So the Hornets not only beat the Rockets last night, they blew them out, 87-74. I didn't see that one coming. Shows what I know.
How about we jump into some news and notes, then grab breakfast before check out at 12? Cool…
- Linkage: box | recap | video | photos | standings
- I don't think the score fully reveals how ugly this game was. The halftime score was 33-30 to the Hornets. I won't get into who shot poorly, because pretty much everyone did.
- The Hornets did get it together in the second half, however, leaving the Rockets in their dust. They led by as many as 21 early in the fourth.
- Desmond Mason and Rafer Alston were both ejected after they got into it verbally in the first quarter. Alston had good reason to be pissed at Mase, who took Tracy McGrady to the floor with a hard foul. (Although ESPN claim it was all Jannero Pargo's fault.)
I don't think Mase was intentionally trying to hurt McGrady, but he definitely overdid it trying to make up for a turnover on the other end. Kobe Bryant was recently suspended a game for less, so more may come of this.
- McGrady didn't think the foul was intentional either:
"I didn't think anything of it. It was a hard NBA foul. I was cool with it. I'm sure he didn't try to hurt me."
- Remember this isn't the first time Mason has gotten his knickers in a twist down in Houston.
- Tyson Chandler. Another double-double. 11 points, 12 rebounds. Check his nifty post work against Mutombo in the News 9 video highlights. And was it just me or was TC actually double-teamed by the Rockets a few times last night?
Tyson Chandler! Double-teamed!
- Devin Brown brought it, hitting 4-of-8 from deep — a couple of those real timely — to finish with 18 points. He also had 7 rebounds and 5 assists. Can't believe this guy was unemployed in November. There's 29 teams dumber than the Hornets right now.
- Houston Chronicle beat writer Jonathan Feigen says the Rockets "didn't fight because they forgot they had to."
So this is all very interesting. The Hornets have won nine of their last thirteen, and the Playoffs are once again becoming a very realistic possibility. We're now eleventh in the conference, with G-State, Minnesota and Denver between us and the promised land. Thing is, those three clubs are slumping right now, going a combined 11-19 in their last ten games. (And Baron Davis is hobbled, go figure!)
But I'm still finding it hard to climb back on this Playoff bandwagon. Obviously, I'd like nothing more than for the Hornets to kick ass the rest of the season and give a Dallas or a Phoenix a scare in the first round. But this team is like that fictional girlfriend that let me down, and now I'm afraid to trust them again because it will likely end in disappointment.
I have some fucking issues, man.