The Hornets are in New Orleans today, for their fifth true home game of this here season. The visitors are the 21-32 Seattle Supersonics. Let's jump right to bullet mode…

• The Hornets should be pissed at the Sonics. Back in early December, they blew us out, 74-94, in Seattle. Refresh. Then, on a repeat visit to the PNW just before the new year, Chris Paul stepped on Johan Petro's inconvenient clog and the Hornets lost again, 94-102. If there was ever a team with a losing record that the Hornets should get up for, the Sonics are it.
• Seattle have been on a bit of a run lately, winning three of their last four, including a 114-90 drubbing of the Phoenix Suns before the All-Star break. Granted, Steve Nash wasn't playing, but that's an impressive result.
• Last time out, the Sonics beat the visiting Memphis Grizzlies, 121-105. Rashard Lewis dropped 34 on the bears; Ray Allen had 27.
• Seattle have no problem scoring. They're one of eight NBA teams averaging over the century mark this season, scoring 100.7 points per night. Alas, they give up 102.9 to their opponents, which makes the Hornets' 74-point effort in December seem all the more pathetic.
• Goldenboy Allen is having himself a career year, averaging 27, 4 and 4. He dropped 54 on Utah about six weeks ago.
• Lewis has been quietly averaging 22 points and 7 boards this season, while big Nick Collison has been giving the Sonics about 14 points and 11 boards a night since the new year.
• Also on the schedule tonight: Sacramento at New Jersey, Phoenix at Minnesota and Utah at Denver.
• Sad day today for Soncis' fans, as Dennis Johnson passed away yesterday. DJ was the Finals MVP for the Sonics only championship, back in 1979.
• The Sonics have also announced that they will remain in Seattle at least for one more season, meaning it's no pro ball in OKC next year. John Rohde gets all teary-eyed in today's Oklahoman.
• As Benjamin Hochman notes in today's T-P, David West has averaged 20.3 points while shooting 52.4 percent in the past eight games. Tyson Chandler has averaged a million rebounds in the same span. Give or take.

Now, normally I'd be expecting the Hornets to murder the Sonics tonight. After all, the game is in New Orleans, our guys are much healthier this time around, and we have a bigger number in the W column than they do.  But it's never that simple, is it? Logic does not apply here. We'll just have to wait and see which team shows up this evening. Will it be the same fizzy bunch who blitzed the Kings before the break? Or will it be the same miserable shower of plonkers that reached new levels of suck against Memphis and Charlotte?

I don't know.

Moving on, that trade deadline thing passed without so much as a whimper yesterday. Chris Paul was apparently cool with the Hornets standing pat, saying "if it was up to me, we'd keep this team for the rest of my career." Touching, but he does realize that Bobby Jackson would be like 63 years old by then, right?

(Also a good story about Peja in the above link. Go read.)

In other news, if you haven't seen it yet, you've really gotta go check out Desmond Mason's rap track that popped up over on the HR boards. It's actually pretty good, and I should know, seeing as how I'm a semi-professional rapper myself. Your boy can make stuff rhyme with orange. Word.

Tip is at 7pm this evening. That be Central time. Leaving you with the linkage… 

• NBA.com's game preview
• Sonics team stats
• Seattle Post-Intelligencer
• Seattle Times
• Sonicscentral.com
• Supersonicsoul