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The Suns beat the Hornets
There's two ways to look at the Hornets' 103-104 loss to the Suns last night. You could say our guys played tough and gave themselves a chance to win. Or, you could go the glass-half-empty route and see it as another let down, the Hornets' fourth consecutive loss, each one a stinger.
I'm in limbo right now. I won't know how to take that Suns game until I see what happens against the Jazz tonight. One half-decent showing on the road doesn't have me feeling fuzzy. Two might, even if the second results in another loss. I just want to see some consistent effort. Is that too much to ask?
That last play against the Suns was horrible, but it happens. I'm sure David West has replayed it over and over in his head a million times already. He'd probably give his right arm to have that opportunity back again, although he might be less effective the second time, shooting with his left, blood gushing everywhere.
On to some quick notes and stuff…
- Linkage: box | recap | video
- Apart from that last play, D-West was solid, scoring 19 (8-of-15 FG's), boarding 9 and dishing 4. Devin Brown also bounced back from some recent poor showings, finishing with 19 points (7-14 FGs) and 6 rebounds.
- Of course, it's easy fill up the boxscore when you're playing in Phoenix. Unless you're Rasual Butler or Demond Mason, that is. A combined 11 points on 4-of-15 shooting from those two. Nice job, fellas. How about you just skip the Jazz game tonight and call over to my place instead? You could take turns kicking me in the testicles.
- Don't look at the latest standings.
- Besides showing concern for my mental health, Darnell Mayberry wonders why Chris Paul isn't taking over games in his latest blog. I'm wondering the same thing. Gotta get that Gilbert Arenas mentality, Chris.
- Check this pic. He knew he'd messed up as soon as it left his fingertips.
- Jannero Pargo, welcome back to professional basketball. Please stay a while.
- Some dude named TexSun wraps it up from the opposing POV in his diary over at The Bright Side of the Sun.
- Phoenix are now 9-1 since the All-Star break, yet people are talking about how bad they've been playing. I can't help but agree. If the Suns were for real, they would have won all 14 of those games.
- Back in Oklahoma last night — Tulsa to be exact — Marcus Vinicius was busy logging a team-high 33 minutes for the 66ers in their win over some other D-League team. He had 14 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists. Jogo agradável. Check his progress here.
Let's get to all that Jazz. How much do I need to tell you about these guys? You were all alive last weekend, right? They blew us out in Oklahoma City then, and they haven't made any big trades or drafted any key players since. During the week, they stayed home to beat Charlotte and Indiana by a combined 47 points, and have now won 13 of their last 15 games, bringing their record to 42-19.
None too shabby.
I think it's down to Chris Paul in this one. Dude need to step up and dominate Deron Williams for the Hornets to have a chance. Show 'em what you got, CP.
Tip is at 8pm CT in the Salty Laked City. Linkage and I'm done.