly sure who else is kicking ass for them. Usual starting quarterback TJ Ford has a bum ankle that kept him out of Monday's crucifiction of the Bobcats. His status tonight is probably questionable or questionably probable. Plenty of Raps linkage below if you crave more knowledge.
In other news, Honeybee Karin won the voting thing and will be going to Vegas. Congrats and all that. HornetsCentral.com couldn't be happier, especially with the lady herself posting on their message board (as "LKD").
Also, check out this NBA-TV prank call. I think all the punchlines have already been done.
Tip today is at 6pm Central. I'm out.