It just keeps on getting better, don't it?

The Hornets dismantled the Timberwolves in Minnesota last night. Second game of a back-to-back, on the road, missing your superstar, and you still kick mucho ass. Sure, the T-Wolves look a lot like suck and they were working Friday night, too, but excuse me while I cover myself in teal body paint and run buck neked down Canal Street.

Christopher Emanuel Paul sat this one out due to that ankle sprain he suffered in Memphis on Friday. Pau Gasol and his inconvenient hoof are getting the crazy eye from me next time we meet at the laundromat. Byron Scott is saying he'll probably keep CP out when the Hornets take on the Magic in New Orleans tomorrow, and there's a possibility he could also miss the Pacers game in N.O. on Wednesday. More info at ESPN.com.

We'll worry about his absence in due time. For now, sit back and feel that nice brand of fuzzy, because we've won five straight and sit atop the West with a 9-2 record. Dance, Georgie, dance!

Notes and stuff…

• Final score in this one was 100-82 (recap | box | video). Nice to see the Hornets clamping down on D after surrendering a zillion points to the Grizzlies a night earlier.
• Peja and Mo-Pete with the swishness. Stojakovic led all scorers with 22 points, shooting 4-of-6 from deep. Peterson dropped 18, knocking down three triples of his own. Sweet.
• The Hornets had just 4 turnovers for the whole damn game. That's unheard of. Maybe Chris Paul is actually hurting this team, encouraging others to throw bad passes when he's on the court. I'm wise to your tricks, CP. Game's up. We're trading you for Baron Davis.
• Filling in for CP as the starting point guard was Jannero Pargo. He'd been struggling, shooting 3-of-15 from the field and totaling just 4 dimes in the previous three games combined (see his game log here). He stepped it up against the T-Wolves though, playing 33 minutes, shooting 5-of-11 from the field for 15 points, and racking up 7 assists.
• The bench was weakish again, apart from the contributions of Melvin Ely (10 points), and Bobby Jackson (7 points, 5 assists, 3 steals). Rasual Butler and Hilton Armstrong need to step up.
• Among the game observations from Jim Eichenhofer…

  Balance has been one of the best aspects of the New Orleans attack so far. With Stojakovic racking up a team-high 22 points at Minnesota, it marked the fourth straight game that the Hornets had a different player lead the club in scoring.

• Hey look, the Hornets are 6-1 on the road and 2-1 on the second night of back-to-backs. None too shabby. Also, as mentioned, we're sitting on top of the West. Full standings here.
• View from the other side: TWolvesBlog.com.

• Both Marcus Vinicius and Julian Wright got some burn against the T-Wolves. Very little burn. They got five minutes between them. I hate to complain when the Hornets are winning like this, but surely Byron could afford to play these guys a little more. We're beating teams by an average of 9.1 points, second only to the Celtics, so you know we can afford a rookie mistake here and there. I mean, I like Ryan Bowen and everything, but why does he get the big minutes (20 last night) in a blowout?
• The T-Wolves were without starting center Theo Ratliff who had a bum knee or something. Their head coach, Randy Wittman, rejigged his rotation and gave Antoine Walker and Corey Brewer their first starts of the season. Brewer made the most of the opportunity. Oh no, wait, he went scoreless in 22 minutes. My bad. That Al Jefferson kid is nice though, going for 20 points and 10 boards last night. Always liked him. I thought he and Tony Allen were gonna turn into solid ballers when they were with the Celtics. I guess I was half right.

Anyways, I'm done. Back tomorrow with a look at the Magic. Get some rest, CP.