So, the Hornets beat the Knicks last night, 103-94 in overtime. Unfortunately, the Clippers also beat the Blazers which means we're now closer to the end of the regular season but no closer to the Playoffs.

Bummer.

Still, it could be worse. The Hornets came pretty damn close to throwing this one away, letting the Knicks rally back from a 15-point second-half deficit to force the OT. If not for an 11-2 scoring edge in the extra session, our guys would right now be trailing them Clips by four whole games rather than three.

Notes and the usual…

• Linkage: box | recap | video | standings
• Byron Scott was none too pleased about the letdown in the second half. His words postgame:

  "We better grow up quick with nine games left to have a chance to get into the playoffs. It is amazing to me that we make the same mistakes over and over again. I told our coaches that we are going to win the game in spite of ourselves. We are the reason it went into overtime, and it never should have gotten there"

• Nate Robinson forced the extra session, dropping a nutcase triple with ten seconds left in regulation. David West had a shot to win it at the buzzer but didn't get a great look. Chris Paul steered the ship in OT, scoring seven points and finding Desmond Mason for the sealing slam in the final minute.
• That dunk was NICE. It's already on YouTube.
• CP finished with 16 points, 6 assists, 7 rebounds and 4 steals despite having three fingers on his left hand heavily taped. West had 20 points and 8 boards, Mason scored 19, and Tyson Chandler went for 13 and 13 despite that toe injury.
• Bobby Jackson was back in action after missing the previous five games. He played pretty well, and finished with 12 points in 21 minutes.
• From Jim Eichenhofer's game report:

  Devin Brown has begun seeing some of his minutes go to Pargo, who has shot the ball extremely well recently. Brown played just 15 minutes Saturday, which is the least amount of playing time he’s gotten in a game since his Dec. 22 debut. His quiet night consisted of five points and two fouls.

  Pargo logged 29 minutes, and knocked down 4-of-6 from deep for 12 points. He's played at least 27 minutes in each of the past three games. Before that, he hadn't played 25+ in a game since mid-January.

• Leading the Knicks was Eddy Curry, who scored 34 and grabbed 13. Stephon Marbury was their next highest scorer, with 16 points on 6-of-20 shooting. He also had 8 boards and 5 assists.
• Knicks head coach Isiah Thomas was fishing for a fine postgame:
  
  "I think there is a point that seriously needs to be made how Marbury is being treated by the officials now. … I see a lot of players drive to the basket and get fouled and go to the foul line, and I don't understand what he's done to receive the type of treatment he's getting and the lack of respect he is getting from the officials."

  I can see where Zeke is coming from, though. The Hornets got away with a pair of fouls when Nate hit that impossible three.

• Thomas also had comments on Chris Paul:

  "I think he's a little better than what I was. He seems to get the basketball, and he's at your foul line and he's standing there bouncing the basketball … He moves just like a hummingbird."

• The Hornets are now 5-0 in overtime games this season.
• Hilton Armstrong played 13 minutes against the Knicks, eclipsing Marc Jackson's 6. The kid managed 4 points and 1 rebound.
• Other side: Father Knickerbocker blasts Nate Robinson.
• Willis Reed was indeed honored at halftime. George Shinn gave him a bunch of gifts, including a framed collage-type thing and an all-terrain vehicle-type thing.

Hornets back in action on Tuesday in Milwaukee. I'm done.